[Sl'askia]

A question that plagues many an artist/writers mind, mine being no exception. Here are my thoughts on some of the major questions dealing with this issue...

Why do artists and writers bother to show off?
One is pride. They are truly happy with their work and want to share it with everyone (the 'show offs').
Others show their work to receive advance on how to improve their technices.
Or it could be a combo of both of the above reasons. (which is true in my case...though I am resistent to critics...sorry its the Leo in me...)

Why do artists and writers want them(replies) so bad?
IMO it has to do with self-esteem. The self-esteem reason is a reasonable one, especially for beginner artists who are not confindent in their work (this is the case with many more experienced artists as well, myself included). To them those replies give them the motifation to continue on working on their art and stories, and improve on them.
Pride and Ego are other reasons...but not so much in a possitive way IMHO. The reason I think this is because when someone does reply negitively...the artist/writer feels angry and/or upset (I'll admit this has happened to me a few times...), and unmotivated to continue.
When people don't take the time to give their thoughts on a piece of work, the artist/writer wonders if they liked it or not...if they even cared (yep...the self-esteem bit). They feel envy and jealousy when other artists/writers get more replies then they do and they wonder if they should even bother showing off their pride and joy.
But then some that are too 'prideful' about their work...(the 'my work is better then everyone elses' types, not mentioning any names but I know of two of them). These's are ones that purposely put down other artists they percive as 'bad'. I hate these types with a passion, as they don't 'see' that everyone is different...they believe 'their way' is the 'only way', when the rest of us know that is not the case.

Why don't people reply more often to these kinds of topics?
The answer varies.
For some they don't want to just say the boring old answer 'that's good!', 'Nice!', etc type of posts. Which I admit is one of the reasons I tend not to reply to such topics myself.
Another is that they are afraid of insulting or hurting the artist/writer when they want to reply critically. One reason is possibly due to this: in the past they were attacked/flamed by the artist/writer who took their 'helpful' critisms in a negitive way (Confession...I have been on both sides of the fence with this one....merp), and therefore are now afraid of helping them improve by criticing their work.
Now there is 'bad' critism...like someone saying 'you suck' or 'that's terrible' (if you are only going to say that, better not to reply at all IMO), that doesn't help the artist improve. When one crititics they have to remember the style of the one they are criticing (everyones style is different), the part that 'bugs you' about a piece could just be their style...and when you attack a persons style it can get down right violent. (Any one remember the time when one of the more infequent posters said that one of my pieces weren't that good because it lacked shading and detail? Boy did he get chewed out...and wasn't just by me either. (as I recently said in my art topic here it is very rare for me to go into great detail and the type of pic I did then I felt didn't 'need' shading.)) The thing is (and this speaks to artists and non-artists alike) is that everyone has different tastes...different opinions as to what they precive as 'good'.
Then there are the ones that truly don't really care either way. (I admit this one to...and believe me I hate it with a passion...I wish I wasn't so 'neutral')

Why do people reply more to some artists/writers and not others when the others are just as important?
Again could be many reasons. One being that the 'left out' artist/writer had a history of responding negitively to critism on their work and therefore the 'repliers' no longer want to give 'them' the time of day. (I think this happened to me a couple times...)
Another (and I could get flamed for this) is that they are 'brown nosing'. In other words, appealing to a 'high ranking' individual (such as a mod or admin) so they wouldn't get as harsh a punishment when they do something wrong elsewhere. (now I am not 'accusing' anyone of this and I have never done this myself) This is not only pathitic...but just plain wrong!
And lastly, they only care about the 'well known' artists, ones that they 'know' do good art/stories (depending on their tastes of course), so they ignore the 'underdogs'. My problem with this one is that those 'underdogs' can become just as well known/famous if people would give them a chance. (heck they could be the next Michealanglo ro Precoso! So give them the attention they need/deserve!)

Now...why do I bother? I bother because I have pride in my work and want to show it off to everyone under the sun. I do want advice/critism, even though my reactions to it sometimes is aggressive/borderline hostile (so don't let that deter you...its the Leo in me and I can't help it.). When no one replies to a particular post...I just shrug and keep displaying them. I don't let the possible reasons why I am not getting any replies get to me (though I can't help but to be curious). The so called 'bad' critism I take with a grain of salt and don't let it bother me.

Ok...enough of my ranting...what do you think/feel about this issue?