I thought I would post the most common issues/problems I see in people's artwork. I'm a Professor at the Rhode Island School of Design and continue to see the same issues in people's work regularly. If you're looking for a critique you can get one from me in the thread below, but I thought this would be a good checklist for people to go through when trying to evaluate their own work. Hopefully you'll find this useful, and perhaps add some thoughts of your own to this thread.
1)Poor Composition:
Some composition no-nos: Don't put things right in the middle of the page. Don't make symmetrical compositions. Don't place the edge of an object right against the edge of a page.
2)Copying from a photograph:
Always work from direct observation whenever possible, nothing substitutes the experience of something in real life. Work copied from photographs tends to look lifeless, stiff, and flat. I can tell from a mile away when something is copied from a photograph, when I see that, I immediately lose interest.
3)Being literal about your colors:
Green is never just green. I see landscapes all the time where the sky is blue, the leaves are green, and the bark is brown. Mix it up, give depth to your pieces, add a hint of purple to your green passages, etc.
4)Working in a vacuum:
Don't make art without having a fundamental understanding of what came before you. Find artists who work in similar media as you and with similar subject matter in history and analyze what made their work wonderful. You name the subject, you name the media, I can name someone who has done it before. Don't know who to look at? Post in this thread and I can give some recommendations.
5)Poor/empty backgrounds:
White backgrounds are generally a bad choice; they make your piece look either unfinished or empty. A good background should support what is going on visually with the subject of your piece without overpowering it. Always consider the background, and it's relationship to the rest of the piece.
