There are too many assumptions here.
Nowhere has it ever been implied that anyone here should blindly follow advice.
Literally no one here, or anywhere ever made perfect art, nor is anyone holding you up to that standard.
Clearly, you have every right to disagree, and you exercise it well. No one is questioning that right.
However, you came to this forum, presumably seeking advice on how to improve your piece.
In asking for critique, you are potentially accessing the experience of those who have been at this far longer than you. That makes this forum a powerful resource.
But it doesn't really make a difference if you just act defensively.
No one here would consider themselves an expert. Nor is anyone attacking you. If you choose to interpret it as such, so be it. But look at any other critique thread and see that when most people get good advice and take it to heart, and act on it, progress tends to happen.
In 5 pages, you have managed to go from this:
to this:
After many have given good advice, and some have even taken the time to do edits, for
your benefit. There is a wealth of good advice in this thread, yet you haven't met anyone halfway in effort. I thought this comment
Why did you come to this forum? So you can give advice and you have done that.
Was very telling of your sense of entitlement. People do not come here to give you advice, they come here for the love of pixels and to learn. Getting advice is a privilege, someone is taking time out of their day to show someone else how to improve their piece. Its
free. You should absolutely respect people for taking the time to help you. Not only because it's polite, but because it shows you
understand the time they took. If you disagree, simply say so, and go on with however you think it should be done.
But that does not mean that I am going to spend the next 5 years in a bunk job so I can appease the high standards of the self proclaimed experts and critics in this forum who (regardless of how great and perfect their art looks under a microscope) have most likely never shifted their priorities long enough to make a living with their art.
The only one proclaiming anyone an expert, or a critic, is you. Interestingly, many here make a living exclusively through their art—and they are able to do so because they prioritized their improvement over their ego.
Allow yourself to be separate from your art.
Keep doing what you've been doing, and you're going to keep getting the results you've been getting. Are you satisfied with your piece? Is it commercial grade? Then ignore what anyone has said, congrats you're done.
Are you unsatisfied with your piece? Could it be improved? Then apply what people have shown you. At the very least, try it out.
Think about this: how far can one get in art with a closed mind?
