I saw some stupid cunt about a month back get DESTROYED because he asked about a mentor, I only really lurk here because a lot of you guys' stuff is pretty tight so i wanted to ask, are mentors a taboo or is it just how that dude asked?
>are mentors a taboo or is it just how that dude asked?
No idea what the guy asked. But here's why mentorships cause people bitterness.
>2003-2005
>post on conceptart.org
>get advice for free from industry professionals
>make it
>attain fame/renown via social media
>tell everyone on your livestream/blog/facebook that they can make it too
>industry gets saturated
>wages stagnate/decline
>Shill your for-profit gumroad tutorials
>Shill your for-profit art "camp"
>Shill your 600 dollar a month mentorship
>Build a business model on the hopes and dreams of a bunch of dumb kids, when you were getting the advice for free at that stage in your career
>>2322856
Okay see that would irritate me too but my question sorta was, dude just asked if someone from here would mentor him, and everyone flipped a shit. I was kinda curious too, but uh, that thread definitely scared me off from asking.
>>2322856
Sorry I didn't make that apparent I really shoulda, I kinda feel bad for the dude desu. He just had uh, aspirations i guess?
>>2322856
>industry gets saturated
This is the best meme.
>>2322883
Watch the Craig Mullins THU talk where he says wages are a third of what they were when he started and his competition is now 25 year olds who work 80 hours a week because if they don't some one else will.
>>2322912
Also a week later he started offering paid mentorships.
>>2322883
Take a second and think about what sort of advances digital art has taken in the last decade, and how accessible it is. The same goes for education in art.
Consider how many artists use digital mediums professionally compared to traditional mediums.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out why there are a lot more aspiring professional artists now.
>>2322912
>hurr I have to actually work to earn money
It's called functioning properly, not being saturated.
>>2322924
>80 hour work weeks is what qualifies as "actually work"
>clearly anything less is just pleb hobby tier
Never change, /ic/. At least you'll burn out faster and stop poisoning people with your retarded notions.
>>2322923
>and how accessible it is.
Next to nobody knows this. Go around ask people how feasible do they think studying art online and becoming a digital artist is. Guess what, most people will think you're nuts, that you need to go to college etc. If you mention the word freelancer they'll think it's not a real job. The vast majority of college graduate will fail miserably and the ones who succeed might not even have learned anything useful.
The fear mongering is caused by limited exposure. /ic/ sees Ruanjia, HGJ etc. being good and assumes the industry is finished because the Chinese are all god tier and flooding the market. After that it was slavs, polish photobashers etc. This is entirely based on anecdotal evidence that doesn't even amount to a tiny fraction of the market.
In truth, this is probably one of the best period to entertain the idea of becoming a digital artist: abundant resources, yet the field is not even considered mainstream by the general population; whole industries that didn't even exist or where irrelevant decades ago are going strong (videogames, tcg etc.); old non-famous artists who didn't switch to digital went out of mainstream business leaving space for newcomers.
Seriously you don't even realize how lucky we are.
>>2322936
Well, as a hobbyist who aspires to maybe freelance a little and sell some commissions at most, I do realize it personally. There's never been a better time to get yourself a following nor an easier time for people who won't miss a few dollars to kick it your way for some art, even if there's tons of others trying to sell commissions too. But I can see how people who want an industry full-time job might feel a little dejected. Still, your post seems pretty reasonable to me.
Personally I'm just really glad I'm not an aspiring professional. The pressure is off, and I can do things at my own pace, which seems to save me a lot of misery and a fair bit of smug indignity at why I'm not as employed as other people who are 'less skilled' than myself.
