Loxaraz

yeah for sure, it's a great motivator, especially if you have the self awareness/maturity to glean through peoples opinions and take everything with a grain of salt.  It's a great litmus test to see what's going on in your own work. (the the majority of the people say my anatomy sucks... then logic says that my anatomy sucks...)

I also think you need to realize that every artist has oodles of paintings they never finish or complete.  It takes discipline to finish something n' get it to a level that is portfolio ready.  I've been learning that recently, as I'm doing these card designs for a local game designer.  The pay is next to nothing, but it's fun actually powering through something and getting a finished piece that more or less represents/includes everything I've learned over the years.

Another thing I noticed is the statement you made "...something I don't like about it" makes my ears perk up.  That is exactly were focused closed loop feedback is super helpful. A close feedback/crit partner(s) helps deduce what is and isn't working, and that's something only specific dialogue can pinpoint. It's not that they/I would provide you with "the" solution but you'd get to see "a" solution.  I find this helpful since it then help unblock per say creative arteries that couldn't solve said problem.  Once there is some movement it quite often becomes clearer and more solvable.  I love what the lvlup! guys are doing because of this very reason.  You get to see other people's solutions and understand how they think and then apply it to your own process.  If someone then knows how you think slash paint, which the majority of sketchbook lurkers don't, then they can help you zero in on your solutions even faster and then you improve at a more exponential rate than when you'd be aimlessly chasing generalized crits.