I found a thing

Sifting slowly through some stuff I wrote while posting to Deviantart.  It's about criticism...that's all...

Well, my last digital OC deviation was flawed as ever, but getting the hang of layering functions and quick shading techniques with some expert input from Mr. Boyfriendpants and the YouTubes.  Gentle guidance from the teachers around me is such a huge benefit!  I'm lucky as a casual artist/craftthing to have teachers in my honey for my character sketches and my Dad for my photography.  Both well-versed in the technical stuff, very good teachers, and not afraid to offer constructive criticism with a healthy dose of kindness and support.  It's also nice to know that this support is because they like my stuff, not just because they like me.  They want to see me be the best artist I can be, and they know that it only comes with hard work and experimentation.

I really try when I'm teaching to model what I see them doing for me, acknowledging successes as steps forward and then offering advice for continued improvement.  It seems to work well when students are struggling in the biological sciences as well.  Most students have something that they "get" or that they do well or connect with viscerally, but they don't realize that they can use that as a foundation to get at what they are struggling with.  Sometimes it's that they don't recognize what they are good at, and sometimes they just aren't quite seeing the connection.  I think the role of a teacher is as much to throw light on what a student already does correctly and can use to further themselves, as it is to root out misconceptions and challenges.

This isn't some new-wave teaching foofy clouds and bunnies thing...whatever I mean by that...it's a really effective pathway towards clear, objective, and critical self-assessment.  Too often, we tend to bash ourselves more than necessary for what we do wrong when we are working towards a goal.  This clouds judgement and is just as deluded as thinking we know everything and are the best at what we do already - or that well-intentioned critics just don't get what we're going for.  Objective critique of one's own work is really hard, because we are protective of it and yet often also the harshest critics of it.  Neither perspective is the truth, and both perspectives make it difficult or impossible to move forward and truly improve at anything.

For what it's worth.

Pinnotheres.