How do you personally deal with negative criticism when you're presenting something you'd otherwise be proud of?asked by Luftwolf
TL;DRThey say they work out where criticism comes from and adjust to what is actually needed, while noting that artists are usually their own harshest critics and that fan feedback can feel harsh.
Oh, I just brush it off.
You just brush it off?
No big deal. No, well, if there is any negative criticism, it's always important to figure out where the negative criticism is coming from. You want to make sure that the direction is correct, you want to make sure you're going the right route and making sure that what you're delivering is what's expected, cause sometimes you can create something good, but if it's not exactly what's needed, then you will get negative criticism, cause it's very specific things we need to deliver on. So I kind of re-evaluate the initial steps, which is defining the right references, making sure I understand the task properly, and then go into the direct source for the criticism, and figuring out how to improve to achieve what that person or group of people are actually looking for.
Like the direction.
Yeah, some direction. Or I just delete the email.
Everybody has an opinion right? And then there's how many peopleOA: Everybody has an opinion right? And then there's how many people commenting on any one thing, thousands of people have... 99% of people love it, there's still going to be 10 comments that, you'll see all 10 of them and they'll crush your soul, but generally most of the negative criticism comes from within the studio, and it's not necessarily negative criticism, it's more like, we have a critiquing process, which is what's working, what's not working, and that's with everything you do, and that's just part of the job. It doesn't effect me emotionally or make me like not sleep at night...
But honestly usually the hardest critiques are ourselves.
Absolutely.
The person making the art is usually the hardest critiquer, I find. Usually it's the other people that are telling him it's, what do I always say, how many artists does it take to screw in a lightbulb? It takes 10, one to screw it in, another 9 to tell him it looks okay, and it's bright enough. That's just, you know... Even when it's done, I'm still critiquing it.
It's so hard to hear a bunch of artists be like, oh man, this looks so bad I can't believe I did this, I really screwed up this project, and then posted it, and then all the fans be like this is amazing, this is the greatest thing, and like, you like that?
and you look at it for so long though, sometimes you lose sight because you get caught up and you know all the issues, and you step back, and someone says that looks great, and you're like... what? I just...
There's that one wobbly line in the back that no-one ever noticed but you were zoomed in on that area...
No... no... you guys notice it.
Oh yeah, that's a whole 'nother beast. Star Citizen fans are... they just pin it, rip it apart...
They want it good.
That kind of caliber won't shoot that kind of bullet, and you're just like, augh, I'm just a concept artist I don't know man, but ah... it looks cool, right? Yeah. It's not too bad. It's not like we're losing sleep at night.
No, I don't lose sleep at night.