Artist, Illustration and Comic Forums
By Jason Brubaker on January 28th, 2010Posted In: Making Graphic Novels
Which Forum is right for me?
When I first heard about artist forums and online communities I was totally lost. I had no idea where to look and how to find them. When I did a google search, I typed in "Illustration Forums" and the only one I found that seemed legit was IllustrationMundo.com. I didn't realize the forum was a separate part of the site and I never got anywhere because they didn't want to include me in their artist portfolio database. I assumed they were all a bunch of snobby artists who thought they were God's gift to mankind so I marked them off my list.
Months later I was talking to a another good friend, Jason Scheier, who suggested I try out CGsociety and ConceptArt. I immediately signed up and finally saw what a forum was all about. I was still very lost and didn't really know where to begin. They seemed so big and complex and I wasn't sure if my art would fit in so I put 'em on the back burner as well.
Months later another friend told me about the Flight Forum. I signed up with Flight, which seemed more my speed and subject, and posted some old pages of Phobos to test the waters. The next morning I had a few comments from other members. Suddenly my eyes were opened. I began posting comments on other threads that I found interesting. I started getting friends and began following other comic stories.
Later I learned about PencilJack and signed up there too. This forum is mostly comic artists both pro and amature.
Each forum is tailored specifically to something. I've been learning that it's good to find one with your same taste or niche. Here are a few things I've learned about specific forums and I suggest getting involved if you haven't already. But no need to join all of them as I have. Just find the few that specialize in what you want to do.
Art, Illustration and Comic Forums:
- ConceptArt.org - Over 180,000 Members. This is my favorite at the moment, especially the SKETCHBOOK threads. I can spend hours digging through the sketchbook threads. I started one here where I post panels every now and then and the response has been overwhelmingly good. The rest of the forum is not really my taste because it's more about paintings for games and stuff. But this one will keep you busy once you start. Every second someone is posting something new. It's crazy.
- PencilJack.com – Over 16,500 Members. This is a great place for posting comic art. Both professional and amateur artists post here so it's great for everyone. I've gotten really good critiques and comments on how to improve some of my panels and it's really solid advice too. There may not be as many users on this forum but the participants here really love comic art. If that's your niche then jump on the wagon.
- GutterZombie.com - Over 3600 Members. This is a very professional forum specifically for comic artists and even more specifically for comic colorists even though anyone can join and post work. Some of the art here is amazing and the feedback is very extensive and helpful. I've gotten some great advice here about lettering as well as finding a flatter. If you want to color comics then drop everything and goto Gutterzombie!
- FlightForums - Over 2500 Members. This is a very niche forum for small press comic artists. It's a good one to start with because it's slow paced and very friendly. If you're making an indie comic or want to show off 8 pager then start here.
- CGsociety.org - Over 407,500 Members. This forum is more for 3D art and paintings but there are some interesting areas. I haven't posted anything here yet mainly because I'm not sure where to start and I don't really think it's right for my style. But you have to admit, this one's a monster! Almost half a million members? Dang!
- IllustrationMundo.com - Over 2,100 Members. For serious illustrators. I started a thread (finally) in this forum and waited a few days. When I finally got some comments, they were good and helpful but very catered to the tastes of designers. This forum isn't for me but if you want to specialize in illustration then go for it.
- DigitalWebbing.com – Over 34,000 members. I just found this one and I really like what I see here. There are specific talent showcase sections for Creators, Artists, Sequential Art, Inkers, Colorists, Letterers, Writers and more. If anything, it's a ton of specific information for comic artists as well as a bunch of niche threads you can post in. Remember, find your niche and post there.
- TheWebComicList.com – Over 74,000 members. I haven't tried this one yet but I plan on it in the near future. It looks like a good niche forum for webcomics.
- ComicBookResources.com – Over 54,000 members. This one was introduced to me by Drezz from iDrawDigital. It's a pretty big community that I've only started posting in. Another great one for getting to know others who work in comics. Professional and amateur.
- WhiteChapel – I don't know much about this one but I have heard that many people like it. [edit] WhiteChapel is a forum associated with comic book writer Warren Ellis' blog. It's a bit different then other forums out there in it's thread structure.
Does anyone know of other great forums helpful to graphic novel artists? I'm sure there are plenty more I haven't found. Hope this list helps.
Wanted to say thanks for introducing me to Pencil Jack, Its definatley the place for me to start. Working on established comics is a great place to begin before trying to put something orignial together.
I’m glad the link was helpful. It really took me a while to get this list together. There is so much stuff out there but if you don’t know where to go or start then it’s kinda pointless. PencilJack.com has been a really fun place for me too. I’m going to experiment with DigitalWebbing now. It seems like a great one too.
Hey, fantastic list, thanks for putting that together. It’s great to see some impressions of these sites, I never knew where to start with them before. I posted some years ago in DigitalWebbing under the screen name FrostyLibation, but didn’t stick with it and I kind of dropped the pencil for about 2 years since. It was kind of a rush to have people look at my stuff though.
I’m following your blog now, it’s one of the top blogs on my list. Your story looks like it’ll be really cool, and I love your art style. I’ll be reading to see what more I can learn from you, it’s been really informative and inspiring so far. Keep it up!
Hey Jason– thanks for stopping by my site, and I’m glad you found the agent list useful! Best of luck with your comic. I’ll definitely be subscribing so I can check out future updates. :)
Kelly – I’m glad this list helps. Sometimes I question if people really want information like this. In the end, I know I just wanted a simple breakdown of stuff. I wish I would have found something like this when I started looking into forums months ago. I’m also very interested in seeing which ones stick and which ones I never return to. I’m sure as time passes, I will narrow it down to just 1 or 2 that I post in every now and then.
I’m glad you are enjoying the art and story of reMIND too. I checked out your comic called “Clockwork Crisis”. The artwork is really solid! How long have you been working on this and what are you planning on doing with it? Self-publish or shop it around?
Niki – Thanks for stopping by here too. Your agent list is great and opened a pandoras box for me. Talk about overwhelming. I look forward to seeing more of In Maps and Legends.
I worked on that a few years ago, in my spare time, probably about a year or so. Then I took 2 months off from my job to see if I could get some quantity done (that’s where the inking pages started). I managed to get 5 or 6 solid weeks of work, but I was discouraged by my slow speed and by the fact that I didn’t really feel like I was improving (more like degrading by trying to hurry). I think I stopped working on it in Jan 2008, and hadn’t drawn at all until recently, almost 2 years later. I haven’t posted anything that I’ve done in the last month, I’m still figuring out how I want to proceed, I’m trying out working totally digitally, to see how it goes. The original plan many years ago was pretty vague, possibly shop it around or self publish if that didn’t work out.
Anyway, sorry for the long response, I should probably get my own blog instead of babbling all over yours :) Thanks for the encouragement, I am actually thinking about starting a blog to post some of the more recent stuff as I finish it, if I do I will definitely link to you (and probably come looking for crits…) Thanks for the encouragement.
WhiteChapel is a forum associated with Comic book writer Warren Ellis’ blog. Every once in a great while he asks web comics to post on his blog so he can check them out. A nod from Ellis can get you a lot of exposure. This week happens to be one of the rare weeks that he does this. Get reMIND up there post haste! http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=7667&page=1#Item_0
Hey man, Thank you so much for the info. I’ll get over there right away and post reMIND. I see your link in there as well. I’ll let you know how it goes.