I don't see criticizing your RULES on here. I should fite it. VIVA LA RESISTANCE!

b&

jk jk! c=

Critique is important.
Remember there's a distinction between critique of something, and out and out insulting you for your stance.

Criticism of characters might offend customers.
My price controls only I.
I have friends artists, and their criticism authoritative for me. I ask them personally.

Well, I disagree with your view. But in the end; it's your view.

Offering critique of a character design you've only been commissioned to draw is totally unhelpful though? They're not the artist's characters, so the artist has no control over their design. As to crit in general, asking publicly for crit can be worse than useless as a vast majority don't actually understand proper constructive criticism, so a good number of artists are much more comfortable discussing it privately with artists they trust, particularly if they prefer it in their first language or know someone very good at spotting/explaining problems.

How is it unhelpful if they are the ones that drew it? Mind you when it comes to a character they don't own, there is some cross-wire BS that can go on with people's designs being completely out of proportion at times. But if you're making note of something where there is a literal...issue...

Hrm. I just realized what they meant.
Basically, if the commissioner didn't catch the issue and said it was fine, why should we critique it? Am I on the right track here?

Because drawing a character =/= designing a character (normally).

If someone comes to me and hands me a reference of Deviant-Art-Sparkle-Dawg-#345 and a wad of cash, it doesn't matter how much the design might be flawed, I'm still gonna draw it but it's not my design and I'm not being paid to redesign it. You can come along and tell me the hair bows and glittery butt are a poor design choice but why should I care? I didn't design it. I might never even draw it again. Instead all you're doing is telling someone who obviously likes their character enough to pay for someone else to draw it, that you think it's wrong, without even asking them if they wanted any advice on their own design, or even directing it at them personally.

Now if you want to tell me that there's a flaw in the way I drew the bow and glittery butt, fair enough, but that's not criticism of the original design, it's criticism of the artwork. Now that's helpful, I want to know if there's a better way to draw glittery butts in general, not whether or not the character I was paid to draw should have a glittery butt or not because... it's not my business to tell a commissioner how their character should be designed.

I can pretty much guarantee that any artist taking on a commission will put forth their input on how best to execute the image, colour palettes etc... but sometimes you just end up with awkward situations. Sometimes people really REALLY want their bright pink character against a green forest with lighting effects that make them look like they're in the middle of a desert, and all you can do is begrudgingly draw it, knowing perfectly well it's flawed and why. No one wants criticism that makes you want to cry "Yes I KNOW but they MADE ME!"

Which is why the obvious answer is just... ask if someone wants crit cos you can see some flaws they might be interested in knowing about. If they say 'no' they probably have their reasons, and if it's a paid commission then leave design choices alone because they probably weren't the artist's idea.

Roger roger!

I think that's fair. You're a great artist and I have much respect for you. I hope you do well :)

I respect this rule you would go blind if you tried to color something like that example