There are some fantastic guides to the subject. Because I?m lazy and don?t wish to rewrite everything someone else has already said, I will throw you links to the sources and paste some of the most essential parts here.
Source: TrappedChild's Guide to Understanding Constructive Criticism on deviantART
Constructive critism is a type of critique that is meant to construct or build on the recipients' knowledge or awareness of their subjected strong point and bad points. C.C. as I will continue to call it is not meant to offend or subjectively demoralize the recipient, it is mearly there to help them.
Source: Constructive Criticism on Wikipedia
Constructive criticism is the process of offering valid and well-reasoned opinions about the work of others, usually involving both positive and negative comments, in a friendly manner rather than an oppositional one. In collaborative work, this kind of criticism is often a valuable tool in raising and maintaining performance standards.
Because of the overuse of negative, nagging criticism, some people become defensive even when receiving constructive criticism given in a spirit of good will. Constructive criticism is more likely to be accepted if the criticism is focused on the recipient's work or behavior. That is, personality issues must be avoided as much as is possible. Critical thinking can help identify relevant issues to focus on.
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As a recipient of criticism, one can benefit by focusing on the constructive elements of the criticism and by attributing charitable interpretations to those who use strong language. By adopting an open attitude to criticism, one may achieve greater personal development and help uncover blind spots. Alternatively, such openness may be subjected to ridicule especially in a cynical or honor-based culture.
Source: leodadominico's guide on How To Give Better Comment on deviantART
Personally I agree strongly with this and would like to stress it to everybody, since I see this attitude all over the web way too often.
When critiquing a piece of work you might say to yourself, "I don't have an Art Degree, I should keep my mouth shut" . That's not true. When art is being shown to the public, it is up for all sorts of comments and thoughts, so why not tell them what you see, including the negative? It is ok to point out the errors even if you do not know the artistic term for it; it still provides a realization to the artist. Before stating what seems wrong [to you], do read the deviation description for something the artist may have already covered, such as critiques on their own work and/or style, so as not repeat what has been said.
For an example: If a deviation is a drawing of a hand, and the fingers just look wrong, simply point out what you see looks wrong. Such as: "It looks like one finger is out of proportion, like its much shorter than the rest. Perhaps you can look at your own hand for reference in drawing hands to get a better look at the autonomy". That should do it. Avoid something like: "The hand has one short finger! That?s cute".
After you have provided criticism(s), perhaps it is time to point out what you like about the art itself. Tell the artist exactly why you like the art, and not just by using one-worded phrases, e.g. ?COOL!? State what you like in ways that proves the art has its strength. By doing this you give the well-round pat on the back to the artist, which will often give the artist some energy to smile, at least. Compliment on the things you like and do not state "I love the colors! I love the forms! I love the eyes!" You would just be stating the obvious. Try avoiding that as it has most probably been repeated. Put yourself in the artist's shoes. Doesn?t it feel a BIT dull after getting the same comments over and over again?
No time? Make time, or leave it when you have the time. As I venture about the community, I've seen people complaining about being bored, with absolutely nothing to do. Well now you have something to do, and offer support to artists and to the community at the same time.
I hope you found this guide useful and got some tips out of it. Still, no pressure on commenting, but it really doesn't take that much to write a few more sentences to describe what you feel and think about the piece.
I'm sure all the artists would appreciate the improved commenting!
- Tempest to me.
