Ah, don't worry about the length... whomever has interest will have to bite the bullet and get through it. It's a complex issue, an quickies may not do it justice.

About pats on the back.....

Yeah, I noticed that. I also tried out the art theory and critique forum...  well, people tried in thee, but frankly I quickly realized that even with my very sporadic art training (mostly self taught and little tutelage from some old time pros in traditional media) and what I think f as limited knowledge about color theory, composition etc I knew more then those offeing critique.

On the other hand, pat on the back can be useful too, aside from just feeling good, it does give you feedback from certain audience segment.  if we are to try and make a living from our creations, we maximize our earning potential by trying to learn how to be attuned to the audience. A really skilled and talented and creative artist may be able to combine the two, creativity and catering to a particular audience. If one looks in the right place, things can be lerned from pats on the back too.

here's an idea... Whay don't some of the people whom know little more (dare I say 'us'... as I'm not sure I fit in the category of those whom actually know something) offer threads with more critique.
Not necessarily critiquing other people's work, but more as a cross between a show and tell and a tutorial.  decribe he thinking process that went into a piece, describe what you think went well and us the way you wanted it, and what you wish was bette, but you had skill or time or some other liitation. When we critique our own work, the risk of alienating the friendship of the recipient of that critique is MUCH less.  When people enjoy th ense of community, the risk of losing that to an ill recieved or ill offered critique becomes too high.

Critiquing someone else's work in a constructive manner takes time, energy and skill too. And it takes an individual whom won't get upset for being jumped on for critiquing.  So, it's a tricky teritory.

As or poser, I used it for 'real paying work' more often then for fun. Right now I'm trying to produce a series of short instructional videos on a sport tchnique. I have a limited time and budget. Given enough time and effort, I could develop a new character... Guess what, my client doesn't want to pay for more time then it takes to grab a poser figure and animate a body motion sequence.

Caring about 'ART'... beware of self-proclaimed artists, especially those whm show lack of appreciation for other people's efforts...  judging yourself is MUCH harder then judging others. If a person can't judge otr things well and objectively, it alway makes me wonder about their ability to judge themselves objectively.
I'm always very concerned about doing the best I can given the real life constraints. If some people think of itt s art, great, if they don't, great. Most of great art didn't necessarily start with 'creating great art' in mind. The art part happens due to other people's psychological reaction to what you made.  Most people whom focus on technique, with reating great art in mind, end up becoming very skilled craftsmen. Not necesarily artists.

Dann-o... I was looking at your gallery, you do wonderful work. There are also a few things that I thought of as observations and food for thought, but I'm not sure if you're interested in hearing it...

Well, so much for my rambling. I was going to call it my 2c, but I think I dropped a few dollars worth of words - if you go by the word count ;)    And sorry about all the typo's I get too ADD-like to look back and proofread.

Hi, my namez: "NO, Bad Kitteh, NO!"  Whaz yurs?
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