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While I was still in high school my parents enrolled me in the correspondence school "Art instruction schools Inc." They use to advertise on match book covers. It featured a line drawing that said "draw me". It was a pretty simple sketch of a girl with a headband. You had to make an enlarged copy of it and send it to the school. If it showed potential you would be invited to take the course. A representative came out to my home to see more of my art and tell me about the course. He told me something that I really took to heart, which I think may well be the best advice I've ever been given. He said  "don't be afraid of criticism of your art". Use it as a tool to improve your work. Don't be offended or angry and don't let it discourage you. Ask your self if the criticism holds any merit or truth, if so correct the work and be thankful for their help. If the criticism is just mean spirited, brush it off, its their problem not yours. Just don't quit making art.

Be open to constructive criticism. At juried art shows the judge will often comment on the winning artwork, generally in a complementary fashion. But if you want to learn something, ask the judge why your work didn't place. Then listen to him, even if you disagree keep it to your self, don't argue with him. I've seen that done. A woman I know dragged the judge over to her work to find out why she didn't win. As soon as the judge opened his mouth, she started to whine that her work had been hung in a bad spot and was poorly lighted. She argued and disagreed with ever comment he made. I have to say that was many years ago, that woman has not grown or improved in all that time.

I once attended a group critique that was held annually by a group of professional wild life artists. I had been attending classes from one of them, who felt I was ready and could benefit from it. I was promised that it could get brutal, so be prepared. I watched as each artist put their work on the easel and was torn to shreds. They brought work they wanted help on, not their successful pieces. There was a lot of drinking and laughing too. The worst comment you could get was just "nice frame". When they were done they asked me if I still wanted to put my work up. I knew what I was in for but would never have turned down the opportunity to have a roomful of professional artists help me improve my work. I got some good honest advice, and yeah some painful comments. I'm sure that by the time they got to me they were pretty revved up on alcohol, momentum, competition and testosterone. I was the only female present. They would always say "nothing personal" after each critique. That's how you have to take it, but it still hurts and I was mad for a long time after. Without the advice, I had been implementing, from the "Art instruction" school rep  I may have given up on art a long time previous to that. Instead I was prepared to accept honest criticism and move forward. I try not to be rough on others who want my advice, however. I learned from an art professor to try to find something good about someone's art, no matter how bad they may be. I know some people are easily discouraged and I don't want to be the one who made someone give up. After all, we all had to learn and practice, practice, practice to get any good. Which reminds me of another great piece of advice I got from a Disney art instruction book when I was a kid "practice makes perfect".