I make a cake, decorate it and whoever it's for says it's great, very happy. Then I look at the pictures and I think I could have done so much better my latest cake for FIL (in my pics) I was happy with, then I looked at the pictures and I thought I should have shaded the nose, made the eyes better, not so stary, etc etc. I do this with every cake and I'm not sure why.
Does anyone else do this or is it just me, am I being hard on myself or have I learnt from what I did before?
Any feedback from you guys would be great.

nup..not just you who does this, i do too..

i am never satisfied with the end result and the more i look at pic's the more faults i see....

as we all know, we are our own worst critics...

kylie

I've seen you work, and it's great! I think that we are all our biggest critics and that we see things that others may not. We want things to be perfect when in reality most (and I say most) customers are delighted way beyond their expectations when they receive their cakes. Take it easy on yourself(easier said than done) and enjoy!

I think we all do that. The work that I have seen here on Cake Central is unbelievable. I can only hope I am as good as most of you one day.Keep up the great work!!!
Faye

coulda, shoulda, woulda...I agree with the other posts, your work is tops! Most folks are their own worst critic on ANYTHING they do, I just did an oder for photos on fabric squares for a lady, I didn't sleep well last night thinking.....I bet she didn't like them, I coulda done this, I shoulda done that, I woulda done this different. I don't think there is a cure for self criticism.

Helen

Oh thank goodness others feel the same. I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels this way. It bought a tear to my eye thinking you guys know where I'm coming from.
You make me feel so much better.
Thanks.
Lyn

Hey Sparklepop you cakes are amazing but I am with you, never happy with my cakes can always see something that Id do another way. But I guess that exactly why we all are evolving and getting better at what we do, as every cake we learn something from, which we can improve on our next.

Love your work

Oh YEAH!!!! There is always something I find after the fact! I'm literally embarrassed to show some of my older work. Meanwhile...without sounding conceited....I know it's probably better than any non-decorator could do. What's up with that?

I guess it's the curse of perfectionism....

I recently made a western style cake and after seeing the photo's I realized that I made the rope border WAY TOO BIG!!! So, when I delivered I just said, "Well, you wanted a western cake and here ya go. The rope is big because, 'everything's bigger in Texas,'", and acted like I did it on purpose! LOL!!!!

Yeah, each and every time I see the photo's, even if it is just right after I have taken them, I ALWAYS see something that could've, would've, should've been better! Drag, isn't it???

I'm done with the cake and I'm all proud of myself, I take a pitcure and it's not the same cake I just did. Someone switched them on me.

Sometimes I just can't stand it, I take it apart and re-do it. Sometimes, I think I'm working for $.50 an hour.

I peeked at your cake pics ~ you don't have anything to worry about. But, to answer your question, I know exactly how you feel. I'm the same way; I find something wrong with every cake I do but I usually get compliments. Seriously your cakes look great!!

Sparklepop, I just looked at your cakes and, WOW! If I made cakes like that, I would be doing the Snoopy Dancy, 24/7! You need a new camera! You do great work! Wow! - again!!

As a new comer here all I can say is you do some AWESOME work!

I think it is good that we are critical of our work, that way we keep trying harder.

June

I do it all the time. My cakes will never be "perfect" enough for me. My son teases me all the time, when I'm decorating or baking he walks into the kitchen and says "it has to be perfect".

I tell all my students that we DO NOT STRIVE FOR PERFECTION, we strive for EXCELLENCE. There is indeed a difference!!! Look at any garden -- all the flowers look like flowers and together they look like a glorious garden, yet NOT ONE of those flowers is "perfect." Perfection is the destination, excellence is the journey. Enjoy the journey!! And remember, it's only sugar!!

They made me look

Your cakes is Groovy

I bow to the Master

i do this all the time. I critique the photo until I am just sick about all the things I could have done better. Thing I try and tell myself is that I am my own worst critic and what is really important is that the person receiving the cake is happy.

I too looked at your cakes are it's wonderful!!! One thing you need to remember is when you take a photo some small details aren't always visible in the photo as they were in person. Somethings we just can't control. Now I know you put a nose on that man, but you can't really see it in the photo, I'm not going to sit back and say man she forgot the nose! or hmmm waddaya know a noseless man! lol I too kick my own work bad! I think I may be the worst one lol. I'm never happy with anything I do and there is always a "woulda coulda shoulda" situation with every one of my cakes. Something you need to remember "We are our own worst critic"!!!! If the customer/client/birthday person was happy then that's all that matters!

My friend was in an art class one time and her art teacher had them draw a picture of a still life, date it and turn it in. They were not graded on this. At the end of the semester they were asked to draw a picture of the same still life, only now with all the experience of the semester. The last day of class both pictures were handed back to students so they could see where they had come from and how far they had gone. That's how I look at my cakes -- from an ambitious novice to someone who shoots for the stars with every cake (and gets closer all the time!!)

Obviously I'm in with a great group of people . If you scratch under the surface we all are self critical and unsure. I suppose that's good in one way as we are learning all the time and that's what any craft is about. Looking at all your photos there is a lot of great work and to know I'm being self critical, as you are, I find myself in great company.
Thanks for the advice.

Another great analogy is the butterfly -- beautiful from a distance, but too look at them close up [shudders]... Overanalyzing takes all the fun out of it. It's sugar -- it's FUN!!!