That one critique about my color palette turned out to be gold

A random commenter on my last piece told me my shadows were way too muddy. I was annoyed at first because I thought I nailed the lighting. But I went back and desaturated everything by like 15 percent and it made the whole thing pop. Has anyone else had a stranger on the internet give you better feedback than your own friends?

3 comments

3 Comments

wyatt_mitchell261d ago

Mia's totally right about the sugarcoating thing. Friends will say "oh it looks great" while strangers are out here trying to save your whole piece from the muddy shadow zone. Honestly it's kind of freeing when someone you don't know just drops a brutally honest tip like that, no fear of awkward coffee meetups later. Plus there's zero pressure to pretend you agree with them (unlike when your bestie gives advice). That desaturation trick sounds like a winner though, maybe I should start posting my WIPs with a "roast me" disclaimer.

the_lisa1d ago

Yeah I actually read this article the other day about how people are more honest with strangers because they don't have to deal with the social fallout later. It makes so much sense when you think about it. Like your friend has to see you at dinner next week so they're not going to tell you your painting looks like a muddy mess even if that's exactly what it needs. But some random person online? They can just drop that truth bomb and move on with their life. I've been trying that desaturation thing too by the way and it really does help spot the problem areas, especially when you flip it to black and white for a second to check your values. The "roast me" disclaimer is genius honestly because it sets the tone right away so nobody has to feel bad about being harsh.

mia7001d ago

Strangers don't sugarcoat things. That's why their feedback hits harder sometimes. Maybe it's just me but I trust random critiques more than friends who don't want to hurt feelings.