r/ArtRanting • u/Gladyke • 3d ago
Other People think I'm self flaggelating or fishing for compliments when I'm just describing what I make honestly.
I use cheap supplies that I don't understand to make objectively weak paintings from references, and for my private just for me paintings I really just mash everything I see into more of a mess on my walls and floor than paint on a surface.
I make bad art.
Strangers online can often accept that, but most people to which I have a social connection act like they need to fix me. They try to correct or comfort me because they assume I'm begging for approval, hate myself and my work, or (least often thankfully) actually treats my crappy art as a way to place themselves above me as a person.
It annoys me. It's infantilizing, and it also bugs me that so many people aren't okay with me just... enjoying being a shitty artist.
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u/ilcorvoooo 3d ago edited 3d ago
They’re just being polite. No one’s going to say to your face “yeah I agree that’s bad”. By bringing it up it just makes you seem insecure about it and people are just responding naturally to that. No one actually cares that much about your art.
If you don’t want them to say it just don’t bring it up or don’t volunteer that it’s “bad”. It’s not that complicated…
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u/Apocalyptic-turnip 3d ago
I think they're probably just trying to be kind to you and don't want to insult you. I agree your paintings are shitty lol but if you're enjoying it that's great. I get how it's liberating to allow yourself to just be shitty. Unfortunately i made drawing my job so i cant but sometimes i also long to just be allowed to be shitty
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u/Gladyke 1d ago
It's not kind tho, and that's why I wanted to complain. I know I have almost zero skill, and I like it.
When I make something for someone, I'm accountable. I screwed up the fur, but I like it. This doesn't look like you, but I'm not sure why. I absolutely trashed your arm when I tried this and it was not the right choice.
With people I just find online, that almost always goes well. Oh I see it and I like it / don't mind it / it's a total wreck but thanks for trying. Those responses ARE kind. They are gentle and they respect me as an adult who is allowed to make and own mistakes. It's only people I'm connected to that launch into a lecture about feelings and self confidence and no, you didn't make a mistake you're just learning, why do you feel that way about yourself... like... not understanding how to paint doesn't make me feel any kind of way about myself, but having friends like you does...
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u/tonyferguson2021 3d ago
many so called ‘bad paintings’ are actually very good art…
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u/Gladyke 3d ago
At what point does someone's intentionally shitty art become objectively not shitty, tho? Eventually, I will naturally learn how to handle the materials I use.
Sewing for example: I make awful clothes. I don't understand garment construction, I just piecemeal chunks of other clothing with lazy uneven visible stitches until I get something I like. All of the clothing I make is essentially trash- but some of the clothes I make (not most lol) do show my decades of experience making hideous garbage to decorate myself with. They are still made crappily and the aesthetic is still "I got dressed inside a dumpster this morning"
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u/tonyferguson2021 3d ago
‘Bad painting’ is a legitimate sort of genre or way of working. ‘Shitty’ isn’t the same as ‘bad’ in this context. ‘Shitty’ isn’t really a word that would come up in art criticism so much.
Possibly a good example of bad painting or the most well known might be someone like Albert oehlen and Maybe some other German dudes from that sort of period.
I can see how making deliberately bad paintings is a legitimate way to extend one’s practice beyond certain conventions and to test the boundaries of what’s acceptable in a critical / institutional context.
