Is everyone entitled to their opinon?
Seth Godin nails it on the head with his latest blog post, entitled “Is everyone entitled to their opinion?”
Artists are a sensitive bunch; it’s pretty much how we’re wired. But the fact of the matter is, while people are entitled to their negative (emphasis: mine) opinions – if they don’t buy stuff from you, or if they don’t have significant clout in spreading the word about your work, you’re better off ignoring them.
As artists, we must weigh the source of the opinion before deciding to take it to heart.
Which is exactly what I plan on doing.
-Krishna
These beautiful and intelligent people wrote
Tell me what you think!
ReaderX
April 9, 2012 at 8:16 pmMy Opinion:
I hate your drawing style.
Krishna
April 9, 2012 at 9:19 pmSays the anonymous user using Internet Explorer and Windows Vista.
(I rest my case.)
ReaderY
April 10, 2012 at 7:45 amI am not posting “I don’t listen to persons opinions who do not like my product.”-Article-Links.
If you had just kept this way of doing things to yourself, it would be understandable.
This way you are basically provoking a Reaction.
The Point: You are possibly suffering from confirmation bias. (e.g. you only take notice of affirmative opionions)
The Act of posting this link points out to me that other people also dislike your drawing style and took it upon themselves to write you. (You have to remember: These people probably like your stories and way of thinking.)
On an unrelated note: If you base your opinion of somebody on what operating system and browser somebody uses you are basically propagating operating systemism / browserism (I don’t want to use the R word here.).
Windows has it’s advantages and disadvantages like every other operating system. (Driver Availability and Hardware customizeability would be an advatage for example.)
Krishna
April 10, 2012 at 7:50 amOpinions are one thing. Constructive critiques are another. I’m amenable to constructive feedback. But the opinion: “I hate your drawing style.” statement in the post was simply inflammatory and meant to incite a reaction. Ergo, my response was equally abrasive.
My point being:
I take constructive feedback. If there is a sound reasoning, I will listen. I respond to inflammatory posts in kind.
Update: For the record, you are the only one who has expressed your displeasure with my drawing style. The feedback that merited the article in the first place had to do more with the shift away from tech focused strips to storylines.
ReaderY
April 10, 2012 at 4:00 pmAgain. The Post was a direct Reaction to the Link you posted. It was EXAGGERATED on purpose. (It is also the first example Seth mentions.)
Point being: fans are entitled to their opinion.
They are not entitled to force you to change anything in the comic strip.
(Basically my Problem with this Post lies in your simplification of Seth’s Post.)
I can’t believe that no one has EVER criticized your drawing style.
Also: Your normal visitors utilize your Ads, don’t they? There is also a probability of them indirectly attracting new buyers? Is it really worthless? Are 0815-Visitors really completely without standing in voicing their opinions? (On an unrelated note: There are probably no single complainers. The people who are not voicing their displeasure probably just leave.)
[Are you really that close-minded about Windows?]
Krishna
April 10, 2012 at 4:12 pmUnderstood. Perhaps if you had clarified your response from the very beginning.
Fans are entitled to their opinion. Which is fine. But the point of Seth’s article is that if artists were to take every single opinion into account, it would take away from their own voice – their own creativity. So many artists young and old fall prey to opinions, which suit to taste, and let that weigh on them. The point I am trying to make is that – I’m not writing or drawing for anyone else. If people enjoy it, so be it. If they don’t, that’s perfectly fine.
So let me ask you, if your first point was not, in fact, tongue in cheek. What specifically about my drawing style do you have an issue with? Constructive critique please. If you don’t like the style just because you don’t. Fine. You’re entitled to that opinion.
My style has been critiqued many, many times over the years – but I haven’t really heard any crits to the negative (perhaps people keep this to themselves, as you have pointed out). I never claimed to be anything but a person who likes to cartoon.
I read all opinions, but I choose to filter which ones I act upon. If enough people voice a concern, then I take a closer look. If it’s just one random bloke who throws down a comment (that too, anonymously) and takes off – well, I can’t say I put any weight on that.
I’ve used Windows, Macs and Linux. I have installed and used Vista. It was terrible. Windows 7 is good. I even wrote a blog post saying so. But my opinion shouldn’t matter to you, now should it?
Mike
April 9, 2012 at 9:43 pmI think everyone is entitled to an opinion on anything, however they are not entitled to be listened too.
I can have a completely uninformed opinion on my own open heart surgery, hopefully my surgeon is smart enough to ignore me :)
You simply can’t please everyone, it will NEVER happen. So do what works for you and listen to those who are worthy of being listened too. How you determine who is worthy of listening, is up to every person.
Krishna
April 9, 2012 at 9:44 pmWell put, Mike!
hari
April 11, 2012 at 8:45 amHi Krishna, I totally agree that even negative criticism which is dressed up as “constructive” can actually be destructive to an artistic person. The question of “What, I take so much effort and time to share my creativity and this is what I get for it?”
I also got lambasted on some comic forums. Ironically it was the artists who are so abrasive and negative. They want to take you apart and destroy your confidence, it feels like. Normal people are way more forgiving and way less prone to seeing “Technical errors” in your artwork.
So I agree with you to a large extent. People who have nothing but negative opinions even if dressed up as constructive, deserve to be ignored outright.
Keep drawing. And hope I’ve not hurt your feelings on the odd occasion when I critique your work.
hari
April 11, 2012 at 8:49 amI must clarify here: some artists probably mean well, but they are too technically inclined and don’t see the larger context of your work.
As for normal people who criticize negatively, most likely they hate the content of your comic for some reason and choose to target the artwork as a more vulnerable point of attack.