Project Comment Interviews, Issue 59: nonecansee

ProjectComment is a Group of many projects centred around comments, but, more importantly, constructive comments. We offer Members of deviantART a lot of opportunities to get comments, give comments, participate in comment projects, win points, get featured and much, much more!

Every two weeks, we will be interviewing commenters and volunteers at ProjectComment, specifically revolving around their life on deviantART and, the purpose of ProjectComment, constructive comments.

We sincerely hope you enjoy reading the fifty-ninth interview of this series with nonecansee!



Tell us a bit about yourself
I'm a 20 year-old currently in her 3rd year as an undergraduate in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology in my country's premiere national university.

I have a lot of hobbies but the ones I give more time to is drawing and fandom-fawning. I do some fanfiction on the side, as well as short-story writing and character-writing.

I have a special place in my heart for animations and cartoons. I also have an interest in dreams and symbolisms in them. I think I can lucid dream but only when I'm not dead tired from real life that day, haha.

My art-related goal is to produce a graphic novel or comic one day

Why are you on deviantART?
I first came to deviantART because of the Cloud Song (idunno if the original deviant removed it from his/her gallery but it was a pretty funny flash-animated parody song about Final Fantasy 7).
I got pulled in by the amount of fan art there was. I thought about opening my own account just to be able to leave comments on some pieces I really liked and then I rationalized that I could also upload some of the drawings I've done.

I figured dA was a good gallery website to upload my works so that other people may see them. I really was hoping for any help and feedback on my style and if I needed improvement on certain things. It was also the first gallery-type website I knew of so I jumped in right away. I actually went stagnant 2-3 years after I made my account. It's only a 3 years ago that I began to be active again and upload art.

I maintain my account because I'm still after improving myself and to showcase my the fruits of my hobby.

Why do you regularly give constructive comments?
Well, I planned that one. Here's the long story

I used to fave-and-run and not care if my gallery or my artworks got any attention. I was never really after internet fame or stuff like that. Over time, I saw that my skills had become unsatisfactory even to me. About the same time, I also noticed that in majority of the popular pieces and I could only see oceans of "This is cute!" I felt like it was unfair to the artist that they only have these to see every day in their inboxes. I know I've had a few when I started to upload fan art of my own. So I began to fave-and-run less and make sure that whenever I fave, I would leave a substantial comment expounding on "I like this!" I hoped that others who have viewed my art and or fav'ed my art would do the same and give me constructive comments.

After some time, I felt that my character designs were repetitive and my anatomy was already waaay off more than before. I also got annoyed at how my watchers and others who favorited my things hardly did leave comments There I was, wanting to improve but no one gave me direction (because as the artist-hobbyist, I know I'm biasd to my works too). As a result, I started a topic on the Complaints thread about not getting enough constructive feedback and got a lot of negative and positive feedback about complaining . The first person to suggest this group to me in the forums, I'm very grateful to

Since I joined during a semester break and wanted my submissions to be accepted to be put up for criticism, I decided to build up my constructive comments, according to the guidelines for the group. And since I don't upload art regularly either, I decided that once a week, I would give a constructive comment on at least one piece uploaded to the group gallery.


What about giving constructive comments do you most like and why?
I like how I'm able to impart knowledge and my interpretation to other people. Haha, sounds pretentious and that may well be but I'll admit I enjoy sharing my opinion with other people. I believe that my opinion can contribute to how these deviants may think about how other people see their work.
Also, I give out constructive comments because I want constructive comments myself.

To add, I also like giving helpful comments because it makes me feel helpful It also helps me practice how to analyse works as well as encourages me to really appreciate art. I'll admit I'm still not very knowledgeable towards media and genres other than comics and cartoons.

How do you stay motivated when it comes to commenting?
Primarily it's because I want to be given constructive criticism as well. I was warned, thanks to that thread I made, that a number of deviants are actually very sensitive about receiving constructive comments. I realized that I couldn't just comment on everything and anything because I fear that some of these people may not really want it. In a group like this, I can expect that these deviants want constructive comments on their work so I don't have to fear any irrational backlash

As long as I know there are people out there like me who want to improve on their work and their skills, I'm ready to help out.

Do you use a specific technique when commenting?
First, haha I put in a warning about how I can be frank. I myself wasn't sure of how to write "acceptable" criticisms until I read the group guidelines. I based my so-called "style" of constructive comment-writing on those, haha.

