I guess I'm fortunate in that a number of my friends are good artists, and have been inspiring me ever since I've known them. When somebody you KNOW is a good artist tells you "hey, that pic is good" it's a lot better than the familial "yeah, that's nice" which so underwhelms most of us. My best friend is an outstanding artist - I've seen portraits in oils that she painted that damn near could pass for photos. When she looks at my stuff, she'll notice the good points, and she almost always has a pointer like "that boat hanging on the davits would look more real if there was some backscatter light reflected on it from the water below" - things which give me practical ideas on how to improve my technique. As for feedback here - well, for me it's usually almost nonexistent. My latest pic which has over 60 views here has 1 comment - par for the course around here. The same pic posted over at 3DC has about 25 views, with 14 comments - most of which are by artists whose work I already know and respect. It sure helps when somebody you know does very good work leaves some positive feedback on a post.