we had it so good with 2000s-early 2010s deviantart (´•ω•̥`) just vibing, posting art, talking to people it was a simpler time lmao

like what art communities/sites even exist anymore?? modern deviantart seems like an exercise in human misery with all the insane updates (last one was about nfts?? what??) but what's the alternative?? social media?? which is not optimised for artists and also just seems like a horrid time too??

what also sucks is that whenever new platforms pop up nobody wants to move there so they either remain tiny niche communities or just die. off the top of my head the other art sites i know of are artstation, inkblot and buzzly (which i do actually enjoy a lot but like. it is tiny lol), with cohost, newtumbl, pillowfort and itaku being sort of smaller/alternative social medias

but i dunno i feel like the culture around art online has just kinda become like, colder? more hostile? over the years

and yeah i am old™ and nostalgic but idk man i just miss the old internet and wanted to complain i guess lmao

Aw, I'm sorry!

Honestly I like seeing fanart of my favorite shows. Most of them can draw better than I can (but part of that is because I'm forced to use a mouse for digital art LMAO).

Though I've heard the bigger a community is, the more likely it will become toxic. I've heard quite the horror stories stemming from the old days of art sites....

I feel this, I still keep my deviantart page but inactive, but I don't think I'd ever return, which is a shame. I've been using art websites since sheezyart (2007-2008 perhaps?) and finally moved away from deviantart in around 2018, 10 years is a long time :'0 I definitely find it much harder to be part of a group now (but honestly idk if that's just the kind of person i am) and as you said the main social medias are soooo sucky for artists, mostly I just post to various discord communities, there's ... something about posting publicly (like on twitter) that makes me a bit nervous lol.

it's easy to get a lil mopey about it, so I'll also say that i think those of us who were tweens on deviantart (and legacy tumblr) were in a pretty sweet lil pocket of time before things changed drastically :> i'll probably reminisce on the ol' deviantart pages we customised with gaudy backgrounds and 10 billion stamps, doing art trades with friends and bad ocs we loved forever haha.

Big ol same.

RN I pretty much just use toyhouse but there I really only get to upload art of my own OCs and no one really interacts unless you go into the forums and that's not personally for me, so I'm just in my own corner zoning out pretty much. I've tried posting here a few times... but IDK... posting in a group thread feels intimidating and making my own thread / gallery feels conceited (I've tried in my own forum group and just felt like I was drawing attention to myself / being annoying to people who probably just were there waiting on commissions) so I've pretty much just stopped sharing entirely T_T

Every new site that I see pop up has just been one gross scandal after another (NFTs, drama, etc, etc.) and I've kind of given up.

Reading everyones post brings it to the point.

First things first: I drew since 1996 on and off and with many years of a loo~ong pause. As I was 13 in 2001, I upload my art (original and Fanart) on a german site only. I still do this from time to time, have deleted a lot ot my old (I mean old. O.L.D.) works, improved over 20 years and still improve more and more. 18 years ago, I start using dA too, and since the ugly site-revamp I stopped uploading art and won't upload art anymore on dA. But I still left comments when I have the time and use the favourite button much more than I Login.

Since I have my own Portfolio (which I only use for application or when I share art from the Art Freebies sub-forum on subeta) I upload my art only there. Other finished art I don't upload on my portfolio I keep for myself because of ToS, I simply won't share it and other personal reasons.

I was never into any social media (It's fal-lal in my opinion and I don't need it, nor want it) so I don't know how the mood is on those social media "sites". But from people I know from other websites, I often read "It's so toxic" - "Since year XXXX it's more toxic" and sometimes I read "People are rude when I upload art (original or fandom), my followers don't like and they de-follow/de-watching me and writing ugly messages". And then I asking myself mentally "Why let you happen that such comments let you pull down?" That's something I can't and will never understand. Maybe it's because of that I don't use social media and it's all very well for me to talk. But I also think "When you have so many persons who follow you and you got X likes, thumbs up, positive comments, how can it be that negative comments bring you down?"

Is it just me or isn't it true, that you draw first of all for yourself? I do so. I draw things I like and which I love. Not what other people like/love/or hope to see. When people don't like your stuff, okay. Forget it. It's nothing you need to put energy in.

But I think exactly this - what I wrote above - is the problem. I think some people NEED compliments, acknowledging, confirmation and when they don't get it, they feel bad, unpopular. That's something what I find awful. You don't need to fit the spirit of the time, jump on every hype and come up to expectations by other people.

