I had a show not too long ago and a person came up and crtiqued my work (I didn't ask this guy to do this, he just decided to). He told me that while he felt my work was "pretty good" the brush strokes were sloppy and he thought I should use more realistic colors because skys really aren't "brown". I'm not going to toot my own horn, but I have won some awards for my work. I asked this guy if he had ever painted and did he understand the phrase "artistic lisence" and with a laugh he said no. I'm open to a little constructive criticism, but I really prefer to hear it from somebody who has at least a small inkling about art. Does anybody have a similar tale?

just last night a guy came into the studio (it is the classroom studio in the college art building, people are always coming in and out) and saw the painting that i was working on, a sort of expressionist/almost-minimalist composition in crimson, and he started to point out "hey, i can see faces in it..." it would have been annoying but he was actually trying to be nice.

...I've loosened up my brushstrokes lately and have begun to experiment a lot with allowing the paint more freedom to drip and run in chosen areas. I did a series of six women in this same style, and the effect was very natural and tactile. I displayed the pieces in a community show and sold almost all on the opening night. Toward the end, one of the security guards approached me and asked if he could give me some advice. He said that the women I painted were beautiful but that I was a little too "sloppy" with my paint. To demonstrate he asked me to come over and he pointed to one of the distinct drips I had allowed to run the length of the canvas. I was tired and it had been a long day, so all I said was "ok".

When I was at college I had a critique session with my fine art lecturer on recent work. He told me that I painted like a badly trained Velasquez. It put me off painting for a long time and I specialised in printmaking and photography which I love. It is only recently that I have had the confidence to go back to painting and have realised that I really like my style. Yes there are ways toimprove it, but criticism must be constructive if it is to be of any use.

"Hmm, I think you really have something there..."

"hey, i can do that too"
"my 5 year old kid can do that as well"

Why do you charge so much?..Can I get a discount?...Do you have lay away? What, you took a Bob Ross class? and Is that paint by numbers?

"hmm....that's nice.."
"why is your work so dark????" (charcoal drawings!)

...certainly talented, but i would put him in the same category as tattoo artists, he has the taste and sensibility of a trucker... Sorry but that comment still makes me laugh so much.
OK, seriously, no much at all, but at some shows i've heard the same stupid words on some works from some talented artists: A kid can do that, and all that stuff.

He has the taste and sensibility of a trucker... Again, sorry, but... That comment it's killing me!

I always get people asking if I can design their tattoos for them...NO!

Luna...I've actually made good money doing that. People are willing to pay exorbitant prices for tattoo drawings, don't ask me why since the actual tattoo is so expensive, they end up spending hundreds. The only downside is dealing with the white trash who want them (not saying everyone that has tats is white trash, just 99.9999% of the tattoo 'community' has a home that can be hitched to a truck in case of tornadoes).

Oh, another stupid comment I've gotten: "Why is that girl naked? I would be embarassed if everyone saw me that way," or "you should put some clothes on her" (this is deep within the Bible Belt, let me remind you.)

Guess what CMcvay, I have a tattoo. I must be that 0.0001 whos home doesn't hitch to a truck.

frida...i do too.

Does your home hitch to the back of a truck in case of tornadoes?

how old are you?

Cute!

I have a fantastic griffin tattooed on my back! I have never lived in a trailer, am not white trash, and don't drive a truck. My car radio dial is set to classical music. I have a great college teaching job at an excellent school, and live an international lifestyle. My students think I am very cool. There are LOTS of people, of all ages, like me who have their bodies decorated and enjoy the ancient art of adornment. There's no need to bash people who have tattoos or to stereotype them. Welcome to the 21st century - get a life! People of all income levels, genders, and races enjoy having tattoos - decorative, permanent marks that are a way of expressing their individuality and taste and that make a statement about who they are. There are some fabulous books on tattooing out there -

But to answer the question about dumb comments - I can't think of any! Maybe the comments about tattoos, above, might qualify right up there though.

Here is a link that might be useful: River Road Studio

"I have a fantastic griffin tattooed on my back!": 'you can take the tiger out of the jungle, but you can't take the jungle out of the cat' -hobbes (from calvin & hobbes).

besides that, i must say that i was speaking from a point of view very centric to louisiana, where we are very class-conscious and where stereotypes not only exist but support themselves with the facts (much to the dismay of "outsiders" determined to turn the world into a homogenous politically correct wet dream).

here, people who want the big tattoos that cost a lot of money are more often than not poor white trash. the tattoo "artists" are nearly always drug dealers with a front business (ie the tattoo shop).

i reiterate that i said that not all people who have tattoos are white trash, and also that i said that i have a tattoo. i was referring to the all-too-common slew of tobacco-chewing, shotgun toting, mullet wearing, rebel flag waving, earl bubba ray trailerpark heroes that keep asking me to do their tattoos, & the crackhead, crack-dealing, 6th grade drop-out no-talent tattoo "artists" that i have to deal with to straighten out the details, not that it's going to matter to the rednecks because they'll just get it covered with another ex-wife-to-be's nickname in a few months, but i need the money for school so i do it anyway.

i'm sorry if i offended any of you who have tattoos and who come from a different background, but i had assumed that the stereotypical images of which i was speaking were part of all our visual & cultural vocabulary. i understand that tattooing is an artform with various cultural backgrounds, from maori to japanese, and is quite deserving of respect when it is conducted in a respectable manner, not however in the form of an 18-wheeler with "thom crump loves pootang" written in red, white & blue across the trailer, crashing through a cowskull (actual tattoo i was asked to draw...).

i think you have issues

or

anyone can do that!

