Jerk #4: "You Can't Draw!"

Subj: your site... and what i think of it...
Date: 08/28/2000 3:47:18 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: [handle deleted]@yahoo.com [name deleted]
To: swankivy2@aol.com

erm, sorry to address you in this informal way. but i believe i have to bring this to your attention; your drawings are very bad. not just very bad mind you, horribly bad. how can you say that you are any good?

if you cared about people and the health of their eyes, you would stop drawing right... now.

p.s. and yes, i can draw better than you... much better. if you want a sample then email me back and i will gladly send you one.

[Of course, I laughed at this . . . I may suck next to Boris Vallejo, but there is *no* denying that my drawings are a little better than "horribly bad"--wanna see? Anyway . . . my reply. . . . ]

Subj: Re: your site... and what i think of it...
Date: 08/28/2000 5:49:51 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: SwankiVY2
To: [handle deleted]@yahoo.com
Sent on: AOL 5.0 for Windows sub 114

In a message dated 08/28/2000 3:47:18 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [handle deleted]@yahoo.com writes:

<< your site... and what i think of it... >>

thanks for e-mailing me, even if you didn't have anything nice to say. :)

<<i believe i have to bring this to your attention; your drawings are very bad. not just very bad mind you, horribly bad. how can you say that you are any good?>>

Okay, see if you would actually like to criticize my work, that's fine, but this is not criticism. This is an attempt to hurt me, and it hasn't worked because I know I'm better than average at drawing and that's all I've ever claimed to be. (This is based on my own life experience--I've always been regarded as artistically inclined by my peers, my superiors, and even people who "know" art, and just by looking and living I know very well that my ability to draw is more than decent.) I've never worked as an artist and have only won art-related prizes when in high school, and have never taken a drawing class of any type.

In your "criticism," you do not attempt to tell me what is wrong with my techniques or my representations, and you do not even try to be nice about it. I have seen "bad" writing on other people's pages but if I comment at all it is of a nature you don't seem to be familiar with: *constructive*. I think it's laughable that you've contacted me in this way . . . it shows you're either *horribly* stuck up or a very bad liar. What did you hope to accomplish by insulting me? It doesn't prove you're right, or any good yourself. It just shows that you're an ass.

<<p.s. and yes, i can draw better than you... much better. if you want a sample then email me back and i will gladly send you one.>>

Congratulations, if that's true then you're an official Art Brat. I have no interest in looking at your work as you obviously don't respect other people, which would make it difficult for me to admire anything you've done.

Incidentally, I have never *ever* in my life even thought about bringing someone's lack of ability in any area to their attention in this fashion, whether it's true or not. You complain about my damaging people's eyes with my work, for crying out loud, and yet you're willing to make attempts at scathing criticism with no regard for how your addressee feels about it. Come on now, doesn't that just scream "jerk" to you? I mean, what possessed you to send out a letter that basically says "Hi, you suck, I'm better, would you like me to prove it? Ha ha." If you think that's acceptable behavior, you might consider learning some social skills.

If you have an *actual* criticism of any of my "serious" artwork, I'm all ears.

~*~*iVY

[Incidentally, I was e-mailed back about this with an explanation that someone had been using this person's account to send out hate mail or something, and that the owner of the account hadn't written that mail or even seen my site. I received a very polite e-mail with an apology, though the person who wrote the freakin' thing was still a HUGE JERK. . . . ]