☆ the harmful concept of "bad art" ☆

Instructions

☆ note: this is my own personal opinion. I am not attacking or directly referencing a person or specific experience; I am discussing in general, on art projects in Scratch ☆ CW: long rant, very vague references to sensitive topics often portrayed in art. I'm sure you've often seen the occasional comment on your own or somebody else's art project here on Scratch. Maybe it's an entry to a competition, or just sharing a fun little doodle. It goes something along these lines: "Your art is better than mine." At first, it could seem like a compliment. And I'm sure most people who say it don't have any harmful intent behind it. But the idea of art being "worse" than another piece is so confusing to me. According to Google, art is defined as "the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination". How can you be bad or good at expressing creativity? You just do. Everyone uses different styles, proportions, shading etc. and draw different things. You just can't compare two works when they have an entirely different history, art style and are made by different people. When people make reference to "bad art", they're usually talking about three things: art made by an inexperienced artist; art that includes bad content; or art that they just don't like. Argument 1 frustrates me to no end. When art is posted online by a new artist (as in, they may be trying something new, or they're new to making art altogether), it's often an expression of vulnerability. Most people aren't very confident in their art when they are just starting out, and heavily rely on external validation. This is one of the reasons that "bad art" can be so harmful. These people aren't committed to their work yet, and receiving discouraging comments can not only upset them, it can block off their potential pathway as an artist entirely. They may never want to pick up a pencil again. And there's no benefit to it! The only reason I can come up with is a person making negative comments to mask their own insecurity (which, shame on them. They of all people should know the feeling of relying on external validation). But this only makes it worse. It simply starts a cycle of negativity that has a huge detrimental impact on the art community. Secondly, one may describe "bad art" as art that includes bad content. This is a fine line, in my opinion. Art is something many do to express themselves, and I'm not going to say that you can't draw this or that. However, it is very important to make sure your art, /especially/ when posted online, follows the website's guidelines and doesn't cause harm to anyone. People do have the right to be upset by sensitive topics that you've included in your art, and this is why trigger and content warnings are vital. In this case, "bad art" should only refer to art that breaks Scratch's TOS or causes harm to other Scratchers. And finally, people use "bad art" for art they simply don't like. This is just rude. Just because you don't like the character, or style, doesn't mean that you have the right to deliberately insult someone for something that you have no part in (not directed towards anyone). As I explained before, insulting someone over their art can have a huge impact on the artist, and there's no benefit to it. I find that many people also use the argument of "bad art" when referencing entries to art competitions, such as DTAs, DTIYS, DMC, etc (I'm talking specifically "competing" for a prize by drawing the same thing as your "competitors", instead of OTAs for example where payments are unique). People who are involved in these competitions may comment on others' entries. "My entry is so bad compared to this!" or "Good luck winning when [this person] has entered." or even "This entry isn't as good as [other entry]." Why does anyone feel the need to say this? Why would you deliberately discourage people from entering a competition that is, you know, made for entering? When someone enters for a competition, they know there's a chance they might not win. But they certainly won't win if they don't enter, and I see discouraging others as pointless. There's just no reason to do so. It certainly isn't a compliment to the artists of the entries that are called "better" - in fact, it's the opposite. I know Scratch is a site with many young artists. This is why I think it's necessary to raise awareness. From my own experience, it tends to be younger people who fall into the trap of "good art vs bad art", and it's also younger people who might be affected the most by it. Art cannot be bad or good. Art is a way of expressing yourself, your creativity and your imagination. Calling someone's work bad is obviously hurtful, but I think the true harm comes from comparison. Don't compare yourself to others. Don't compare one artist's work to another. It's cliché because it's true.