11-20-2023, 10:22 AM
I found out about this forum a while back but never took the plunge, because I wasn't sure if I should--and I still don't. The reason is because my situation is a bit different from most here. Allow me to explain.
I was one of the early digital artists during the first wave that congregated in online digital art forums in the late 90s and aughts--namely, the OG, Sijun, and then the spinoff, eatpoo (yes, it's a juvenile name, and the name reflected the younger, more rebellious crowd), then later conceptart.org, and CGTalk/CGSociety which also includes 3D and VFX. For those of you who weren't part of that first wave, let me tell ya--it was glorious. Artists of all levels--from the greenest noob to the most advanced masters and superstars working on AAA games, Hollywood blockbusters, book covers for famous authors, teaching at prestigious art schools, etc. We all hung out and talked like equals in general discussions, and in art-related threads, the advanced artists shared their valuable insights, gave critiques, and taught lessons, and the less experienced artists soaked all of it up like sponges. Even just the discussions among the advanced artists were incredibly valuable because when you witness masters talk among themselves, they will talk about things that less experienced artists have never even thought about, and it was profoundly illuminating what masters actually struggle with and are concerned about compared to those who have not reached their level.
And then it all slowly crumbled when giant hub sites like CGHUB (and later Artstation) came along, and social media also took over. Slowly artists left the art forums and just posted on their social media or art hub page for their followers (or in hopes of gaining followers), where there was basically zero engagement because no discussions happened in the comment section of those posts--people just clicked on like or typed out a short effusive praise (or sometimes a snarky comment), and that was it. Places like subreddits while had some interaction, it's a horrible platform for anything visual because it doesn't function like a normal forum in its structure or features, and most I've seen were run by people who act more like tyrants than trying to create and maintain a community that truly helps artists grow, with unreasonable and oddball rules they enforce with inexplicable rigor. Discord is the latest in the evolution of social interaction online, and it has also not been ideal, because when people post their work, very little engagement happens based on discussions of the work, and any experienced artist will either get swarmed by beginners hungry for answers, or get ignored because no one feels like they have enough knowledge or experience to comment on the work of someone who's far more advanced. So it's just people posting emoji reactions and that's it. Whatever exceptions there might be, are too few and too infrequent to even come close to the kind of community digital artists had back in the day.
From the oldest posts here, it appears the person who created this forum felt the same way and wanted to create a place where digital artists can once again have the kind of community that once existed back then. However, from how things look, it is just limping along, with very little traffic and activity, and there is almost no presence of veteran advanced artists to shepherd the next generation of aspiring artists, or even just talking among themselves about the advanced issues they struggle with as experienced artists, and the less experienced artists can listen in and learn from their hard-won insights. In some ways, this is understandable, because once online paid education for digital art became a thing, anyone with enough experience would rather earn an additional income stream with that hard-won knowledge and experience, because god knows we don't get paid enough for the amount of love we pour into what we do, not to mention how stressful working as professional artist can be, especially in the entertainment industry. So advanced artists prefer to stay out of places where they'll just get swarmed by less experienced artists with endless questions, and that means they only post to their social media and art hub portfolio page, and whatever interaction they crave with other advanced artists, will have to be in private, at the studios they work at, or private small groups they have formed with colleagues and friends.
Although I can logically explain why things are the way they are, I still lament the loss of what we had back then. Maybe this post is just me mourning what we lost, and what the younger generation will never get to experience. Part of me wanted to start posting here just to see if doing so will eventually lead to changes that will turn this place into what we had back then. But of course this is just wishful thinking, because when all those old art forums eventually died, they all struggled for years to keep things going but finally had to call it quits.
Anyway, I guess I'm posting this to gauge what the response will be like, and then go from there.
I was one of the early digital artists during the first wave that congregated in online digital art forums in the late 90s and aughts--namely, the OG, Sijun, and then the spinoff, eatpoo (yes, it's a juvenile name, and the name reflected the younger, more rebellious crowd), then later conceptart.org, and CGTalk/CGSociety which also includes 3D and VFX. For those of you who weren't part of that first wave, let me tell ya--it was glorious. Artists of all levels--from the greenest noob to the most advanced masters and superstars working on AAA games, Hollywood blockbusters, book covers for famous authors, teaching at prestigious art schools, etc. We all hung out and talked like equals in general discussions, and in art-related threads, the advanced artists shared their valuable insights, gave critiques, and taught lessons, and the less experienced artists soaked all of it up like sponges. Even just the discussions among the advanced artists were incredibly valuable because when you witness masters talk among themselves, they will talk about things that less experienced artists have never even thought about, and it was profoundly illuminating what masters actually struggle with and are concerned about compared to those who have not reached their level.
And then it all slowly crumbled when giant hub sites like CGHUB (and later Artstation) came along, and social media also took over. Slowly artists left the art forums and just posted on their social media or art hub page for their followers (or in hopes of gaining followers), where there was basically zero engagement because no discussions happened in the comment section of those posts--people just clicked on like or typed out a short effusive praise (or sometimes a snarky comment), and that was it. Places like subreddits while had some interaction, it's a horrible platform for anything visual because it doesn't function like a normal forum in its structure or features, and most I've seen were run by people who act more like tyrants than trying to create and maintain a community that truly helps artists grow, with unreasonable and oddball rules they enforce with inexplicable rigor. Discord is the latest in the evolution of social interaction online, and it has also not been ideal, because when people post their work, very little engagement happens based on discussions of the work, and any experienced artist will either get swarmed by beginners hungry for answers, or get ignored because no one feels like they have enough knowledge or experience to comment on the work of someone who's far more advanced. So it's just people posting emoji reactions and that's it. Whatever exceptions there might be, are too few and too infrequent to even come close to the kind of community digital artists had back in the day.
From the oldest posts here, it appears the person who created this forum felt the same way and wanted to create a place where digital artists can once again have the kind of community that once existed back then. However, from how things look, it is just limping along, with very little traffic and activity, and there is almost no presence of veteran advanced artists to shepherd the next generation of aspiring artists, or even just talking among themselves about the advanced issues they struggle with as experienced artists, and the less experienced artists can listen in and learn from their hard-won insights. In some ways, this is understandable, because once online paid education for digital art became a thing, anyone with enough experience would rather earn an additional income stream with that hard-won knowledge and experience, because god knows we don't get paid enough for the amount of love we pour into what we do, not to mention how stressful working as professional artist can be, especially in the entertainment industry. So advanced artists prefer to stay out of places where they'll just get swarmed by less experienced artists with endless questions, and that means they only post to their social media and art hub portfolio page, and whatever interaction they crave with other advanced artists, will have to be in private, at the studios they work at, or private small groups they have formed with colleagues and friends.
Although I can logically explain why things are the way they are, I still lament the loss of what we had back then. Maybe this post is just me mourning what we lost, and what the younger generation will never get to experience. Part of me wanted to start posting here just to see if doing so will eventually lead to changes that will turn this place into what we had back then. But of course this is just wishful thinking, because when all those old art forums eventually died, they all struggled for years to keep things going but finally had to call it quits.
Anyway, I guess I'm posting this to gauge what the response will be like, and then go from there.