IQBR 1.2

When I created the cricket on The Ashes image I made a PDF and sent it to my friend whose father was a university lecturer in art and design, his mother also a water colour artist with many years experience. They gave me some excellent constructive criticism, some of which I took note and I changed my picture accordingly, some I didn’t ignore but decided not to use and I’ll explain why. I seem to remember there were 3 criticisms, firstly the shadow on the large tree on the right was too dominating, it was – so I shrunk it accordingly. The second that the trees in the background were too brown, I had mistakenly when doing this part of the image referred to an older photo where the trees were autumnal colours. As my image was to be a sunny hot July or August day with cricketers playing while onlookers bask in the sun, drink Pimms and nibble cucumber sandwich’s this was out of place. I amended this issue with some redrawing and colour substitution, very easy in Illustrator. The third I chose to overrule, they commented that the sky was a single very pale blue and needed some clouds or texture. As I was after that perfect summer day we remember from our youth with a broad pale blue sky and not a cloud in sight I kept it that way. The criticism though was appreciated and in the most part acted upon, I couldn’t ignore pointers from people whose work I’d admired for years and where experts in their field after all

Now not everyone has access to experts on all subjects and I don’t have many more in other subjects but I do know a few people in varying fields and so do most people. Your friends, relatives and work colleagues all have a vast amount of experience and knowledge in different fields, do not be afraid to ask their opinion. Some may not wish to comment for fear of offending you or putting you off something you are clearly passionate about. Or you may get the generic ‘wonderful dear’ or something like that which doesn’t help. In these cases don’t be so confrontational and lead them into a conversation with easy questions about variations or different styles. At the very least you can gauge a reaction from a test group of subjects who you should be able to show you work to and get feedback. If you cant approach them for an opinion then it’s doubtful you could take business further when you have to step up a level and sell your products. Although selling is daunting at first, take baby steps and build up, once people buy and appreciate your work the buzz you get from that is very rewarding, and addictive!