a rough critique

So…I’ve been thinking about going back to finally get my Masters of Fine Arts degree in painting. This week has been busy getting together a portfolio and sending it off to two important arty people for a critique. It has been nerve-wracking to say the least. I got my first set of feedback yesterday and it was worse than I expected. I won’t go into the nitty-gritty of the whole critique, because ouch!, who really wants to rewrite that for the internets.

Art is such a dysfunctional occupation in some ways. Artists typically are the most sensitive of people (I know I am), you put your heart into your work, and yet to be an artist it seems you have to put yourself and your work out there to be torn apart either in critiques, reviews or shows. Why do we do this to ourselves, people?! I yearn for my high school art days and the oreo type critique: Positive, An area to be improved, Positive. Even if you have to stack all the oreos to get your whole “improvement” sections in there, it might lighten the blow a bit. Geeeez….

So I’m giving myself a day to lick my wounds, catch up on some internet marketing type things (has anyone ever used BlueCanvas, or RAWartist portfolio platforms?? I’m trying both right now, I’ll let you know how it goes), and post my newest in progress piece. This is a different direction for me. I’m trying to push the whole surreal thing a bit more. We’ll see how the painting turns out, but I had a lot of fun with the drawing. Does anybody else have tips on how to bounce back after a rough critique?