Artstore is a blog about getting professional art critiques. We review art critique services and provide tips on how to get art critiques.
Artstore is a blog about getting professional art critiques. We review art critique services and provide tips on how to get art critiques. Here you can find the best places to get painting critiques, sculpture critiques and other types of critiques from professionals at a reasonable price. We also offer advice on how to choose a service that suits your needs best.
Tired of struggling with your painting or sculpture? Need help? Get instant advice from a qualified arts critic who will tell you what your piece needs to improve it!
Blogger: Christina Pappas
I have decided to start a blog called “How To Get Art Critiques”. I have been getting requests from artists who want to know how they can get their art critiqued by professionals to help improve their artwork.
I am going to be writing about how to get art critiques on the blog and will be giving my opinion and advice on the subject.
The reason why I am doing this is that I like helping artists improve their work, and also want to help increase communication between professional artists and amateur artists.
My name is Patrick and I am an artist. My mediums include: pencil, pen, inks, acrylics, oils and sculpture. I have shown my art in galleries and have sold paintings to individuals.
My blog is called “How To Get Art Critiques” because my goal is to offer artists critiques so they can improve their work. Sometimes this means pointing out a technical flaw or a stylistic choice that will improve their work. Sometimes it means having to say your art “isn’t working.”
As an artist, I know how difficult getting honest critiques can be. You may be afraid of people not liking your art (or yourself.) Or you may be concerned that you aren’t ready for critique. I want to help artists develop themselves and get better at what they do.
I’m going to try to summarize my process for getting art critiques and how it’s helped me.
Step 1: Get a local art group
If you’re in the US, check out your local art store. There are a lot of great ones that actually have critique sessions, such as Jerry’s Artarama and Dick Blick (which also has online critiques). You can also go to the store and ask about their critique group (or any other local group you find). The nice thing about going through an actual store is that they will let you crash their critique session, so you don’t have to host your own.
Once you’ve found a place to hang out, show up at the open critique session and introduce yourself. Tell everyone what kind of work you do, but don’t be pushy or obnoxious about it. Just say something like “I’m an artist and I’m looking to improve my skills. Would anyone be willing to take a look at my work and tell me what they think?”. If people seem interested, ask them if they’d be willing to look at your work later or on another day.
Sometimes if people seem interested but not willing to look at your stuff right away, I’ll give them one of my business cards (from
Whether you are a professional artist or not, getting art critiques and feedback is a great way to improve your skill level. But it can be tough to find the right person to critique your work – someone who will give you honest, constructive criticism without just saying “It’s great!” all the time.
How to get a free art critique:
* Go to the *Art Store*.
* Choose any painting for critique.
* Click on “Leave Comment.”
* Type your email address in the box provided and click “comment”.
* You will receive an email with a link to your painting and your request for a critique.
* When you submit, you will be asked to confirm your email address.
I will try not to miss any requests. But, I do currently only have time to do 3 critiques per day. So, it may be a few days before I get around to yours. If you don’t get an email from me within 24 hours, please check back again later. Thanks!**/
I’m all for learning from criticism, and feedback, and resources like the wonderful books on art technique recommended by Kseniya at her blog. But critique is not instruction. You don’t get better at painting by getting critiques of your paintings; you get better by painting more paintings.
The purpose of critique is to help you see what’s wrong with your work–to help you understand mistakes you’re making so that you can correct them. If a painting isn’t working, it will tell you why in clear language, and give you suggestions on how to fix it. Critique is a place where you get help with problems, not just information about how the world works.
TIP: Before anyone else gives away your secrets, protect yourself with professional-looking watermarks on your images and text (included in PaintShop Pro X8).
I always ask my students not to write about what others have told them about their work; I want them to find out for themselves. Critique can be an invaluable tool for self-discovery because it helps us to understand what doesn’t work–and that’s one of the hardest things to see about one’s own work. It’s useful to remember that true critique comes from understanding. Understanding is the basis of good
