Four common, legit (ie, not just me ragging on chibis), tricks people do use in art that don't sit well with me. I'm not judging the effect as bad, I'm totally down with the use of all these. I'm just learning what's aesthetically pleasing to me.

4.
Specific desaturated areas with bright spots of isolated color.
I'm mostly thinking of the photo manip technique. I use a hell of a lot of black and white myself. But separating just the lips, for instance, looks odd to me. It feels broken and full of edges.

3.
Poetry in paintings.
I use a bit of this myself. On occasion when I'm just watercoloring my heart out. But in the end, when I'm looking at stuff in galleries, I never feel very drawn to things that scream in words. I want a slower build in tension than just a single scream of what the picture is about. I'm down with it. But I don't really -like- it.

2.
Intentionally shoddy craftman-ship.
There's a point where stylization and that kitschy thrown-together look... gets really old. I've been seeing a lot of plush sculptures around town lately. Most of them look like a good strong tug would pop those sloppy stitches. My inner techie says it wants things to look secure. Or at least... intentionally fragile. If that's what your going for. It's like having a piece of broken glass on stage. It makes me nervous.

1.
Fish-eye lenses.
Why? One. Distortion. Two. It's all up-in-my-face-ish and invading my happy bubble. Fish-eye lenses feel like molestation of puppies.