Dealing with Criticism

It's been a funny old week. In terms of BOOK SALES, it has been very good. I met some really great children with some brilliant ideas. Then I was whacked around the chops by some pretty harsh criticism.

When I used to send my book dummies off to publishers I got used to receiving back a 'thanks but no thanks' standard letter, often with a nice handwritten comment about liking the illustrations. In hindsight, it's unlikely that most people would get their work published this way as the 'slush pile' (an ugly phrase for the hundreds of manuscripts and book ideas that publishers receive) is often overwhelming; publishers don't have the time to sift through everything and are potentially missing the next Harry Potter. Most author/illustrators who are with traditional publishers get their work into print by other, more cunning methods! 

Artists bear their souls to the world. Criticism is somehow judging them (us) in a very personal way. When you say to an artist "I really don't like your paintings" you might as well be saying to them "Jeez, you're unbearably ugly. How do you live with yourself?"

On the receiving end, criticism can be a good teacher. If you can wade through the indulgent feelings of horribleness, you might be able to find a way of improving something. Are there seeds of truth in what the person said? Is there a way to improve? Can you resolve an issue that you have been avoiding?

Here's an interesting thing though - you don't have to justify your work. You, the artist, do what you do and if you want, you can tell people why you do it. What you don't have to do is prove that you're right when someone else thinks you're wrong. It's subjective. That's Art for you.

You may decide that the person's viewpoint was nonsense; if you love what you do and you are happy, ignore them! Maybe they are having a bad day. Maybe they are talking horse poo. Maybe they hate their job and wish they did what you do for a living. Here is the link to a rather nice blog by an artist called Jhina Alvarado who also talks about being criticised.

So, how did I deal with my critic? Hopefully with grace - I apologised and offered a solution. Then I processed my emotions about it and moved on.

Here is a comment from the last book dummy I sent off, to a publisher called Chicken House (one of my faves!). Strangely, although the main message was 'No thanks', it left me with a feeling of delight because of the underlining of one word!! 

"Unfortunately, it's not for us as we don't publish heavily illustrated fiction, but it's GORGEOUS and you must forge on to find the right publisher." (sic).

So here's a sneaky peek at what I've been forging on with this week. 

From The House on Hare Hill. Skateboarding owl!!