almost done with packing I want to get back into creating mini stuff, have tonnes of ideas swimming in this cranium, but i keep getting distracted cos there's a pesky demon that needs to be handled anyone else in on the Diablo 3 craze!??!?!? I really should know better than to risk ruining my wrists again like D2 did, but meh........PEWPEWPEW!



that aside, a recent thread on a forum i visit (semi-)regularly brought up an interesting topic on critiques and criticisms, especially the unsolicited sort. the basic point was that (or i think, i'm really bad at comprehension ) since us miniaturists make copies of real life food,  it's quite frustrating to get comments that go along the lines of "this is too big" or "that colour is different" due to the fact that food comes in all sorts of sizes and shapes. not to mention the cultural differences.

for example:
from what i know, pancakes in Japan are generally thicker and smaller than the flat huge round ones more commonly seen in America, and judging from what i've observed, a lot lighter coloured too. i also prefer to have my pancakes a little darker in real life, i enjoy the caramelized aroma and taste.

however, if i were to make a mini version, it would be lighter coloured only cos dark colours are not as aesthetically pleasing to me as a golden hue. and now let's take it further and say, maybe the pancake i'm making is to a customer's specification, and the photographs provided are to dimensions they are more familiar with in their lives.

so let's say, i post a photo of the completed up works here. i don't want to, nor feel the urge to put up an artist statement explaining my motivations, inspirations, etc because

1) i don't feel yet like an artist, though i do now consider myself an artisan and not just 'crafty'
2) i use dA more as a portfolio of works
3) there's not much to explain. sometimes, it is what it is. if maybe i could have fooled someone into thinking my works was real food, all the better. *shrugs*
4) the photo was taken to show my customer, as i used to do mostly commissioned work TO MY CUSTOMERS' SPECIFICATIONS

caps for emphasis.

i'm not sure what the 'social convention' or 'unspoken rule'  or whatever hell social norm is on dA is on commenting is, but for me, in general, unless i know the artist pretty well or that critiques have been requested, i offer nothing but my gut reaction to the work, edited to remove any nuance of criticism XD i didn't know better in very very early of my days of mini-learning, because back then i hadn't understood the frustrations of resisting the urge to explain myself to every single comment.

i'm not saying that i do not welcome comments or opinions, i read every single one and appreciate them, but i also -know- intrinsically that it's impossible to please EVERYBODY, and -almost- everybody's a critic XD but this topic did make me wonder, how different and difficult is it to proffer an opinion where alot of the work miniaturists do is essentially a copy or mimicry of real life items, and is totally subjective? is it possible to offer an objective opinion?

how do you handle comments/opinions/feedback, and how does it differ if you are from a different 'field' of art?

i hope this hasn't been too difficult or confusing to understand, i haven't used the critical thinking portion of my weak brain in a while, and woke up not long ago (which might be a good thing, i'm less likely to censor myself)