Posted

Oct 23rd 2004

Mood

Frustrated

Music

しーーん (silence)

It would appear a lot of people are gravitating away from DA. Interestingly enough earlier in the year I wrote a prose that predicted just such a decline in usership (however for a different reason).

There is still a lot that is true. Certain forms of art are trendy. Anime and manga (regular, shoujo, shounen, it doesn't really matter) art are a real trend right now and a lot of people (including myself) want to draw in this style.

The thing about trends is that they tend to stir up crowds. Whoever has good art tends to be flocked to by the masses and literally suffocated by the massive fan presence. People with less developed talent wind up completely sidestepped by the more adept artists. This results in a very uninspiring condition for those struggling to improve their art or motivate themselves to do so.

We don't need so-called fanclubs. We need groups of friends who will help each other improve together. Individuality is nice but it doesn't work for everyone. It's a lot more fun to try and learn something new as a group and laugh together rather than being laughed at.

I suggest a beginner's group where the group works on the basics. Working with art programs, scanning, inking, layer techniques, stuff like that.

Then I suggest a challenge group. The goal is to try learning different aspects of art techniques and drawing. Interspersed with member suggestions are challenges. The group members will not know the theme of the challenge and the goal of the challenge is to just have fun and do your best to address the theme of the challenge.

These can be subdivided into the various art categories or more general groups can be formed that focus on a larger range of art styles.

In closing, if we can create friends on SA and all be good neighbours SA will succeed where DA is failing.