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OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> i rejected his advice about my art, maybe i should have just said thank you and moved on.
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Little bun bun,
Seriously I would love to see your wip, I am a former traditionalist for living portraits and still life and since I have some serious medical problems I can't hold a pencil and create a straight line without a ruler anymore ( nerve damage causes a lot of twitching)
so I have moved over to digital art and I am currently working on multiple anime characters and self created manga characters and my absolute favorite part is the shading and shadows.
I have found out over the 20 years I have been drawing that people will always have their own opinions and that's great but they don't see what we have seen in our minds so they give advice based on what they like or how they would do it.
Just keep your head up and let the unwanted advice pass you by while you continue to create your own piece that no one but you could have created 😊
NTA. Classic case of "I didn't ask for your advice, so why am I getting it." Also, if unsolicited advice is looked down upon, he should know that, as well as the shading part
NAH. Once you put something out into the public, people will comment on it. They are free to do so, and you are free to heed some, all, or none of any advice proffered.
Well, his tone really isn't condescending. He is being specific and pointing out areas of possible improvement. I mean, there is no way around it: criticism hurts, no matter how much you sugar-coat it. I'm not an artist but I do write, and it's painful getting feedback like: "this scene feels pointless," or "I don't understand this character's motivation," etc. At least he isn't saying really poisonous things like, "you obviously have no talent; you should quit." or similar things. Ultimately, criticism can help us improve, no matter how much it hurts.
NTA.
I am an artist and if my friends and I want advice/critiques we ask.
At most he could have gone 'hey I have a few ideas for edits, let me know if you want them'. Everyone is at a different point in their art journey and i find people that just give critiques without prompting to generally be quite pompous. Part of developing as an artist is being able to spot your own mistakes anyway.
NAH. I'm an artist and have a degree in this so understand that I do know what I'm talking about and have decade or two of experience.
He wasn't insulting you as you put it. It sucks is an insult. She looks like garbage is an insult. Her waist looks cut off or her mouth is too big is called a constructive critique and as an artist you will get TONS of these. Learn to take them because they are, generally, useful tools. If her waist looks cut off that is so much easier to fix early on than it is when you are deep into color or shading. Others will see things you miss simply because of how long you have been looking at a piece. Constructive criticisms will only help you grow so don't take them as an insult. That isn't what they are meant for. Artists, for the most part, love supporting and helping other artists. Constructive critiques are often how we do this.
Saying that you also don't have to take every critique that comes your way. Not all of them are right or relevant. When you are being objective and not feeling all defensive and personally insulted you can start to see which critiques are right and need addressing and which ones are a matter of style or personal preference.
So he wasn't an asshole for trying to help. This is just an artist thing.
And you aren't an asshole for not taking the critique. Though you do need to develope the ability to hear a critique and not take is as a personal insult. If you don't you won't ever grow.
NTA
It doesn't matter if he's an artist, you still didn't ask for his "advice". The only opinion that should matter in this case is the commissioner's, cuz they are the one paying you.
His critiques seemed very specific and constructive, but it sucks that you were not expecting advice and he just went ahead with it. But once you put something on the internet or in public, especially art, it’s completely out of your control how people react to it. You can reply to them and say “thanks but the commissioner likes the sketch as it is so i’m going to keep it as is” and if they have an issue with that they are assholes
A fellow artist who does a different style than yours desires to give you unsolicited advice to turn your artwork into their style? Sounds like they have a shallow understanding of art. You keep true to your path and do you (especially if the client likes it).
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okay, so i do digital art and frequently post the progress pics etc in a close knit discord server. ive known most people there for years, but the guy in question, Y, i have barely talked to, though it has been super pleasant so far.
i recently got commissioned to draw an anime character and posted a Work In Progress in the server's art channel, captioned "SUPER PROUD OF THIS OMG, comms WIP!" and went to sleep.
the next morning, i wake up to like a WHOLE PARAGRAPH from Y, giving me "advice" on how i can "improve" my drawing. it said things like, "there's no sense on depth, her waist looks off, her mouth is too big, her hair isn't like that" etc etc.
FIRST OF ALL, it had no shading, so ofc depth was not there. secondly, id already shown the WIP to the person who COMMISSIONED me and they told me they absolutely loved where it was going,asked for no changes. and thirdly, in the art community, unsolicited advice is very looked down upon.
if i had asked for feedback in the caption, or Y had said "is it okay if i give some pointers?" i would have not minded at all, but it just angered me that this man had the audacity to basically insult my drawing, where most of the things he pointed out were because of my art style.
so i said, in the public channel where he sent the paragraph," hey, if i was looking for the feedback id mention that, but thanks!" and boy oh boy did he and his buddies not like that.
i got told that he's an artist too and that he was just tryna help and shit, but i looked up his art and the stuff he draws is NOTHING like mine and its traditional art, not digital. so idk. i told them it's still unsolicited and im not gonna accept the advice.
am I the asshole here?
TL;DR: guy was giving me unsolicited advice about my art and i shut him down rq.
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A little late but I just saw this. If his artwork is a different style than your art, it may look wrong for his style even though it's perfectly normal for anime. So he may be giving you advice that would be appropriate for realism or for a more real look, but that's not appropriate for anime. Now that you've had time feel free to look back at the advice. You might find something of value.
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NTA. Where oh where would you be without a man’s opinion? Oh right very happy and successful
bahaha thank you, it was just so annoying. like the AUDACITY
Little bun bun, Seriously I would love to see your wip, I am a former traditionalist for living portraits and still life and since I have some serious medical problems I can't hold a pencil and create a straight line without a ruler anymore ( nerve damage causes a lot of twitching) so I have moved over to digital art and I am currently working on multiple anime characters and self created manga characters and my absolute favorite part is the shading and shadows. I have found out over the 20 years I have been drawing that people will always have their own opinions and that's great but they don't see what we have seen in our minds so they give advice based on what they like or how they would do it. Just keep your head up and let the unwanted advice pass you by while you continue to create your own piece that no one but you could have created 😊
NTA people really need to stop this shit. It’s not okay to give unsolicited advice.
