I'm an illustrator, have been for the past two decades. I've learned a lot, but I have a lot yet left to learn, too.
I'm pretty diverse in my interests, though I focus mostly on character work. I'm open to feedback, too, so have at it.
Age 39, Male
Illustrator
Between Light and Dark
Joined on 11/16/17
Hey hey, welcome officially now! At least you have that OG sign-up date after all these years. ;) Grants you a grandfathered-in free dumping grounds file hosting allotment too - was made supporter-only for new users just recently.
Happy to have ya here; see you around!
Glad to be here, in all honesty. And a 5-year old sign-up is OG? Not sure what to think about that...not gonna argue with free stuff, though. :D
Hehe well if you compare to the real OG OG's maybe it's still a decade or two a lacking. :P But compared to the waves of new users that surfed in from Tumblr and Twitter and DA and what-not the last few years... you arrived before it was officially 'cool' to be back here at least. Before people seemed to see NG as a serious social media alternative again. That's a feat.
Either way you do have the free stuff for life now for sure. XD
Yeah, I was kinda thinkin' of someone like, y'know, illwillpress as being a true OG, Me? Total n00b by comparison, yeah? (Though the fact that I use "n00b" that way does kinda date me...) :D And I can totally understand people coming over from those other places. NG might be somewhat smaller, but the general vibe of the place is much more relaxed, and I think people kinda need that, y'know?
True true, illwill's been around, though might not be one of the most revered artists here as he jumped ship when NG was struggling, deleted most of his old submissions, and just came back for real when YT started deleting some of his work. :) I still follow him but that disappointment lingers a bit, and he rarely interacts with users here, the way I gauge which artists deserveth respect is really their love for the community itself, and hey... maybe you're a part of a roster he isn't there. :P We all be n00bs at some point, though with a 00 like an impending 7 legend!
Totally agree with the vibes this place has. And transparency in regard to who runs the place; admins that actually (at least they seem to) care about the community more than commerce. And a more artistic free-for-all compared the giants. They've all started cracking down on certain content forms in recent years, which seems to be the main reason a lot of artists in particular found their way back here. And then FNF went viral and all.
It's a cool time to be here right now. Feels like we're a force to be reckoned with again. A serious contender to just about any other billionaire out there.
Well...unfortunately, interaction tends to fall off a lot once you're popular enough that you're getting a ton of comments on the regular. At some point, you just can't keep up any more--there's just too much. I've never experienced that myself, but I've seen it happen so often that it's a reality to keep in mind. That, and then there are the times you get comments that make you go "How the hell do I even respond to that?!" and just leave 'em alone.
And while it may be a bit cynical...I don't know that I could blame him much for going the YT route when he did, either. Survival as an artist depends so much on getting your work in front of as many people as possible, after all. YT was the place for videos (mostly still is, unfortunately), had the biggest potential audience (also still true), and videos are what he makes. You gotta go where your potential audience is--no matter how much you may love the place you began with.
But since the giants _are_ cracking down--as you said--a lot of artists of all types are "diversifying their portfolio," so to speak. They're finding places where they can experiment and be edgier than they're allowed to be at the giant sites. That not only brings new blood into smaller fora like NG (which I am so happy is still around when so many other early sites just...aren't) and helps them grow, it's what creates the opportunity for them to become serious contenders in the space. But...that risks them having to go corporate just handle the whole thing. At some point, there could just be too much for a small team to handle. Having lasted this long without doing so...says good things, imo.
Yeah I don't blame him for not responding that much, time is limited after all, you can dedicate it to talking to people or to actually making content, and if he focuses entirely on the latter that's something I respect as well! Real commitment to the craft. But just not caring about the place until it was relevant to him again, even though it was his first and for a long time ONLY stepping stone to greatness... that rubs me the wrong way a bit.
And I guess I do still feel like he could make time for us if he wanted, despite the overwhelming interactions he must have; that he just doesn't consider the fans that important when he doesn't. After all even current superstars like ninjamuffin99 actually seem to read at least some of their interactions, and throw a word back or appreciative emoji back at you occasionally. :) There are quite a few artists with a similar resolve to give back, and I get the impression they're the ones who reach the most people as well. To a point. It might take some time but an actual effort to connect is worth more marketing karma than a concise non-personal cross-platform blog on the latest available merch or product updates anyday, IMHO. I don't expect anyone with a large following to have time for everyone, but you know, just now and then, a little something, a little wave so we know these Gods among animators still see us... anyway not to unfairly stomp on illwillpress but... yeah, his actions over the years here have just disappointed me a bit, and I feel like a renewed connection with the community would redeem them a bit.
I don't blame him for taking the YT route either, but he didn't need to withdraw from NG to do so. We had a better ad programme here too. The revenue rate was higher. He knew that he had fans here; that people actively watched his content, potentially that traffic to his old cartoons could bring in much-needed new blood to the site... and still just cleared his shelves here. It's more so that I fault him for. That he didn't allow people the alternative; didn't leave NG with anything worthwhile.
I usually don't get caught up on flaws this much though. XD Somehow I got into a all-that's-wrong-with-illwill spiral here, didn't intend to, he seems like a cool dude too and I do love his work ethic; just going on always...
Yess, totally agree there. It seemed for a while like NG might change radically, just to survive; turn a profit, but fortunately it doesn't seem that's necessary. Seems like what appeared as flaws to some people - that we allowed too much - are now our strengths, and that's awesome. :) I think if NG would never have had to struggle things might've turned out very differently, and worse, but going through all that shizzle helped not chisel a strong foundation not just with staff but with users. Both love and identity, and a reason to be proud the engine's still going strong! Nothing lasts forever but... I hope NG's era lasts a long time yet. If the Internet lasts a long time yet. These days it seems clearer than ever that nothing's really guaranteed, if it comes to a point we can't even keep our houses warm how can we then keep the digital beast alive too... interesting times to be alive on all levels right now, here and IRL.
phantomnoiz
hell yeah