I think to give a good critique, you not only need to know what you are talking about, but you must also be able to deliver that message (the critique) in a form that the individual artist can easily understand and work from. If it isn't delivered in a way that is right for the artist, then the artist may get hurt by it, or just dismiss it as drivel - either way, the message would be lost. To be able to most effectively communicate with an artist probably requires the critic to know what the artist wants to get out of posting and what sort of feedback they want... on some websites (i.e. a pro-graphics site which might be largely inhabited by pro's or wannabe pros) it might be easy to know what people are after in the way and style of feedback. But on a place like here, where there's a huge range of artists, some pro/semi-pro, some hobbiest, some of whom are willing to have a new oriface ripped into their work, while others would prefer a gentler friendlier learning curve, there's no real way to know what the artist is after.... unless they tell you. These different expectations (both of the artist and the critic) are where (I believe) most of the problems regarding critiques and postings and.... that upset people so much seem to come from. I guess the only thing you can do is be aware that people post for all sorts of reasons, and want all sorts of different things in the way of feedback. Then with this awareness, you can try and approach the effort of critique-ing an image, and tailoring your critique in a way that will best get your message across to that individual artist so that they will read it for what you want it to say (and not get upset about it or dismiss it as drivel). If you don't know the artist, the best policy may be to just be gentle and friendly at first. Once you know what they are after, it'll be much easier to communicate and critique each others images. Oh, and this forum - its a great place to get to know people and what they're after :) And welcome to the forum WiserAngel and butterfly_fish (haven't seen your names around here before). Anyways, thanks for the discussion everyone - interesting things have been said (and will no doubt continue to be said). essay over

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