Is honesty your best policy when offering critique?

[Enhanced-Barbie]

This is something that has bugged me also.

I have posted 1 thread in the critique so far (only because I don't have the means to get pics onto the computer, but I did manage to get some on as a 1 off so straight to the critique they went).
Most of the answers I got were on the art work, either, "I love the colours and bunnys" or "not my thing but nice" etc.

I wanted cold hard truths! I wanted people to tell me every little flaw, about the shape, the apex etc etc, I wasn't so interested in knowing if people liked the colours or not.

I think I got a couple of people who mentioned a couple of flaws, but nothing Geeg styles!!

(The pics are in my album Geeg if you feel like ripping me to bits, in a professional way of course :lol

I also feel the same as a lot of newer techs, I feel like if I say anything in the critique threads, people will be like "and who is she to be making those comments" I am one who will not lie, or 'fluff' things up, so when I feel confident enough with my place in the industry to comment, watch out! :lol:

 

[Mrs.Clooney]

This is something that has bugged me also.

I have posted 1 thread in the critique so far (only because I don't have the means to get pics onto the computer, but I did manage to get some on as a 1 off so straight to the critique they went).
Most of the answers I got were on the art work, either, "I love the colours and bunnys" or "not my thing but nice" etc.

I wanted cold hard truths! I wanted people to tell me every little flaw, about the shape, the apex etc etc, I wasn't so interested in knowing if people liked the colours or not.

I think I got a couple of people who mentioned a couple of flaws, but nothing Geeg styles!!

(The pics are in my album Geeg if you feel like ripping me to bits, in a professional way of course :lol

I also feel the same as a lot of newer techs, I feel like if I say anything in the critique threads, people will be like "and who is she to be making those comments" I am one who will not lie, or 'fluff' things up, so when I feel confident enough with my place in the industry to comment, watch out! :lol:

I see what you are saying and I agree with this. I am not saying this is the case with your pics, but I have noticed that many posters do not ask the appropriate critique questions, which makes it difficult to give a good answer.

For example, the poster uploads a 1 or 2 pictures of a birds eye view of the nails and then asks for critique on apex placement. Or they post a picture of French nails and ask for critique on use of colour, originality & design.

An aerial photo is not going to define the apex. Unless colour blend is used there is no colour really to comment on in a traditional French, plus there is no design and it's hardly original.

So my point is, I think it would really help if the poster's pics are clear, taken from different angles and the poster is precise about what they want answered.

 

[nailzoo]

I think we all have success stories and we sometimes have failures.
We all have new pictures and we all have old pictures.
We all have good days and we all have bad days.

I'd like to think when a critique is posted, it's "at the moment" no reflection on your own past work (as we all learn (or should learn) from our past mistakes).

It's a "here and now" issue offering advice on what we see (not what we have done).

My dad aways used to say "do as I say, not as I do".

There are may teachers/tutors that cannot do particularly fabulous nails ( I think this is a shame, as student see teachers as their gods) and want to follow in their footsteps.

The problem I see with many teachers/tutors is (as soon as a student is as good as there teacher), they think they have reached a pinnacle, but when the teacher isn't all that good, then thats the standard their students are happy with (after all they are as good as their teacher... which they look up to).

As far as a critique is concerned.... it should be given by knowledgeable people who can at least prove that they know what they are talking about. And can demonstrate this through their own skills/pictorials and experience.

To critique another, yet not demonstrate what your critique means with/within your own work is a little bit one sided. And it's a bit like "let he who is without sin cast the first stone".

We all kinda know what is good and what isn't, but at least before bringing out the score cards, you can at least demonstrate through your own work that you know what you are talking about and you yourself can accomplish, rather than critiquing from a text book, that you yourself haven't quite completed, or can at least demonstrate your understanding through examples of your own work.

It's one thing to say "taper the sides in", yet in your own album, your nails look like Venus Fly Traps, it's a tad hypocritical.