Years ago while attending a commercial art class a fellow student and I were discussing comic book artists we admired. This fellow student was not only a comic book fan but, also a very gifted artist. He had exceptional skills in penciling, inking, and coloring. Like many experienced artists he chose give me some advice about comic book artwork which I was happy to receive until a certain topic came into our discussion. I spoke of an artist whose work inspired me. This was an artist whose work my classmate heartily disliked. His main complaint was that this particular artist's work had "no motion". By that he meant that the character's drawn by this artist were posing in positions rather than showing any strong illusion of movement. I respected my associate's opinion and still stood by mine. Agreeing to disagree with me would have been proper thing to do, however what he did was look at me somewhat distastefully and said "I will break you of that." It seemed that this man could not accept the fact that someone had views that differed from his but, what's worse is his words seemed to indicate that he chose to change my way of thinking through force. It reminded me of others who chose to force people to change their way of thinking like Hitler and Stalin. Needless to say I never spoke to this man about comic books again.
Years since then my artistic knowledge has grown and I still disagree with that man. His criticism of the artist I admired may have had some merit, but that doesn't mean I had to submit to his way of thinking. I'm pleased with the creative direction I've chosen and accept the fact that there will always be those that oppose it.
So what's my point? It's important to listen to criticism if you want to improve as an artist, but always remember that you are in the driver's seat. Decide for yourself which criticism you receive is the type that works for you and which is pure junk. And if you encounter someone with creative viewpoints that differ from yours' resist the temptation to try to change their opinions with threats of force. I don't believe that Jesus Christ would approve of that.
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I've been teaching art students at the Kubert School for 22 years now, and one of the first things I say at the beginning of each school year is, "Each of you has his or her own tastes, and it is not for me to tell what you to like or dislike in art. However, you will very likely modify your tastes as you learn in this class and others, and by the end of your schooling some of you may come to appreciate certain artists in a way you hadn't previously since you'll have so much more of an insider's view to the process of picture making as well as sequential storytelling. Conversely, you'll likely hold a number of artists in lesser esteem when you perceive that they're quite lacking in certain areas (be it in composition, design, anatomy, perspective, surface rendering, color selections, etc.)." And over the years this has proven to be the case, time and again. But it was never due to anyone being coerced. They each had their own artistic epiphany in their own time. How much more precious is it when people come to a personal revelation of the love of God through His Son Jesus Christ by the wooing of the Holy Spirit! Now that's a treasure that will never fade.
Kind regards in Christ Jesus,
Alec