Being self critical with your artwork

[Sherlock77]

Recently I heard an interesting interview with Donovan Bailey, a Canadian 100M sprinter who won a gold medal at the Olympics a few years ago, also breaking a world record in the process...

But the point of this is actually a comment he made during that interview... Despite breaking a world record and getting that gold medal, he said that he can look at that tape and find things he could have done better (improve on a world record? )

It made me think of my photography, I tend to be very critical about it, I will notice things I messed up, an area of really bright highlights on an otherwise interesting moment, some distracting background elements I don't like much... But am I the only one seeing what I consider to be a flaw?

Or is that a good artistic trait to have? I do think that sometimes something artistic doesn't always have to be perfect, that there can be a storytelling element that trumps any technical flaws

 

[Judge]

Or is that a good artistic trait to have? I do think that sometimes something artistic doesn't always have to be perfect, that there can be a storytelling element that trumps any technical flaws

Absolutely.

Though in only the last few years have I begun to grasp the reality that most people either do not see extreme detail or simply don't care about it. For me it's something I cannot ignore.

To me this is an asset. Reminds me of a line from the movie "Terminator 2". Where John Connor asks the Terminator if he can see anything while driving in the dark without lights. He replies, "I see everything".

When it comes to something graphical in nature, IMO words cannot replace imagery.

 

[watersprite]

It’s good to a point. Don’t let your negatives or postives start fighting as the energy obviously goes down the t.

It’s ideal to have a community of artists who are intelligent & able to participate in actual constructive criticism of each other’s work.
This keeps you (all) fresh. Less likely to “list to port,” or starboard.

Barring that, put work aside if after viewing it in a mirror, you aren’t sure about it.

always remember it’s a process

 

[Sherlock77]

...
Though in only the last few years have I begun to grasp the reality that most people either do not see extreme detail or simply don't care about it. For me it's something I cannot ignore.

To me this is an asset. Reminds me of a line from the movie "Terminator 2". Where John Connor asks the Terminator if he can see anything while driving in the dark without lights. He replies, "I see everything".
...

Yup! And I do realize that non-photographers don't generally have the same sense of such things, but at least realize it...

 

[Sherlock77]

It’s good to a point. Don’t let your negatives or postives start fighting as the energy obviously goes down the t.

It’s ideal to have a community of artists who are intelligent & able to participate in actual constructive criticism of each other’s work.
This keeps you (all) fresh. Less likely to “list to port,” or starboard.

Barring that, put work aside if after viewing it in a mirror, you aren’t sure about it.

always remember it’s a process

Yes... I don't have that community much, my main problem being that I'm a loner in life in general... I suspect I have photos I have set aside, that might be really good that I glossed by because I feel they are too imperfect (in terms of the technical sense)

 

[watersprite]

There was that poster, of the loneliness of the long distance runner... the artist &/or craftsperson is also lonely.

We, in general, are after - thrive on - attention but not any kind. It’s invalid when we detect any kind of insincerety.

To best keep energy flowing I am ptetty sure we have to show our work. Our hearts are therefore at risk when we do so.

The best flow is available when we can come out into the open, get support (& money ideally) and then retreat to find the safe quiet we have to exist within to find a creative center again.

Sorry if I am stating the obvious.

 

[Sherlock77]

There was that poster, of the loneliness of the long distance runner... the artist &/or craftsperson is also lonely.

We, in general, are after - thrive on - attention but not any kind. It’s invalid when we detect any kind of insincerety.

To best keep energy flowing I am ptetty sure we have to show our work. Our hearts are therefore at risk when we do so.

The best flow is available when we can come out into the open, get support (& money ideally) and then retreat to find the safe quiet we have to exist within to find a creative center again.

Sorry if I am stating the obvious.

That's not exactly what I'm meaning, I'm thinking more of having a high standard (which I should in my opinion), but sometimes when I post something of lower quality - shall we say - sometimes it gets far more hits than my better photos...

But that could be because also because a basic classic car photo has everyone going crazy (mostly because of the car), where I would prefer a different more creative photo which not everyone will understand

 

[watersprite]

When some express that they love or like a piece of work and others are completely uninterested, unaffected, it is not necessarily helpful or applicable to your artworks’ value to you as the artist who produces, who is in and part of the process.
The product becomes a public object, separate from the process once it’s finished and out for viewing.
I get variously emotional and then detached from all this, as well as confused & in a kind of limbo in between.

 

[Judge]

Yup! And I do realize that non-photographers don't generally have the same sense of such things, but at least realize it...

