All About Trading - ArtTrader Magazine

Art TRADER
m a g a z i n e
Critique Corner by
XKati
Barrett
A border of some kind can give the card a more finished look; because of the theme, one could choose to
give the card either a light border (for example, duplicating the white outline of the bird around the edge of
the card as well) or a soft application of walnut ink or other darker color around the edges. I usually slide
and daub a soft raised ink pad along the edges for this effect.
Also, the values of the bird and background are very similar. To create a little depth and contrast in the card,
you could darken the area around the bird; I would suggest using a light, warm brown watercolor, being
careful not to go over the white outline. The text is also very small, but is well placed. To make it stand out
a little more, outlining in some way could work (for example, by using a gold gel pen).
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Andrea Melione
Welcome to the Critique Corner. In this new regular column, reader-submitted art will be critiqued. A
critique is not meant to be a negative analysis; rather, a true and proper critique is where a piece of art is
evaluated in both its strengths and weaknesses, as perceived by the individual doing the critiquing. An
honest critique can be valuable; many of us will ask friends or family members for their opinion, and it is
also useful to see artwork created by others critiqued. Also, critiques can give us insight into how others
see our art and help us look at it in ways we hadn’t thought of before. In this issue, I’ll be looking at two
ATCs submitted by Kati Barrett and giving you some tips to think about when submitting your own work for
critique!
First off, here are a few things I think about when I look at a piece of art I am critiquing: Individual style, color
scheme, composition, rendering/technical execution, complexity, and the overall immediate impact of the
work (in other words, the gestalt: How all of the aforementioned points work together to create the whole).
This checklist works pretty well for all types of subject matter and media, from fiber arts, to collage, to drawn
work.
Let’s begin with “Mellow Light.” This
card is actually rather nice, and is
her first attempt at drawing! The
drawing of the bird is not an issue at
all, as, stylistically, it has a naive folkart
appeal. The colors seem to work
well together, and the application of
the paint gives the muted feel of late
afternoon sun, supporting the “Mellow
Light” text. The card could use
development in a few areas though,
namely in the composition and its
depth. The image of the card is very
simple, and some extra layers would
help to give the card extra dimension.