I know what you mean.
Once someone showed me their paintings and he was very proud of them. Then dumb me, I stuck my foot in my mouth.
I told him that I give painting lessons. (oops.)
I find out that he wanted me to say WOW and praise his work, but I didn't do that. I offered to teach him how to paint.
He has a huge male ego also so that didn't help.
Sometimes I think its better to keep my mouth shut and just ask the artist to evaluate their own work and tell me what kind of work they would like to be doing.
Ask them where they want to take their art. Do they want it as career or do they simply enjoy it as a past time.
If they want a career in art, ask them to be more specific. What do they want to do?
Sometimes an artist does not even have to be great to make a living at it. They just need to find the right outlet or the right use for thieir work.
Jeanie,
See herein lies the problem, my guy and sister do get paid. Her boyfriend WANTS to get paid. His stuff ranges from sketches of skulls and things that remind me of every 11th grade boy with angst, he does air brushing of teddy bears and unicorns that remind me very much of the stuff that you buy at Magic Mountain when I worked there - just grind out the same thing over over with I love you and stuff or John (hearts) Mary or something, AND he does this stuff that looks like bad tattoo shop to me. It's ALWAYS a variation on flowers usually roses (the same rose each time), hearts, and he does this thing where he sort of makes angel feather wings.
I mean I was an ART HISTORY major at one time before pursuing science and also an English major at one time. MIND YOU I SAID ART HISTORY because I do not have good hand eye coordination or fine motor skills. I know my limits. I can tell you about all kinds of weird exotic art and concepts (never took standard art history `101 or anything like that always like Asian, African, Meso American, etc). I have TRIED just about every medium FOR FUN. I stink but I have tried it so I understand it.
Oh the radio, they asked what two colors go fastest in the crayon box and I am screaming "BLACK AND RED FOLLOWED BY BLUE AND YELLOW. BLACK FOR SHADING THEN THE THREE PRIMARY COLORS WITH RED BEING THE MOST COMMONLY USED!!" LOL. I did not call in because they were Legoland tickets which I figured somebody with kids should win.
I have a very good eye. I have always been around artists.
So my little sister who I think is more talented than this guy, thinks he is so amazing. She does "pretty and cute" but she is really is good. It's our older sister who has the exhibitions. I mean truly if anybody in that relationship COULD make money, it's my sister if she chose to go into children's illustrations.
I purposely do not review other people's art or writing unless they ask 85% of the time unless I know they are on the same page as me.
Like my poetry on here is ridiculously silly and bad but it's raw so some people like it. But I am not trying to make money. I am paid for for non-fiction articles. That's it. And sometimes photographs that go with the articles which is silly because I am not a photographer. I can just frame things.
Edited by
teadipper
on Wed 12/28/11 01:33 PM