What do you do when everyone in real life who loves you genuinely loves everything you do? You feed the trolls on Reddit and get an honest opinion. You need a tough skin as the day goes on and the comments become increasingly deranged, but most of the time there's really solid advice.
I posted a painting that I'm actively selling in a gallery in Cheyenne for critique and I had a very healthy mix of people saying it's finished and to lean into its (non-erotic) Georgia O'Keefe-ness, and that I can't grasp the concept of depth. Great! Someone also said it looked like cake... And another person asked why it's any more special than tossed garbage in Goodwill. (I genuinely cackled at that one.) Granted, I posted that painting with no context or explanation of place so what I got was damn good criticism. It's different when someone can hide behind a screen and the relative anonymity of Reddit, though. They can't get punched in the mouth for saying heinous shit like they would in a classroom.
Regardless, it brings me to that point of toeing the line of "It's going to sell in a small mountain town so don't touch it" and "I KNEW IT I GOTTA FIX IT RIGHT NOW." I'm always seeking growth. I've become a genuine nuisance to galleries begging for some perspective and comments on my work. I take a lot of pride in my progress and ability to paint quickly, though. If this piece doesn't sell, I'm going to fix it when I bring it home again. It can only get better from here.
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