Deviant Guide: Good Comments

Since deviantART was first born on August 7th 2000, comments have always retained an air of mystery. deviantART was one of the first dedicated art communities of its kind, and it inspired a standard that is our duty to uphold today. As a deviant, you can play an important role in helping a fellow artist develop their skills, and helping the community retain a level of quality to be proud of.

And all it takes is a comment.

Why Does It Concern Me?

deviantART has a favorite system that has slowly diminished the importance of good critique throughout the site, and reduced the level of effort required for feedback to an artist. In communities where such a system does not exist, receiving a comment is an honor that members of deviantART will sadly never experience the same way members of these other communities will.

However, deviantART has something no other community has: spirit. Like no other community of its kind, deviantART exhibits passion and interest in art that is shown no where else. As such, the importance of maintaining this spirit is foremost. Improving the quality of our comments is one way we can do this.

A truly outstanding comment is always hard to compose, always hard to receive, and always hard to come by. For an artist however, a comment is of the greatest importance. It provides feedback on a deviation that will continue to remain unmatched by that of a favorite. To an artist, a comment is the difference between progression and refinement of ones skills, and continuity of an undeveloped style.

Where Is Critique Appropriate?

The golden rule of critique is always to ask yourself "is it appropriate to this work?" There are many examples of work here on deviantART where it is not necessary to give a massive comment, or where it is impossible to sit and analyze a piece of work for techniques. Make sure you ask yourself that question before you start to comment and save yourself wasted time.

Also make sure you only give critique where it is desired. deviantART has a wonderful system where deviants can select their desired level of critique, and having respect for an artists wishes can save you from a whole depth of trouble.

Consider yourself pre-warned: not everybody appreciates critique, and not everybody will take warmly to your opinion. Just know it's for the benefit of the recipient.

How To Give A Good Comment

A good comment is almost always composed of three important key topics. These are:

Techniques
Effects
Improvements

A good comment will always touch on one or more elements contained in these three areas, and will be highly beneficial to the receiving artist.

A good way to remember these three keep topics is to remember “TEI”, pronounced “tea”. Whenever you view a deviation, think about how you’re going to give them some “tea”.

Techniques

To most deviants, this is the element of commenting that is hardest to perfect and understand, and is often the reason why both givers and receivers of good critique are often confused.

The key step to this part of a comment is to look before you write. It is always tempting as a deviant to jump in and comment right away, but a good comment requires more than just a quick glance at a deviation.

Look at the deviation and ask yourself the following questions, which all refer to techniques the composer has used deliberately:

What are the colors like?
Do the colors blend together, or do they stick out? Is the piece comprised of a small number of colors, or does it utilize many?

How are the elements of the piece arranged? (This is called composition)
Where does your eye first move to? From what angle does the scene appear to be portrayed from? How light or dark is the picture?

How big or small is the subject of the picture?
Is it very far zoomed in or a great distance zoomed out?

Is the picture warped or realistic?
Are there lots of definite shapes in the piece, or is it very indefinite (often a technique of surreal or abstract art)?

What sort of focus does the piece use?
Does the composer use intricate detail, or is the picture very blurry? Does the shot highlight a small part of the scene, or does it capture a vast area?

Does the deviation contain textures?
If you were to touch the texture, how would it feel? Rough? Soft? Sandy?

These are six questions you should ask yourself every time you look at a deviation. Make sure you take an appropriate amount of time to inspect the piece for these techniques.

Effects

This part of a comment is perhaps the easiest, and surely the most practiced part of commenting around the deviantART community.

Describing the effects of the techniques upon you is as easy as saying how the piece makes you feel as the viewer.

There is nothing hard about listing your emotions. However there are some questions you can use to make sure what you are saying is relevant:

How does the piece make you feel?
Does it make you feel happy or sad? Does it make you want to cry or burst out laughing?

Does the piece remind you of something?
Does anything in the scene remind you of something from your childhood? Do the objects look similar to something you’ve seen somewhere before?

What do you like about the picture?
Is there a color that you like? Do you like how the piece is arranged? (Refer to the techniques you’ve already listed)

Make sure your passionate about what you write in this part. If the piece does not make you happy, try not to come across too nasty or unappreciative.

Improvements

This is where the comment can get personal and often get a deviant off side with you. It is important to remember that a deviant spent their time making this piece. However tempting it is to be nasty, don’t ever just write that you “hate the piece” or “dislike it” without having some evidence to back it up.

The purpose of providing the techniques and effects in parts one and two of the comment is to provide this evidence, and if done correctly, it should accurately reflect you attitude to this part of the comment. If it doesn’t, go back and rethink the questions we asked ourselves earlier on.

Offering improvements to a deviant is often going to end up with a sad receiver. Everybody adapts to their own style after a while, and it often hurts to be told that it’s not that great. On the same token, offering improvements to a deviant can be the greatest gift you can ever give.

Here are two questions to ask yourself while giving improvements:

What would make this piece even better?
Always refer to the techniques you used in part one. This will make your comment sound much more professional, and come across as helpful rather than forceful. Find techniques that you think could have been done better, and if possible, post links to another deviation that examples what you’re referring to. This can be inspiring to the deviant and give them a great example to bounce ideas off.

Why do I think you’re a good artist and why do I like your work?
All this time we’ve been professional and offering tips and examples. This is the part where you get to give some real praise. Leaving a comment ending with just improvements would leave the artist feeling down. A kind word never goes astray, so tell them why you liked their work, and why you think they deserve your help! Don’t shy up, nothing will make a deviant happier to hear how much you appreciate their input to the community!

Favorite?
Of course, it’s well within your rights to offer a favorite, so don’t be afraid to tell them they deserve it if you decide to give one! Make sure you really think it deserves a favorite though. If everybody favorites it, it’s not going to mean much to a deviant after a while.

Whats ddi yuo jst tyep?
Never forget to revise what you've written! The best comments are not only honest and well written, but they actually make sense!

Spelling and grammar may not be your thing, but you can at least do the deviant the favor of making it legible. They'll love you even more.

Length

Many deviants are unsure of how long a comment should be. But it’s really simple: how much do you need to write?

Just because a comment is short, doesn’t mean it’s not a good comment, and vice versa for a long comment. Length means nothing. It’s the content that counts.

Is That It Already?

You better believe it! Making good comments is really that easy! Just follow the steps provided, and you’re on your way to making comments that everybody is going to love you for.

Remember one important thing though: always be yourself. No matter what formula you use, nothing means more to an artist to receive an honest comment from somebody who shows that they care about what a piece means to them.

Happy commenting everybody!

Nathan (~kle0012) and Kitty (~kittysyellowjacket)