12-02-2023, 07:11 AM
This is mainly why I found myself here too, to be honest. I really want a more slow-paced, archived community that favours longer discussion and more in-depth replies. Folks knowing each other, a sense of community etc. And obviously a place to learn and be able to share knowledge in return. This is a hard sector we're working in, one where the learning never ends and an industry that currently feels more volatile than ever. We need spaces to talk and support each other that are not just social media spaces that favour the quick, controversial or quippy. I suspect I'm quite a bit younger than you but managed to catch the tail end of forum-based online culture and really hope we manage to retain it or keep it alive somehow.
I think the spirit of what you're talking about definitely still exists. I snooped through your profile out of curiosity and it seems like you're based in Cali, there's a bunch of really active and vibrant art groups close to you. Warrior Painters is one, both their discord group and their irl painting meet-ups seem really amazing. My own country has essentially no art scene though, so my views might be skewed. A lot of this experience intermingling seems to have moved largely onto Discord now. There's a couple of great places for resources and learning with plenty of fellow professionals, but some of the best are either invite only or very hard to find. There's definitely more of a transactional feel to a lot of these places too, with many of them starting off as an artist's personal server (usually someone offering classes etc) which is a pity, but I'll take it over having no spaces at all. I definitely envy your experience. I never embraced the jump to social media, and really wish I had been able to experience this sense of a collective journey or community forums like CA provided.
Thanks a lot for writing up this retrospective of your experience with the online art communities back in the day. I've been lucky enough to attend a few workshops by folks like Mike Azevedo, or Ian McQue and they mentioned similar things too. The rest of us get to vicariously have a small taste of the excitement of those days through you.
Maybe one day we'll see a similar resurgence, who knows.
I think the spirit of what you're talking about definitely still exists. I snooped through your profile out of curiosity and it seems like you're based in Cali, there's a bunch of really active and vibrant art groups close to you. Warrior Painters is one, both their discord group and their irl painting meet-ups seem really amazing. My own country has essentially no art scene though, so my views might be skewed. A lot of this experience intermingling seems to have moved largely onto Discord now. There's a couple of great places for resources and learning with plenty of fellow professionals, but some of the best are either invite only or very hard to find. There's definitely more of a transactional feel to a lot of these places too, with many of them starting off as an artist's personal server (usually someone offering classes etc) which is a pity, but I'll take it over having no spaces at all. I definitely envy your experience. I never embraced the jump to social media, and really wish I had been able to experience this sense of a collective journey or community forums like CA provided.
Thanks a lot for writing up this retrospective of your experience with the online art communities back in the day. I've been lucky enough to attend a few workshops by folks like Mike Azevedo, or Ian McQue and they mentioned similar things too. The rest of us get to vicariously have a small taste of the excitement of those days through you.
Maybe one day we'll see a similar resurgence, who knows.