Looking for good Messageboards...

[Komodo King]

Hi, new here.

I'm looking for some really decent messageboards dealing with art/illustration/concept art, I am aware of quite a few but they all seem to be lacking in key areas.

What I'm looking for is professional grade analysis and discussion of technical and creative aspects of the above areas, in other words, high quality work, intelligent users, little or no mindless fanboy splooging.

These are the ones I know of, the comments relate to perceived flaws with said forums;

WETCANVAS.COM - generally amateurish grade of work, limited technical or creative knowledge base.

STUDIOPRODUCTS/CENNINI FORUMS - better technical knowledge but suffers strongly from the bizarre cult of personality that surrounds its founder, Rob Howard. A case of a decent, but not outstanding, artist attracting a clique of highly mediocre artists that appear to hang on his every word and attack dissenting opinions. Suffice to say I am looking for open and frank discussion.

CGTALK.COM - Mostly 3DCG, low post count/grade of work.

DIGITALART.ORG - Amateurish/fanart.

POLYKARBON.COM - Amateurish/fanart.

EATPOO.COM - Amateurish/fanart.

SIJUN.COM - Better grade of work, lacks members and non digital technique discussion.

CONCEPTART.ORG - Best of the bunch, but still lacking in a lot of ways, quality of work highly variable, primarily digital, lack of traditional technique discussion, lots of fanboy splooging, mostly videogame quality/style of work.

Make no mistake, by comparison to other forums Conceptart.org is the leader, but what I want is really something that doesn't cater so much to the teenage bracket and is perhaps feature more feature film grade concept art.

Any help would be appreciated...

[wassermelone]

Well,
I don't think you are going to find any better.
Any forum with a large number of good artists will attract people ... but not necessarily just people with good art.

So in effect... there will not be a forum with amazing art in every post. In fact... I am surprised this place isn't as swamped with new artists like some of the other forums.

Also, you mentioned the lack of traditional here. The thing is... the concept art industry is moving closer to completely digital every day. So while every now and then you will see a traditional painting, any concept art forum will gravitate towards digital.

The problem with fanboyism on forums such as this... is that the backlash against people who do want to critique sometimes is ... well offputting. Most actual proffessional critiques I would guess takes place between close friends because they can be as brutal as they want and understand thats what they need.

-toasty

[Jason Manley]

Originally posted by Komodo King
Hi, new here.

I'm looking for some really decent messageboards dealing with art/illustration/concept art, I am aware of quite a few but they all seem to be lacking in key areas.

What I'm looking for is professional grade analysis and discussion of technical and creative aspects of the above areas, in other words, high quality work, intelligent users, little or no mindless fanboy splooging.

These are the ones I know of, the comments relate to perceived flaws with said forums;

WETCANVAS.COM - generally amateurish grade of work, limited technical or creative knowledge base.

STUDIOPRODUCTS/CENNINI FORUMS - better technical knowledge but suffers strongly from the bizarre cult of personality that surrounds its founder, Rob Howard. A case of a decent, but not outstanding, artist attracting a clique of highly mediocre artists that appear to hang on his every word and attack dissenting opinions. Suffice to say I am looking for open and frank discussion.

CGTALK.COM - Mostly 3DCG, low post count/grade of work.

DIGITALART.ORG - Amateurish/fanart.

POLYKARBON.COM - Amateurish/fanart.

EATPOO.COM - Amateurish/fanart.

SIJUN.COM - Better grade of work, lacks members and non digital technique discussion.

CONCEPTART.ORG - Best of the bunch, but still lacking in a lot of ways, quality of work highly variable, primarily digital, lack of traditional technique discussion, lots of fanboy splooging, mostly videogame quality/style of work.

Make no mistake, by comparison to other forums Conceptart.org is the leader, but what I want is really something that doesn't cater so much to the teenage bracket and is perhaps feature more feature film grade concept art.

Any help would be appreciated...


congrats. you did a great job being a hater. we don't encourage that here.


for one..eatpoo...go look at lunar girl...look at noxizmad...look at nivbed...and then come back and tell me that it is amatuerish fanart. those peeps can hang with anyone out there. lunargirl is an artistic genius. niv, nox and the rest of the talent there are inspiring and worthy of recognition on the highest levels.

for two..conceptart.org. considering we have many of the film and game artists posting and visiting here, I can't believe you dont see past your naievity. the list of pros on this site is long indeed. the list of credits for movies and games is extremely impressive...lotr...matrix...metroid prime...tony hawk...you name it we got em here. you just dont know it because you dont take the time to realize that you are surrounded by some of the best people in the art fields. william whitaker is here on the forums with us and he is one of the top figure painters alive..a modern figure master. kchen in the figure forum..ron lemen....there are the people here that can help you.

sijun doesnt lack members. it was the largest art forum on the web in it's heyday. they have more members than ca still. again, your info is off. sijun was not properly managed and structured which led to it outgrowing itself. it is still a great place. look for the thread on color theory that vance kovacs did recently. look at what craig mullins pulls off in terms of inspiration.

we are so fortunate to have these communities. just a few years ago artists didnt have the ability to find everything they needed at their fingertips. i had to travel to many places to find artists to help me learn. i had to pay six figures in education fees. had i had places like this I could have had all i needed even if i lived in siberia. we are very lucky to be in the time we are. especially the beginners which you are so biased against.


cgtalk is a monster. it is an amazing example of an art community on large scale.

the rest i am unfamiliar with.

beyond this I am closing this thread because it is obvious to me that you are biased against those who are here to learn and are just starting out. my apologies on your behalf to those who you offend. I've learned from people of all levels on this site. being concieted and biased toward others only hurts you and your art

open your mind.


Jason


.