Quote - I agree that it's pretentious for somebody to refer to his/her own work as art.  leave it to  art critics to go through the formal process of comparing it to relevant examples, for better or worse.  I know everybody hates art critics, but it's a dirty job and they are trained to apply aesthetic standards in what should be an impartial way.

that's the difference between us and cgsociety - we have no artistic standards and they've got standards we don't understand, which is apparently enough of a problem to cause these arguments and ad hominem attacks every year.

Hey there Nancy,
I wanted to weigh in on critics of any sort. How many critics can do? If they cannot do, how can they critique? It is all subjective views. If one person likes it, and another doesn't is that all it takes to label it crap?

At worldconfrancisco, when I bought my LE of Elric the Demon Slayer from Michael Whelan, one individual at a party later that night argued that I would not have bought (*or even liked) that print if I knew the story of Elric the Albino Elf! Now there is a real idiotic statement! I did not care about the background of that particular character. I was just struck by the raw sexual, masculine line of his bod! There, I was mesmerized by the pic as I came around the corner in the gallery and it was just there! In all of it's power. So who cares if a critic would or would not like it? I like it. And everyone who visists my home always comment on it too.

Sometimes what makes art is not what is readily seen, but the little nuances you find as you come back to a piece. The best compliment I have ever rec'd on my own art is from a person that stated he loved the image because he was always finding some new little detail that he missed. So that is what good art does as well. It keeps your attention.

And yes, I find critics for the most part useless.

HugZ!
Ariana

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