A small make-over?

[humble-tomato]

A few years back, my daily habit was to visit Penciljack to read posts with any crits. By studying and analyzing others' works and crits, I could see myself improving and I loved the daily task.

Recently the submissions asking for crits diminished and I found myself not visiting the forum as much.

I think the great strength of this forum is many members' devotion to helping others in the form of crits and draw-overs. And we have great members like Smitty, Bruce Lee, and many others with hawk eyes.

Nowadays many people tend to post to show off their work and promote, not for crits. And sometimes people get offended if they get crits. Some members decide to not criticize because they don't want to be hated.

So.... I was thinking what if we create a new forum category that's only for posts asking for crits.

I know our current forums do state posters should assume crits can be given, but looking at the current state, I think a new method might be worthwhile.

If it's something that's possible or favorable, I'd love to help out as a moderator. (Not sure if that's possible but just throwing it out there)

So what do ya all think?

[pell]

That's pretty much what the Laboratories section of the forum is about. When someone posts there, especially in Finished Work, Sketches & Works in Progress and Sequential Art, they are pretty much saying "Critique me, please". And people are always free, and often do, come right out and request critiques and draw-overs. I don't read all of the threads, but I've been seeing a good bit of critiquing going on recently and the recipients responding to it in a positive way. We could always use more activity, of course, but that's how forums are all over the web.

It's up to the site owner to appoint moderators, but we're not really short on moderators for the amount of activity we get these days. In fact, as I type this I'm the only PencilJack member logged in at 5:30pm on a Friday afternoon.

[Smitty]

Danger, Danger - Grumpy Old Man Alert - Run Away!!

If people want to be fawned over, let them stick to Deviant Art.

I understand showing some restraint in the blog section (like drawing in someone else's sketchbook) but, beating each other up in a good way, seeing what others who love the art form as much as we do have to say about what we've done is why we come to the PJ clubhouse.

We're supposed to be art buddies here and buddies are supposed to tell you when you have broccoli in your teeth or TP stuck to your shoe. You don't wait for tomorrow or the end of the evening, you're supposed to say something NOW, "Hey, DUDE, your skirts tucked into your panty hose and you're flashing your hairy ass to the crowd!"

Or, is that something you'd rather find out tomorrow when someone posts it on Twitter?

[ChrisH]

A few years back, my daily habit was to visit Penciljack to read posts with any crits. By studying and analyzing others' works and crits, I could see myself improving and I loved the daily task.

Recently the submissions asking for crits diminished and I found myself not visiting the forum as much.

I think the great strength of this forum is many members' devotion to helping others in the form of crits and draw-overs. And we have great members like Smitty, Bruce Lee, and many others with hawk eyes.

Nowadays many people tend to post to show off their work and promote, not for crits. And sometimes people get offended if they get crits. Some members decide to not criticize because they don't want to be hated.

So.... I was thinking what if we create a new forum category that's only for posts asking for crits.

I know our current forums do state posters should assume crits can be given, but looking at the current state, I think a new method might be worthwhile.

If it's something that's possible or favorable, I'd love to help out as a moderator. (Not sure if that's possible but just throwing it out there)

So what do ya all think?

I think this is where we separate the men (and ladies) from the babies. If someone gets offended over a little criticism, they can either try harder or go elsewhere. If you can't make it here, you definitely won't make it out there.

[humble-tomato]

I just think it needs some kind of upgrade to boost more traffic of posters who seek crits, out of my love of this forum.

[amadarwin]

the lack of traffic doesn't have anything to do with not having a category for crits, imo. Many ppl have moved on to other platforms that either focus on themselves and their work, or platforms that aren't really designed to act as a forum (like discord).

At the bare minimum, upgrading the forum would need to solve many of the current issues members are having first, like getting flagged as spam, or needing approval for posts, among many other things.

If you want to see change, be the change. Start critting more, start posting more. With any luck, ppl will follow in your footsteps, and the community can grow once again.

[Jim]

Danger, Danger - Grumpy Old Man Alert - Run Away!!

If people want to be fawned over, let them stick to Deviant Art.

I understand showing some restraint in the blog section (like drawing in someone else's sketchbook) but, beating each other up in a good way, seeing what others who love the art form as much as we do have to say about what we've done is why we come to the PJ clubhouse.

We're supposed to be art buddies here and buddies are supposed to tell you when you have broccoli in your teeth or TP stuck to your shoe. You don't wait for tomorrow or the end of the evening, you're supposed to say something NOW, "Hey, DUDE, your skirts tucked into your panty hose and you're flashing your hairy ass to the crowd!"

Or, is that something you'd rather find out tomorrow when someone posts it on Twitter?

A criticism is a compliment. The longer the criticism, the more it pulls your work apart, the bigger the compliment. That is someone who believes you have the ability to improve, to be better, and is willing to spend the time telling you how that might happen.

'Lovely piece of work' is... nice, but ultimately useless.

[humble-tomato]

Hey, this thread is still alive!

I really wish something is done to boost more activity.
It's sad I don't come here as often because there are barely new posts and new posters, and that means fewer Smitty's notes

[pell]

Hey, this thread is still alive!

I really wish something is done to boost more activity.
It's sad I don't come here as often because there are barely new posts and new posters, and that means fewer Smitty's notes

You are welcome to join in. In addition to the lab forums you already mentioned, there are several events each month that could use more participation, namely Pummel, EverBrawl and Weekly Sketch Group. Pummel is monthly, EverBrawl is twice a month, and Weekly Sketch Group is, of course, weekly. Countless Penciljack members have improved by regularly producing art of a particular topic by a deadline.

[Jim]

You are welcome to join in. In addition to the lab forums you already mentioned, there are several events each month that could use more participation, namely Pummel, EverBrawl and Weekly Sketch Group. Pummel is monthly, EverBrawl is twice a month, and Weekly Sketch Group is, of course, weekly. Countless Penciljack members have improved by regularly producing art of a particular topic by a deadline.

This is true! But we come and go. I get enough commissions and work now to keep myself busy, and while I've a lot of learning to do, I can't commit to WSG or Pummel or anything. PJ holds a special place in my heart, but without new (young) blood coming in, that energy of the early days isn't going to return.

I'm not going to be all doom and gloom and say that the outdated forum software and format isn't helping in this fast-paced age of social platforms, but PJ is really an unsteered ship. Without a strong voice at the top, making decisions and changes to attempt to build the community back up, I don't see this place exploding any time soon.

[mattshults]

For what it’s worth, I try to actually recommend to other artists that they visit Penciljack. Taking into account how rarely I post here (or anywhere, really), I always appreciate the high-level critique I get here. I’m already a pretty good artist, and it’s really hard to find a place that will tell you “this piece is so good, but so and so is off.” I don’t know if the artists I refer ever show up here… people these days just seem to want to hear how good they are, and not how much better they could be.