In terms of artists who create their images from scratch, probably most of them would emphasize the message of what they are trying to get across rather than the mechanics of how it is done.

However I gave this a bit more thought and smiled at the likelihood of say how Pablo Picasso (and many other impressionists) might agree, while artists like Patrick Nagel might be more in the same camp as a photographer or graphic artist. That with his art, those mechanics matter a great deal based on his particular style.

PATRICK NAGEL :: ILLUSTRATION & PRINTS

Pablo Picasso (Pablo Ruiz Picasso) - Guernica

 

[Sherlock77]

For example...

Photo #1 An old Mercedes-Benz at cruise night, it shows what it is, is a rather boring photo otherwise, if I posted it car guys would "like" the photo to death because it's a car photo

Photo #2 Same car, a little more dynamic with the motion, plus the diagonal for visual interest, a little more of my interpretation, I like getting cars away from the straight lineup, I have a feeling that this one might be less popular in general, maybe I'm wrong

Photo #3 and #4 In many ways far more subtle, it's how I analyze parking lot scenes at car meets, easier done at the end of the meet when car have started leaving, both of these are photos of the same scene at roughly the same time... This is where the non-photographer, even other photographers don't seem to understand it, I have eyeballed the scene and seen a pattern I like, it's not just random, but try telling that to other people

 

[Judge]

For example...

Photo #1 An old Mercedes-Benz at cruise night, it shows what it is, is a rather boring photo otherwise, if I posted it car guys would "like" the photo to death because it's a car photo

View attachment 68480

Photo #2 Same car, a little more dynamic with the motion, plus the diagonal for visual interest, a little more of my interpretation, I like getting cars away from the straight lineup, I have a feeling that this one might be less popular in general, maybe I'm wrong

View attachment 68481

Photo #3 and #4 In many ways far more subtle, it's how I analyze parking lot scenes at car meets, easier done at the end of the meet when car have started leaving, both of these are photos of the same scene at roughly the same time... This is where the non-photographer, even other photographers don't seem to understand it, I have eyeballed the scene and seen a pattern I like, it's not just random, but try telling that to other people

View attachment 68484
View attachment 68485

Looks like you're getting into a more sophisticated realm of marketing considerations.

Where images are intended to enlighten- even manipulate an audience rather than merely please them.

I once worked in the marketing dept. of a corporate name that everyone here has likely heard of. Observed so many deliberate processes hidden behind various images.

 

[Wulven]

This thought pattern extends into written works as well.

 

[Sherlock77]

Looks like you're getting into a more sophisticated realm of marketing considerations.

Where images are intended to enlighten- even manipulate an audience rather than merely please them.

Not at all, sticking with the classic car theme, at a car meet or out in public I will photograph an unusual car, or something I find interesting just to get the photo, but I love finding a more creative way to take the photo if that's possible, and it isn't always possible... But I've seen it in car groups, most car guys are rather happy with an average photo of a classic car, a photo that has very little creativity... Those people seem to get far more likes than I do, this photo above? I probably wouldn't post it to social media, because it's too ordinary as a photo itself... And I do realize that most people don't have the creative element I have...

 

[Sherlock77]

Actually this post more reflects my original thought, I took this photo recently, they are all friends of mine, the highlights on the arm bug me, to me they stand out like a sore thumb, but I still posted it somewhere... When I showed it to one friend, who is a photographer, he loved it despite the flaw I see... But is there a story there? I've come to realize that is a big part of any image...

 

[Judge]

the highlights on the arm bug me, to me they stand out like a sore thumb, but I still posted it somewhere...

I know the feeling. There's so much that can be overlooked while peering through a camera's viewfinder.

Sometimes you just have to digitally intervene. Though in the absence of having not been there, subduing such highlights is often a matter of improvisation and studying how the light falls and little else. Though in accordance with this thread, most people wouldn't even notice. But yeah, people like ourselves notice.

If the weather isn't conducive to my picture, I'm apt to change it if and when possible. Mother Nature probably hates me.

 

[Streetwise]

Yup! And I do realize that non-photographers don't generally have the same sense of such things, but at least realize it...

Nope it's perfectionism

 

[Judge]

Nope it's perfectionism

Yeah. I think this is at the heart of the matter in most cases. Whether it's neurologically driven or professionally driven. Or perhaps some may argue that they can be one and the same.

I know in my own case how profoundly my OCD shapes who and what I am. For better and for worse. Where it's purely a pathological process for me and on occasion I hate that.