*"Having gone to an art school with a strong emphasis on critique I'm often astounded at how thin skinned many poserites are about criticism." *

I think it's a pretty safe bet that the vast majority here did not go to art school. Probably a good number can't draw a straight line with a ruler. Poser provides the untutored and the untalented a means of expression. Whether you call it art or something else is a matter of opinion :-) I don't find it at all surprising that the average person enjoying something as a hobby isn't necessarily going to respond the same as a professional or a dedicated amateur. Add to that the fact that different people have different levels of tolerance of criticism - some are thick-skinned, some may be shaped by overly critical even abusive parents, yada yada. I'm pretty sure that even some of the 'greats' chafed at minor critical comments on their work.

If you don't know the person, follow the Mary Poppins rule of criticism - a spoonfull of sugar helps the medicine go down. I'd say find at least two or three positive things to say for every 'negative,' and no more than two negatives art a time. Be careful about 'you should' or 'you need to' etc. 'you might want to' probably goes down better. If doing that seems like too much trouble or too fake, maybe it's better not to say anything. I'd think more in terms of being in someone's home and commenting on their stuff (and you really want to get invited to stay for dinner) than being in a graduate seminar. That doesn't apply to everyone, but I'd use that as the default. * *

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken