Be respectful when commenting on other peoples art.

I talk to quite a few people here on DA and most of them have the same complaint; mean people. Giving constructive or even harsh criticism on someone’s artwork is one thing, but to be mean just to upset someone is not only wrong, it’s ignorant.

Dictionary.com defines the following:
Artist-
1. A person who produces works in any of the arts that are primarily subject to aesthetic criteria.
2. A person who practices one of the fine arts, esp. a painter or sculptor.
3. A person whose trade or profession requires a knowledge of design, drawing, painting, etc.
4. A person whose work exhibits exceptional skill.

Art-
1. The quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.
2. The class of objects subject to aesthetic criteria; works of art collectively, as paintings, sculptures, or drawings
3. Any field using the skills or techniques of art: advertising art; industrial art.
4. (In printed matter) illustrative or decorative material
5. The principles or methods governing any craft or branch of learning.

As defined above, we are all artists creating art; some on a professional level, others on an amateur level. We all learn from criticism and most of us encourage it. Although some critics are more professional than others are, we learn nonetheless. When some ones criticism is mean and filled with hatred, no merit should be held in the words of some one who is obviously ignorant and heartless. Most people post on DA because their heart is in what they do. They create what they feel, trying to convey their expression through their artwork. It doesn’t need to be perfect to be art; it doesn’t even have to make sense, as long as there is an emotional bond between the artist and their artwork, most everything we create can be considered art.
For the heartless and ignorant people who rip the artist and their art apart, it shows how uncreative and narrow minded they really are when your comments cause pain and are uninspiring. Regardless if you agree with a piece of art or not, one should be respectful of the time, emotion and thought that goes into creating each piece.