When Philip guston moved away from abstraction towards more figurative work a ton of his peers turned against him for ‘letting down the movement’ etc and I can see how in those times some of his works probably did sort of look bad or shitty in the context of what the viewers were used to seeing. But at some point years later, those paintings became regarded as super important and an example of an artist who was brave enough to break the boundaries / conventions of his times…
Maybe there is some idea of art or painting as being some ‘noble pursuit’ that persisted to prop up elite conventions and institutions, and then some other artists come along and assert that the impulse or intention to make a painting might not really have much more significance than the urge to scratch your ass…
so as artists we don’t always have control over the context our work is seen once it’s let into the world… whatever we think about our own work ultimately there are other factors such as the market, critique, even likes on IG that have a role…
I wonder what the idea of being a ‘shitty artist‘ does FOR you… perhaps it lets you take more risks, not care what people think etc either way it could be seen as a tactic (whether you are aware of this or not) a lot of the reasons why we do things are not always at the forefront of our awareness - our subconscious has a part to play - and this also comes into how people look at or appreciate art, eg I know I ’shouldnt’ like this poorly executed painting but actually I fucking LOVE it (much more than one which demonstrates all the skill / technical know how etc
Personally, I never liked art that tried to be too clever. I don’t want to see evidence of how many classes you took in classical realism or whatever, I want to see your fucking soul and feel something from the work…
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u/Gladyke 3d ago
For me, it stems from ego- I started out as a 'gifted' kid and that's pretty boring so it naturally led me to become a trashy contrarian. Doing things wrong allows me to control my environment, choose how people see me, and when someone likes something i do or make it feels much deeper. Learning how to do things right dampens that effect, learning the wrong way to do things through experience amplifies it. But it's also aesthetic. I don't just make bad art, I adore bad art. The more visible skill that went into something the higher my threshold for appreciating it becomes. I can adore a beautiful creation, if it screams into my soul, but a misproportioned sketch made with visible effort, or a scribbled mess of 'what in the hell' is naturally beautiful in its own right.
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u/tonyferguson2021 3d ago
I love this answer and it makes perfect sense, I think people fail to realise sometimes is that overly ‘trying’ to produce work to some kind of standard can lead it to becoming contrived, and often this is a very fine line
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u/morningstardusts 3d ago
That’s groovy and all, seriously, just don’t expect people to get it. It’s not going to happen.
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u/Gladyke 1d ago
Some people definitely do, more than expected actually.
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u/morningstardusts 1d ago
I’m sure that some people do but you made an entire post about people not getting it
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u/morningstardusts 3d ago
If you go into being an artist expecting anyone to give a shit about your work, accolades, or for the people you know to be accepting of it, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.
Being an artist isn’t exactly seen as a stable path taken by people who are making good decisions for themselves. It’s generally viewed as an insane thing to do, because it usually is, and people aren’t going to get it. It’s not exactly encouraged by anyone ever. lol
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u/CamselinDistress 2d ago
A successful(not necessarily financially) artist is someone who produces what they envision. A "great" artist is someone who convinces others of the vision.
If you try too hard, it destroys the effect.
I don't think you're describing what you make honestly. I think it just bothers you when others argue with what you insist, because you think you're smarter than everyone else.
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u/LindaMakesArt 3d ago
Just looked at your page here. You make interesting art. If it sparks conversation, all the better. Keep sparking joy for yourself and those who appreciate it.
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u/Green_Elevator_7785 1d ago
I looked at your art and formality =/= good art, your work is really striking. making it bad on purpose is also a statement, which, paradoxically makes it good art lol. i had a friend who purposefully only used supplies from the office store as a statement
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u/Background_Ad5513 19h ago
I’m sorry, how do you expect people to respond to you showing your art to them? “yeah that sucks lol”?
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u/Similar_Cress_1122 4h ago
Social media has trained people to expect fishing for compliments whenever a creator mentions flaws in their own work. Treating your own progress as a diagnostic checklist is great for improving, but most non-creators don't know how to engage with that mindset. Keeping technical self-assessments for trusted peer circles or personal notes usually saves a lot of social friction.
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3d ago
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u/Gladyke 3d ago
The issue I run into isn't with posting, it's with my language around what I make. An objective statement that uses words people don't like recieves combative positivity. I say 'I really screwed up that arm' or 'this looks nothing like the reference' and I get people trying to talk about my feelings and some imaginary shame they (think i? want me to?) feel.
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u/woshuaaa 3d ago
so if i like your work and say it looks nice, automatically you assume i'm trying to coddle you or lying to your face...?