How to Get Helpful Feedback

Feedback isn’t a threat to your creativity: it’s a powerful tool for making your art stronger. But only if you use it with intention.

Too many artists ask for feedback hoping it will unlock something magical in their work… and then feel confused or discouraged when the responses don’t help at all. The truth? Feedback only works if you know how to use it.

Let’s talk about how to ask for the kind of feedback that actually improves your art, and how to sift through the noise to find what’s truly useful.

Hey there! 👋 I’m Carrie. Here on Artist Strong, I help self-taught artists learn how to draw or paint anything they want. To date, thousands have joined the community.

👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽 Today’s conversation is brought to you by my mini-training 🎧 3 Reasons Artists Don’t Finish (and What to Do About It). The goal is to have you walk away feeling empowered to finish without needing more time, more motivation, or more supplies. Use the link here or in the description below to get started.

Start by Asking Better Questions

Before you post your work and say “feedback welcome,” pause and reflect. What are you really looking for? Encouragement? Clarity? Help with a specific technical issue?

You’ll get much more useful responses if you can answer these two questions first:

• What do you feel is working in your artwork?
• What are you struggling with or unsure about?

Knowing the answers helps you guide the conversation. Focus on what matters most. Try asking:

• “Does this composition feel balanced?”
• “Are the colors helping or hurting the mood I’m going for?”
• “Does the focal point stand out enough?”

These questions are based on the formal decisions an artist makes. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, formal decisions refer to how an artist is using the elements and principles of art in their work. You want to ask questions that focus on formal decision making to really help push your art to new heights.

If You Can’t Talk About the Work…

If it’s hard to articulate what’s working or not in your art, that’s worth paying attention to.

Often, this signals a gap in your understanding of the elements and principles of art, tools like value, contrast, line, emphasis, movement, and composition. These aren’t just abstract ideas. They’re the language artists use to describe and evaluate their own work.

Learning to talk about your art with this vocabulary gives you power. You gain clarity on your intentions and make it easier for others to give feedback that helps, not hurts. (And if you need a place to start, my ebook ArtSpeak helps you build confidence talking about your art).

Stop Saying “Feedback Welcome”

Let me tell you a quick story.

Years ago, I saw a post in a Facebook group for artists. Someone shared their painting with the caption:

“Feedback welcome.”

The comments rolled in:

• “This is cool.”
• “Nice job!”
• “😍😍😍”
• “Did you paint this?”

This wasn’t the only time I’d seen this. Often people posted “feedback is welcome” with their art and received no comments at all.

And think about it. Feedback on… what? Is it finished? Is there something wrong? What do you want to see changed? Without the specificity, people are reluctant to offer feedback. We all know it can be a sensitive experience and no one wants to say the wrong thing.

But here’s the thing: they didn’t really want feedback. No one that has ever posted that very phrase in my history of teaching has ever demonstrated being receptive to any feedback if it was offered. That tells me they wanted affirmation. 

And there’s nothing wrong with that. But saying “feedback welcome” when you really want encouragement confuses people, and yourself.

👉 If you want support, ask for it.
👉 If you want critique, be specific.

You’ll get better results, and your community will thank you for the clarity with more helpful replies.

Ask the Right People

Not all feedback is worth listening to.

Before you take someone’s comments to heart, ask yourself:

• Are they actively making art?
• Do they teach, coach, or mentor other artists?
• Do they follow a framework for helpful feedback, or just spout opinions?
• Are they in service of you and your art, or trying to feel superior?

I remember how frustrated I felt when I was in college, eager for critique. I wanted someone to point out things for me to think about, that might challenge me and help me take my work to new levels. And when I heard crickets it was hard for that younger perfectionist not to worry it reflected on the skill or quality of her art.

Today I have a small handful of artists I reach out to when I’m problem solving, and when I need another set of eyes on something.

The best feedback givers are kind, knowledgeable, and focused on helping you grow, not proving a point. Choose your sources wisely. But also give yourself grace as you try to figure out who are your go-tos for feedback and support. This is a trial and error experience. 

It took me years to build relationships and practice getting feedback from different people before I knew who would really help the work.

Use Feedback to Inform, Not Control, Your Art

Here’s the most important part: You’re still the artist.

One of my favorite testimonials ever is from community member Tia. She said:

“I understand better how to listen to feedback and stay on the course while setting aside criticism that isn’t helpful to me as an individual.”

Even the best feedback is just one person’s perspective. Let it inform your thinking, spark ideas, or show you what’s not coming across clearly, but don’t hand over creative control.

Use feedback to:

• See your work with fresh eyes
• Spot patterns in what people respond to
• Challenge yourself to grow
• Clarify your own vision

And then? Keep going. Keep experimenting. Keep trusting yourself.

This is how you step into and really own your unique style and voice as an artist.

How to Use Feedback to Create Your Best Art

If you want to get nerdy (in a good way) about what makes feedback helpful, I wrote another vlog article breaking it down.  👉 Read: 3 Criteria for High-Quality Feedback on Your Art

It covers:

• How to know when feedback is useful
• How to identify harmful or ego-driven critique
• How to build a community of thoughtful, supportive creatives

In Summary

Feedback is an opportunity to help you make stronger art. 

If you want feedback that helps you grow:

✅ Know what you’re looking for
✅ Ask specific questions
✅ Learn to talk about your work
✅ Choose your feedback sources wisely
✅ Use critique to grow (not to people-please)

Feedback isn’t the enemy of your creativity: it’s a mirror that can help you see more clearly. Use it intentionally, and it will help you create your best work yet.

If you want more support navigating that space between “not quite” and “complete,” don’t forget to grab your free mini-training: 3 Reasons Artists Don’t Finish (and What to Do About It). You’ll walk away with fresh tools to help you create with more confidence, and finish your work with intention.

I hope you learned something new today! Please like and subscribe to Artist Strong.

Then tell me: what’s one “aha” you’ve had around finishing your art and how will you use it in your next work? Let’s keep the conversation going in the comments below.

As always, thank you so much for watching.

Remember: proudly call yourself an artist.
Together, we are Artist Strong.