A fat old English bloke who is under employ to a psuedo-art philanthropist of an attorney, as a bankruptcy researcher once told me in passing, as I was moving paintings, "Jesus...is that done?!?" I told him, "As soon as I walk it across water, it will be."

"i understand that tattooing is an artform with various cultural backgrounds, from maori to japanese, and is quite deserving of respect when it is conducted in a respectable manner, not however in the form of an 18-wheeler with "thom crump loves pootang" written in red, white & blue across the trailer, crashing through a cowskull (actual tattoo i was asked to draw...). "

You crack me up :-D

This wasn't a chat on the highest level to begin with:
"What's the dumbest thing someone has...."
but when it suddenly descends into a discussion about tattoos —

well, hey, just let me off at the next corner. I'll be fine from there.

I am gonna respond to both aspects...
Dumbest thing: "Your work is too painterly".
I too am tattoo'd. No big surprise, as I live in Bay Area CA....

what do people mean when they say someone's painting is "painterly"? sounds like a "duh" award moment. do they mean that the paintings should be more collage- or build-up-oriented?

Hallo C--

Usually, "painterly" means brushstrokes are apparent; however, you're right...I often feel the same way. Some people can be such pseudo-sophisticates...LOL.

I've had same comments on etchings...then, it is a valid comment.

JAZ

Sorry, the second worst thing after 'Cute' was, 'Did you make this with your hands'? [Porcelain sculpture] Answer 'No, I did it with my feet'.

yep...akin to that is "did you make that yourself?"...i always want to tell them that no, i have a little korean kid chained to the wall in my basement that does it for me...work harder! faster!

ok, got a new one today. some guy saw my work in a student show, i do (human) figurative work, i'm working in a fairly realistic style, etc. so the guy comes up to me today, pulls out a printout of a Blue Dog painting...seen this crap? there's a link to it below...and asks if i can paint that. he actually wanted to pay me to reproduce that particular painting! what the heck, that's pretty insulting. hey, i think your stuff sucks, but this famous guys' stuff i like, make me a copy of it so i can save some $20,000...

Here is a link that might be useful: Blue Dog crap

Hey C...

Although I am laughing with you, if the guy is willing to make it worth your while (say...$1,000), give him what he wants. Just know that you're better, and laugh all the way to the bank! Just remember to have him acknowledge in writing that it is a forgery...he might just be bright enough to set you up. People with that kind of taste have conniving minds...LOL.

JAZ

i was told: "what do you think about talent, because you don't have any", by an artist who was also an art teacher at a university.(so he should know) this may or may not have been or still be true. at the time however,i was gutted by this. how could anyone be so insensitive to a young quivering waif? now, 25 years on, that statement makes me laugh. what a jerk! so what is talent anyway? anyone know how to define that?

talent = the innate ability to do a certain task well, often remains stagnant unless developed through education, research and practice.
just my humble definition, probably full of holes.

your teacher was/is an ass...i have a teacher who acts like that with certain students, and it really pisses me off because he then tries to suck up to the students like myself who just have a more developed knowledge of art.
that kind of behaviour is just a cop-out, they say mean things just because they don't know how to teach, just how to claim the greatness of their better students as derivative of their teaching, and they want to feel better about themselves.

jaz...i thought about doing that, but i couldn't swallow my pride deeply enough. it took all i had not to do a flying squirrel across the table onto him, lol.

OHMYGOD! I almost forgot to post this one. I rememebered it a few nights ago and just plain forgot when I saw McVay's prior to last posting (05-08-03).

This one is a clasic in my book:

A collector/friend of a gallerist happened by my studio about two and a half years ago. They were with a curator who was the only person I invited. Of course I couldn't say no to the entourage.

The gallerist said: These are nice. Have you shown these before? (Meaning within the last year)

I was about to answer the gallerist when the collector pointed at the painting and blurted rather loudly out of the blue, "THAT IS MAGICAL!" She was dressed like society girl...dripping with pearls and whatever else would make it known that she had money--in the tackiest way. She was a little drunk from lunch!

I just leered in the direction of the curator...LOL.

JAZ

RRGGGGHHHH. ok, latest dumb thing.

i carry my sketchbook with me everywhere, so occasionally people ask if they can look through it and more often than not i let them (usually it's my friends so i don't have to worry about stupid stuff). well the other day a girlfriend of a friend asked me, so without thinking i said 'sure'. oh my f'ing god. i've never heard a steadier string of stupidities come out of someone's mouth. the first thing she asks is "what's your perspective?" i finally figured out that she meant what artist's work was i studying, because every artist studies one artist and etc. etc. (would you have guessed that's what she meant?? she looked at me like i was a dumbas$ for not understanding her).
next she notices some pages ripped out and looks at me shaking her head going "don't tear pages out...never tear pages out". god, i can't even remember all the stupid crap she said, but she said it all sitting back and looking down her nose through her little glasses...you know the look, the one with the chin drawn in and the lips pursed.

i just let her finish, took the sketchbook and left. i figured i deserved it for letting her see it...

C.,

Begin practicing exclusivity. My sketchbook and journal are one and the same. I rarely let anyone look through it. I guess, it's my way of avoiding ignorant comments. They aren't worth my time. If and when I let anyone look through it, I am the one who flips the pages, rather than handing it over to them.

I also avoid uninvited guests into my studio...I keep my work private to myself until they are ready to show. (see earlier posting of a mishap)

JAZ