Shoutout to the old digital art forums from the early 2000s

I used to think those pixel art communities were just for kids messing around. But I found a saved file last week from 2004, a tutorial someone posted about dithering. That thing taught me more about color and value than my first year of art school did. Anyone else look back at those old forum posts and realize they were way ahead of their time?

2 comments

2 Comments

derek_burns13d ago

Read a piece the other day about how those old forums basically trained a whole generation of digital artists for free. The guy writing it said the tutorials were like secret cheat codes that the schools never caught up with.

seana1413d ago

Secret cheat codes that schools never caught up with" is spot on. But here's the thing nobody mentions: those forums taught us how to fail in public. You'd post a WIP and get roasted by some random dude with a death grip on a Wacom. That brutal feedback loop built thicker skin than any art class. Schools grade you, forums demanded you earn respect.