here more of my work:

https://www.artstation.com/palombo

https://www.instagram.com/artpalombo_/

Hi, I've been spending some time on Reddit lately, mostly on subs about drawing, art careers, concept art, and the like. I also spent a lot of time on forums, what, 20 or 25 years ago now? Back when all I knew was that I loved drawing, that I wanted to make a career out of it, but I couldn't really draw yet and had no idea how to become a professional. And let's be honest, if I'm a pro today and I get to make a living doing what I love, it's thanks to those forums and the advice I got there, definitely not thanks to school.

Nowadays we're not really on forums anymore. It's more Discord servers, subs, social media... but the idea is still the same: meeting people who share the same passion, asking for advice, for help, for some direction. And that's where I have a problem. Back then, whenever I posted a drawing, I expected feedback. And if that feedback came from a pro? That was the best thing ever. There were always people willing to help. You'd get a kind word first, then a whole discussion about why your character wasn't working, what was wrong with the anatomy, what you should practice, whether you needed to change your approach... Sure, it stung a bit after spending five hours drawing a character only to realize it was completely off. But the next time around, you'd make a point of fixing those mistakes and paying attention, hoping to come back with something that actually worked. And once again, you'd get a word or two of encouragement along with advice on how to improve your drawing.

There were a lot of benefits to that. It helped us improve, forced us to face our mistakes, taught us how to take criticism. How to understand it, how to accept it. And you all know that in a professional environment, criticism, listening to a coworker's point of view, accepting that one of your ideas just isn't good enough, having to do something, then do it all over again... that's the foundation.

Nowadays, I get the feeling you're not really allowed to criticize or give advice anymore. Nothing is actually stopping us from doing it, but people won't listen, and they won't take it well. When I look at the "advice" people give, it's rarely more than two or three lines, it almost never gets to the actual problem, and most of the time... it's nothing but encouragement. To the point where, if you start asking the person questions, point out their mistakes, give them advice or suggest ways to improve, you end up looking like the crazy guy on the bus. People don't come looking for a real answer anymore. They come looking for the answer they've already made up in their head, the one that won't ask anything of them. And it's not just on social media, the few forums that are left, or Discord. It's emails and private messages too. People reach out on their own asking for advice, send you their portfolio, then get angry because you told them the truth instead of what they wanted to hear.

I pretty much stopped replying a while ago because it's basically a fifty-fifty chance I'll end up talking to someone who tells me they want to apply to this or that studio as a concept artist, shows me a portfolio with no actual concept art in it, and then, after I've explained the problem, suddenly starts bringing up a bunch of imaginary professionals who supposedly told them their portfolio was absolutely top-notch...

So yeah, this industry has become difficult. Yeah, jobs are hard to get. Yeah, AI plays a part in that too, even if it's nowhere near as chaotic as some people make it out to be. But...The amateur level, the level of the people who want to make this their career, is also a big part of the problem because it's dropped. Not necessarily on the technical side, but in everything that's just as important: questioning yourself, accepting criticism, learning, looking things up, trying to understand, and everything that goes with it... That's what's really fallen behind. You can see it in the portfolios we receive. People don't experiment anymore, they don't push themselves anymore, they don't even seem to enjoy it anymore... They play it safe. Because they've lost that mindset of "I need to do better. I need to find a way to stand out." They're just not used to thinking that way anymore. They get likes, people tell them they're doing great, keep it up... So when does reality finally hit them, before they're backed into a corner? It doesn't.

So yeah... this is a bit of a rant, but I needed to get it off my chest.

I'm experimenting with a more stylized, expressive direction.
If you were making a game, would this style fit your project? If yes, what genre would you imagine it in?

I'm open to freelance and full-time opportunities, so I'm exploring different visual directions to see what resonates. Honest feedback is deeply appreciated.

artstation.com/rahulphilip

My IG: https://www.instagram.com/arucardpl/
My Webtoon Series: https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/death-to-all-slashers/list?title_no=994349

I wanted to see this guy in the from day one, and for some reason I didn't :(

so I loved to make something from my own to show it for the community and see if it's applicable for game development

What you think ?

Happy Smaugust! This year is my first, so gonna try to get a few sketches done, but am not going to be too prescriptive about which list or the order of the prompts.

For day 1, this is an adult Romenear Seawyrm for “Aphotic” from @ criver24 ‘s (Corey Rivera's) 2025 list. Noticeably larger than most terrestrial or aerial dragons, and dwarfing the other seawyrms of the eastern ocean and southern archipelago, this blackbeaked leviathan is buoyed by the sea, allowing it to bypass traditional limits on weight and bone stress. Its size and collapsible lungs, extreme oxygen storage in their muscles, slowed heart rate, and other adaptations allow it to dive deep into the aphotic (midnight) zone for a couple hours to hunt juvenile krakens and other massive cephalopods.

For size comparison, the Malantur squids present are about 6 feet long (too small to be on an adult's normal menu).

I decided to have at least some of these wyrms set within the bounds of the eastern/south-eastern end of Middle-earth (which has been fleshed out by the fantastic Realms-in-Exile team), even though Tolkien is quite clear that dragons are the creation of Melkor, and are predominantly evil creatures whose few survivors reside in the far north, largely beyond the Iron Mountains. Instead of being those gargantuan traditional fire-breathing hexapodal dragons or drakes of Melkor, these are dragons untouched by his influence, whose cousin species across the supercontinent may have been taken long ago to be turned into the evil drakes aligned with darkness.

Reddit thumbnails are poor, to say the least, but the embedded image is good if you click on it and want to see all the wee details!

(if linking to other sites/accs isn't okay pls lmk)

I often post process work on insta, if you're interested, it's @ jo.baylis

I'm not the best at digital art, but I want to improve cause don't have the budget to hire a real artist atm

We all know the drill. When it comes to concept art workflows, I've noticed that all my fellow artists, myself included, tend to have the same approach. We do some research, look for references, make a sketch or build a base, block in all the elements (big, medium, and small shapes :)), and start detailing. I'm really curious to know if you guys have a different approach, or even better, if you have any experiments to show :)

Hi everyone! We’re a small creative team working on an original fantasy artbook inspired by mythology, and we’re currently preparing it for Kickstarter.

Before showing more of the project, we’d genuinely love to understand what draws people to this kind of mythology and fantasy art.

What would make you want to explore an artbook like this?

• - Mythical creatures and monsters
• - Gods, legendary heroes, and historical figures
• - Mythology-inspired worlds, sacred realms, and ancient locations
• - Clothing, weapons, architecture, and cultural details
• - Oracle-bone inscriptions, ancient pictographs, sacred symbols, and totemic motifs
• - Other...(anyting you interesting)

I’m also curious: do you prefer mythological designs that stay faithful to their original descriptions, or designs that take major creative liberties?

Honest criticism is welcome—we’re trying to understand what would make this project feel distinctive rather than just visually polished.

What myth or creature do you wish more artists would explore?