Uhm. I'm not off-topic, right? scratch his head I also agree with the "gross scandal after another" feral wrote before. And what PiplupMagby34 wrote about the "Though I've heard the bigger a community is, the more likely it will become toxic." is also something I grabbed above.

I don't think it's possible to find a art community or art site, which will not sink into total chaos, because of rude people and comments and drama. If a artist is under sympathizers (other artist, no matter on which level) it's - I think and hope - more firendly. And hopefully another artist can help and give constructive critique.

Constructive critique is also something that seems to be super rare. In place of comments like "Your art is ugly" - "I don't like this pairing" - "Awful colors" and so, it would be much nice to write "The body looks great but the head is to small. I found a tutorial which helped me a lot to draw heads which fits the body and maybe it will help you too" or "I love the fanart you drew of A and B from C a while ago. It was heartwarming. I don't like this pairing you draw yet, but I love the pose and the soft color scheme. You also put a lot of effort in the background"

Today it's all about "I hate this, I that that, I dislike this, I dilske that, Mimimimimi..."

I also miss it to exchange experiences with other artists to get constructive feedback (outlines, how to color in) and how I can improve on problem XY. I remember also that in the past (I think it's over 10 years ago) was a topic here where people where more active about helping by art problems and how to improve.

I often wish and think about a topic where we can discuss about our art and get help from other artists with more experience. But I'm not very active in drawing, but I love to help and giving constructive critique. But than I remember how empty the Forum here is since years (depending on the subforum and theme) and waiting for weeks or months untill someone can help is just... hard.

God Tewro you are SO freaking valid for making this post. I am 100% in the same boat - social media these days just doesn't give that sweet, sweet validation that we all got on deviantART in the 2000s/early 2010s, and I miss it SO much. It didn't matter that my art sucked back then - deviantART was great for networking with other artist friends, and my friends did their best to constantly comment on my artwork and praise me for just getting things done. That support network was HUGE for me - I was a kid with undiagnosed depression and hated everything I drew. I really did live for my friends' praise.

I don't post my art on social media anymore. It's too cold an environment. Unless you have a popular art style, you're not going to get any followers, and the few followers you DO have will hardly ever see your art because algorithms are fucked up, man. I know I shouldn't live for other people's validation, but it was so, so hard to post things that I was kind of proud of, only to get... maybe... one like on it, no comments.

I ran my art Twitter for two years, regularly posting art and updates about the video game I'm working on. Two years, and I only got 60 followers that entire time. I think my most liked post had about 20 likes. It was pretty humiliating, especially when I'd post about my video game (a project I'm passionate about) and get no reactions whatsoever.

Again, I shouldn't let the lack of attention get me down, but since I grew up with deviantART and that sweet, sweet support network I had there, it just feels so... empty, these days. I miss networking with other artists, and not feeling like I'm in some kind of competition for attention. I hate that you have to post CONSTANTLY on social media if you want to gain any sort of following. I hate social media. I just want to be a teen on deviantART in the 2000s again. ;__;

I'm not a drawer/digital artist but a major appreciator of ya'll's talents, so I would like to add that I miss those fabulous little things called Oekakis that some websites had. In fact, I'm pretty sure Subeta had one! I loved joining them and seeing the fandom art and I even tried the occasional drawing myself (was never very good though lol).

Aw, I'm sorry man! I think posting art on a Discord forum is likely the best way to get some attention for your work nowadays. Bonus points if it's fan art from a popular show.

I don't post on art sites, but I understand the desire for validation.

I still use deviantART. Works fine for me. I've been using it since 2002.

The Protect thing they're talking about is a thing that scans websites for art on dA and if it finds matches, it alerts the artist to be able to take it down so other people can't cash in on their art. It's pretty nice, tbh.

sry it took me so long to reply i'm lazy lol

drama has existed as long as human civilisation has but i think the thing about old internet drama was that it was much more...... contained? like if you had a problem with someone it wasn't the norm to announce it to everyone there was also more of an attitude of just minding one's own business i feel like

PREACH i see it so much with younger/inexperienced artists who grew up on social media, there's this obsession with likes/retweets/idk what else social media uses and like, if all you're looking for is numbers i feel like you're kinda setting yourself up to be miserable imo

god yeah the community really was the best part tbh 😔 i literally made friends on da back in the day by just looking through my friends' favourites and finding artists into the same stuff i was and it was so nice?? people would link their friends on their profiles (also i miss customisation on sites modern social media looks so bland) and it really felt like an actual community instead of just, throwing art into the void and praying it doesn't get lost in the algorithm™

see i don't have an issue with the protect thing (except maybe the fact it's behind a paywall but eh) it's more the latest update that lets you straight up mint art as nft's. i'll be honest i have a very poor opinion of nft's in general, as most artists do, and seeing what was once the best art site get behind this rubbish is disappointing

I miss feeling like part of an art community.

