As many of our members have discovered, there is great opportunity for improvement in both giving and receiving comments! This feature will spotlight a few of the amazing members of ProjectComment for an entire month: every week they will answer a different question to showcase their experience with giving and receiving comments and how that has improved their experiences as artists and in the DeviantArt community in general. 
What's an example of great, constructive feedback that you received? What specifically in that comment helped you to improve?
~ Blue-F-PhoenixI have received many many great comments, so I find it difficult to single it out. But OfficialFendama's comment might have been one of the first ones that pointed out my issue clearly in this piece:
At the time I thought it was a great piece, but then I realized how I never pay attention to the light source, which has been pointed out to me many times since. That comment led me to start doing value studies like this.
I still struggle with the light unless I am using a photo reference though.
~ RWalykI think CiCi-Arts's comment was one that I found immensely helpful. I'd just gotten back into drawing, and took a stab at the digital side of things, so I was wading in pretty unfamiliar waters. What I like the most about the comment is not just pointing out what needed work, but also how it could be improved on. For example, they say "...your shading also doesn't seem to know where it's coming from... I'd expect shadows along the right side of his body... [and with] the shadow of his face against his neck, you would think that the shadow under his arms would be longer as well". It gave me more motivation, and I give considerably more thought to lighting and the concept of body blocking (as the commenter would go on to mention) in all the sketches since then.
~ ZenKage151I believe one of the best examples of a professional, constructive feedback would be for my deviation of one of my OCs named loar.
OhAnon gave me balanced criticism both good and bad aspects of my drawing, and when I receive that kind of criticism, it boosts my confidence as an artist. Along with the critique, they even gave me a link to a program I could better utilize called "Krita". their positive attitude towards my passion was also helpful, like when they wrote, "Okay, so what I like about the drawing the most is the pose. Being a struggling artist myself I know how hard it is to draw poses haha. But anyway good job on that, and that hair style is looking pretty cool." It was a casual way of approaching the positives and negatives of the piece. I really liked the response, I could tell they actually spent time thinking about it and trying to assist me.
~ NinorabbiThis comment by TheBaekhoRanger is a really good example as it goes deeper into the interpretation and idea and concept of the image. I appreciate a lot technical and execution-wise advices but when somebody takes the time to actually think about what i tried to do here and interprets away thats really interesting. I think a strangers opinion really matters, and even more when they try to go further than the most obvious graphical pros and cons. A nice pose, lighting and the technical execution make up for a bad/no concept but I think when you reach professional standards (I am definitely not there yet) the technical execution is something that everybody expects, and after that its the concept which matters in judging the piece. I wont say that my concept in this piece is super deep, but I gave it some thought, and there were some things that were not totally thought through such as the electrical apple,, and the dumb cables hanging down from it. not the best idea, could have found some better idea to connect the dwarfs, the apple and Snow white. So thats an example for a comment I appreciated.
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~ scorpion016This comment really helped me with my future trees in this project. The-Wandering-Bird gave me both helpful compliments and critiques, which both come in handy. By pointing out to me how she thinks "the textured swirls within the colors is very relaxing" and how the details help "guiding my eye along winding paths", she showed me what it is about the piece that lets people enjoy it, so I can make sure that I incorporate those attributes in the future. Her critique that the "lavender fields are not very well defined" showed me that what I saw as so obvious in my mind simply wasn't coming through on the canvas. I needed more definition, and I made a point of clarifying and detailing those areas more in the future, like the tufts of grass and the bundles of vines on "The Lonely Willow".
Commenter Bios and Art
Blue-F-Phoenix - I'm a Japanese artist. I love dark and mysterious art that tells a story
RWalyk - Even though I have terrible Icanneverfinishanything-itis, I'm always overflowing with new ideas and with jokes that are guaranteed to make your eyes roll.
ZenKage151 - I'm an aspiring artist and character designer. My greatest passion is creating characters through the medium of digital art. I began learning about art through simplistic cartoons, but let my art talents evolve through more complicated art forms.
Ninorabbi - I am Nicolas Rivero, an Austrian illustrator based in Vienna. I studied architecture, now I work on children books, maps, small magazine stuff, logos, portraits and eventually expose at some comiccon, sometimes work at some architecture studio and draw building plans. At the moment I am trying to create my first comic book, an architectural graphic novel, which is new and exiting for me
scorpion016 - Sam Burns is a digital artist who utilizes technology to produce his works. By mixing various programs, artificial intelligence, and paint simulation into his workflow, he creates highly unique pieces. He is most known for his shocking color use, which he does because he is partially colorblind.
How To Nominate
We are always looking for nominations of deviants who you think should be featured! Note astarayel with the subject "Nomination" and the following information:
Name of Deviant Link to their exceptional comments. (This is great way to give back to a user who has given you fantastic feedback!)You can suggest anyone and everyone at any time and include as many nominations as you want in one note. All nominations will be taken into consideration--if your nomination isn't featured immediately, it may still be featured in a future news article!
astarayel, posting on behalf of ProjectComment