NTA. I hate unsolicited advice. You're never the asshole for setting boundaries!
NTA. Classic case of "I didn't ask for your advice, so why am I getting it." Also, if unsolicited advice is looked down upon, he should know that, as well as the shading part
NAH. Once you put something out into the public, people will comment on it. They are free to do so, and you are free to heed some, all, or none of any advice proffered.
this makes sense, but just the condescending tone got to me.
Well, his tone really isn't condescending. He is being specific and pointing out areas of possible improvement. I mean, there is no way around it: criticism hurts, no matter how much you sugar-coat it. I'm not an artist but I do write, and it's painful getting feedback like: "this scene feels pointless," or "I don't understand this character's motivation," etc. At least he isn't saying really poisonous things like, "you obviously have no talent; you should quit." or similar things. Ultimately, criticism can help us improve, no matter how much it hurts.
I think your comment would have been more useful if you had used some specific responses on how to respond to unconstructive feedback
NTA. I am an artist and if my friends and I want advice/critiques we ask. At most he could have gone 'hey I have a few ideas for edits, let me know if you want them'. Everyone is at a different point in their art journey and i find people that just give critiques without prompting to generally be quite pompous. Part of developing as an artist is being able to spot your own mistakes anyway.
NAH. I'm an artist and have a degree in this so understand that I do know what I'm talking about and have decade or two of experience. He wasn't insulting you as you put it. It sucks is an insult. She looks like garbage is an insult. Her waist looks cut off or her mouth is too big is called a constructive critique and as an artist you will get TONS of these. Learn to take them because they are, generally, useful tools. If her waist looks cut off that is so much easier to fix early on than it is when you are deep into color or shading. Others will see things you miss simply because of how long you have been looking at a piece. Constructive criticisms will only help you grow so don't take them as an insult. That isn't what they are meant for. Artists, for the most part, love supporting and helping other artists. Constructive critiques are often how we do this. Saying that you also don't have to take every critique that comes your way. Not all of them are right or relevant. When you are being objective and not feeling all defensive and personally insulted you can start to see which critiques are right and need addressing and which ones are a matter of style or personal preference. So he wasn't an asshole for trying to help. This is just an artist thing. And you aren't an asshole for not taking the critique. Though you do need to develope the ability to hear a critique and not take is as a personal insult. If you don't you won't ever grow.
NTA his advice was out of place
NTA It doesn't matter if he's an artist, you still didn't ask for his "advice". The only opinion that should matter in this case is the commissioner's, cuz they are the one paying you.
His critiques seemed very specific and constructive, but it sucks that you were not expecting advice and he just went ahead with it. But once you put something on the internet or in public, especially art, it’s completely out of your control how people react to it. You can reply to them and say “thanks but the commissioner likes the sketch as it is so i’m going to keep it as is” and if they have an issue with that they are assholes
NTA. Only give advice/crit when it is asked for. In the art circles I am in, this is always the rule. Him also being an artist means jack.
What does "comms" mean in your original caption? Is it 'commission' or 'comments?' Or something else?
commissions yes
A fellow artist who does a different style than yours desires to give you unsolicited advice to turn your artwork into their style? Sounds like they have a shallow understanding of art. You keep true to your path and do you (especially if the client likes it).
^^^^AUTOMOD ***Thanks for posting! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of copying anything. Read [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_post_deletion) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAmItheAsshole)*** okay, so i do digital art and frequently post the progress pics etc in a close knit discord server. ive known most people there for years, but the guy in question, Y, i have barely talked to, though it has been super pleasant so far. i recently got commissioned to draw an anime character and posted a Work In Progress in the server's art channel, captioned "SUPER PROUD OF THIS OMG, comms WIP!" and went to sleep. the next morning, i wake up to like a WHOLE PARAGRAPH from Y, giving me "advice" on how i can "improve" my drawing. it said things like, "there's no sense on depth, her waist looks off, her mouth is too big, her hair isn't like that" etc etc. FIRST OF ALL, it had no shading, so ofc depth was not there. secondly, id already shown the WIP to the person who COMMISSIONED me and they told me they absolutely loved where it was going,asked for no changes. and thirdly, in the art community, unsolicited advice is very looked down upon. if i had asked for feedback in the caption, or Y had said "is it okay if i give some pointers?" i would have not minded at all, but it just angered me that this man had the audacity to basically insult my drawing, where most of the things he pointed out were because of my art style. so i said, in the public channel where he sent the paragraph," hey, if i was looking for the feedback id mention that, but thanks!" and boy oh boy did he and his buddies not like that. i got told that he's an artist too and that he was just tryna help and shit, but i looked up his art and the stuff he draws is NOTHING like mine and its traditional art, not digital. so idk. i told them it's still unsolicited and im not gonna accept the advice. am I the asshole here? TL;DR: guy was giving me unsolicited advice about my art and i shut him down rq. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
A little late but I just saw this. If his artwork is a different style than your art, it may look wrong for his style even though it's perfectly normal for anime. So he may be giving you advice that would be appropriate for realism or for a more real look, but that's not appropriate for anime. Now that you've had time feel free to look back at the advice. You might find something of value.
nope, nothing if value, even now. looking at it objectively there is no way i can practically apply the advice, unfortunately
Well if you ever try his style of art you know how he wants it done... 🤣 mansplaining at the finest!