When I comment, I first look at the deviation. I'll find what I like about it and ask myself why I like it (and then I dig deep into my knowledge bank regarding art theory and art appreciation, haha). Then, I'll find what I don't like about it and ask myself the same thing. I type all of this down as if I'm talking to the deviant in person. I'm concerned whether I sound like a bag of hot air when I've typed out my comment thus far, so I look over my entire comment and scatter in some concrete steps and tasks for the deviants to try in order to fix what I see as something to improve on in their deviations. Due to certain incidents (see 7), I also make it a habit to proof-read my comments and see if I'm being too harsh without giving some praise at least for the effort clearly put in the work.

What is the difference between a constructive comment and a critique for you?
Personally, I don't see much of a difference purpose-wise. For dA, the clearest distinction would be that Critiques are publicly requested when one visits the deviation while comments are just for anything someone might want to say to the artist. As a non-premium member, the comments feature is the only thing I have and can use to communicate my thoughts and my opinions to other deviants and to the artist about their piece.


Have you had any particularly good and/or bad experiences with commenting and how did that turn out?
Two instances:
A. I commented on one deviation once and the reply I got was some long-self explanatory essay about how I am entitled to my own opinions and that art is also one's own style etc. Frankly, I found it mildly annoying that this deviant took on the defensive even after he himself had put up his work on ProjectComment for the very thing I'm giving him: constructive comments based on my knowledge and opinion. In retrospect, I may have sounded pretentious because my comment was in more or less formal English and sounded like I was sticking by strict rules on how art should be.
Meh, I didn't reply to his reply to my comment. Oh, and I learned that I might be overstepping my bounds and "correcting style" as opposed to providing constructive comments so I now proof-read my comments before submitting them.

B. I commented on another deviation which I saw had only a few constructive comments on it by individuals from ProjectComment. So I eagerly jumped in and really made a detailed comment. I got taken aback when said deviant replied to me and said that my words were hurtful but thanked me nonetheless. It was just weird, really. :/ I felt guilty for a bit because it was one of my first constructive comments for the group. I got over it easily though. And in addition to feeling mildly annoyed that said deviant had to voice out his/her sensitivity to a constructive comment, I learned to proof-read my writing and see if it was something I'd want to receive from commenters who mean well but tell the truth.

What kind of feedback do you prefer?
I can't really ask for Critiques as I am only a regular member, haha. Constructive comments are my alternative and my first preference. Favorites, Watches and Views are flattering but I find they don't really help me out when I feel weird about a particular deviation that I uploaded. Also, watches, favorites and views aren't really any guarantee that people have read the artist's comment

Do you struggle with giving comments sometimes? If so, what do you do?
Oh yes, of course. My solution for this is to choose what to comment on, really. In my inbox, I get alerts from ProjectComment about new deviations added to the gallery and I look through them and see which ones I am confident and knowledgeable about enough to give any sort of substantial and constructive comment.

Especially when deviations look near flawless in my opinion, it's not in my nature to point out any negative sides to it because I can't really see any. I may be knowledgeable but by no means am I an expert

What is your biggest pet peeve about commenting on deviantART?
My biggest pet peeve is when someone is first to say what I wanted to say about the deviantion It limits me the things I can say about it that the deviant doesn't already know so I'm pressed to think of more things to say about the piece.

Makes me want a "# agree with this comment" feature, haha.


Are you doing any projects at the moment, offline or online?
Still in the conceptual phase:
I have numerous blue prints but none of them have every really come into fruition other than as they are now: words, haha.
Specifically speaking: I have a couple of fanfiction comics I want to draw. I have a fanfiction that I need to finish writing and fan art sets.
I'm also conceptualizing a Aesop fables-based original work. Still embryonic though, haha.

I apologize for not having anything concrete at the moment Real life academic requirements easily win the argument when I have personal projects and the like.

What advice would you give to commenters?
I hope these won't be my famous last words, HAHA!
"Be honest with yourself but also do your best to be tactful.
Don't just point out mistakes, tell them how it can be fixed as well.
Write comments in the way you'd want to receive them.
Also, stay within your field of expertise. If there is something you're not knowledgeable about, don't comment on it. I know these people appreciate it when constructive commentors know what they're talking about. Plus, it adds to your credibility "

Finally, is there anything else you would like to add?
I'd like to say thanks to for this opportunity to shine the spotlight on me, even if it's virtual I'm a really shy person IRL and where I am now, I feel out of place because I have enough evidence to prove that I haven't been the best student I can and should be. I'm glad that I'm meeting the expectations of others and my own here at ProjectComment, though.

Thank you nonecansee!


Thank you for reading.
3wyl, posting on behalf of ProjectComment