asking this question is always interesting to me because it seems like everyone has a different answer... it all depends on your style and background in art. since i haven't asked in a while, i thought throw this out there again just for fun (please no trolls, flames, or spams in this journal entry)
what i've been taught and my two cents;
in my opinion from what i learned from my art tudor, my high school art teachers, and my college art professors, when crit'ing you should try to find something positive for everything negative or that you don't understand... tell someone what they're doing RIGHT as well as what you think they're doing wrong. Also before you tell someone "this is wrong" ask the artist about it. they may have had a reason for drawing/painting/sculpting it a particular way. then offer opinion on how you view it, what you would do instead, or how to change/improve it. art is subjective and people forget that. that and... some people dont' want critiques. forcing a crit is never a good thing if the receiving is unwilling to listen or take into account what you said.
there is a very common misconception that critiquing means you have to completely rip someone's art apart with your opinion and that is somehow a way to improve their skills... that's not necessarily true. at the same time, being overly-nice is never very helpful either. there is a happy medium.
there is something that kinda provoked this entry. i'm not going to cite the journal entry, the deviation, or the user (non of which was mine).
---W.A.M.---
clubs
Odin's Artists!
leaving on a jet plane 
Artistic