Even back in college, I HATED being there, but looking back I miss honest peer review and constructive critiques. Feels like the artistic journey has turned into a solo venture that I guess a lot of us used to share and I miss it.

That said, I still use DA. More of that I've been posting there for damn near 20 years (lolewI'mold) But it is a really good way for me to catalogue my work and actually revisit it. It's a good representation/reminder to self of how far I've come. Like hot damn I'm surprised anyone ever spoke to me years ago when I was enthusiastically posting the crap I was. XD

Social media in itself is a tiresome game. If you aren't able to produce daily you are swept by the people who can. I envy them honestly, but I'm pretty sure now that is just part of being an artistically inclined person. Though again, I try and look at it more as a "this is for me" thing, rather than a "this is for them" trying to actively promote my "brand". I don't have the energy for that shit.

TBH I've had really a positive experience in art-centric discord communities. People are active and inspirational and REAL people who RESPOND when someone says something. Like what.

Also the growing community of artists here on subeta that have joined the # finesse group run by . (nervous to ping the entire group XD but plz look it up) Everyone has been very welcoming and I enjoy the sense of community. They also have a discord, it is smaller and more quiet than others but still a good place to just vibe and share projects.

I use Discord for critique, now. It has worked pretty well.

Same.

Oh my god. Yeah. All of this. I really miss the old days of DA. I never really got into tumblr. I've been trying to get into instagram for art, but I loathe social media with every fiber of my being. I felt that comment about the art community being hostile these days too. It's not about art anymore, it's just a popularity contest, or using art for income - not just to enjoy it. I mean, I have nothing against commissions, artists need money too, but it feels like it's entirely about money anymore But, I think a lot of the problem is how much the internet and online communities themselves have changed. It's not the same culture anymore, and that's not limited to art.

This is such a mood, yeah. I used oekakis when I was like 10-14 and I had such warm and wonderful community there! I've found paintberri but it doesn't seem wildly active or anything.

What's oekakis???

Yup! Was just moping about this yesterday too!! Deviantart does still exist but the flood of fetish art literally pushed me out. So unwelcoming to me :( Swapped to sheezyart and I think another one that was more catered to furry art, but I don't draw that so I left soon. Then as someone mentioned, oekakis! Those were so fun and refreshing, a break from fancy photoshop or editing.

The community is the huge part here- it isn't about likes or views for me. I just loved interacting with people and knowing that the whole point was to build people up. My art at 13yo wasn't good, but damned if dA didn't have people who would hype you up! (And I did it too- i frequented the 'newest' page). Yeah.......yeah I miss it. :( Most art I draw now i just keep to myself, sometimes I will put it on my instagram story (deletes in 24h) because none of my friends on there are artists anyway, so eh.

Oekakis were sites where you draw directly on the website, you couldn't upload anything. Most of them had really simple art programs built in kinda like MS Paint. (someone correct me if I'm wrong on my description :3 )

and It's a site where people mostly draw through a program on the site, definitely, but some allowed you to upload from other sources, and some had really good programs imo! I miss some of the brush tools etc that my favorite one had- Eevzy's place (rip) was my internet home for years. u-u

There was also an rp board connected and we'd all draw our characters and do art trades all the time ahaha it was so cool.

Ohh, thank you :D. I think the primary one I used was Tegaki e (which has a neat archive, if you've ever used it!) Similar to the paintberri site you showed, you could reply in comments through drawing and you tagged it with drawn icons. So cute ^-^ Also used to use iscribble, which I don't think was an oekaki site but you would share a canvas with friends. Really miss those sites.

I joined paintberri and I absolutely love it. I guess Tegaki E had a reboot that seems a little more active? (TEv2) But it's a little more chaotic and less of a focus on RP.

You might be interested in neocities,org (no relation to neopets) it's full of web sites that are like love letters to early personal websites.