Art Community Discord Groups

What is discord?

Discord is a group-chatting platform that was originally made for gamers but in time, has become a general use platform for all sorts of communities such as, gaming, fandoms, artists, writers and much more. Discord basically allows users to message each other or create a ‘servers’ that comes with text channels, voice channels (for voice chatting). Servers are usually divided into several topics for various contexts such as general discussion, game discussion, sharing memes and much more.

Discord also allows game developers to communicate easily with their consumers by making an open group for said game. This allows them to get first-hand feedback from their consumers. Right now, there are more than thousands of discord servers with various topics that are open for the public to join.

Discord during COVID-19

Avid covid-19 Discord has become a mainstream communication platform amongst computer users. Discord becomes a choice because it is used more leisurely and has functionality that is considered convenient for it’s users. The program is also free to download and is also available both on the computer or on your smartphone.

Personal experience

Ever since the COVID-19 outbreak, I’ve resorted to using my computer as a platform for pretty much everything in my daily life. This includes studying, gaming, and communication. Before this, I’ve hardly used discord as it doesn’t serve me any purpose besides being a platform I use to play games with my friends and to discuss our groupworks as it is a convenient platform. On social media, I am quite known for being a digital illustrator. I have a number of followings on instagram, twitter, even tumblr. This has led me to be introduced to the communities of digital artists online. When the pandemic started, I’ve managed to befriend many artists online and joined the circle which allows me to get invited into art discord servers. As of today, I am a part of 4 art-discord servers, the most recent one I was invited to join today.

Ever since the pandemic, I’ve joined several discord servers ranging from art to gaming. I have made friends online which through discord, has made the experience feel like i’m making friends in real life (face-to-face). I’ve also joined art projects and communities such as making a zine, calendar and such which brings me exposure as an illustrator online. I’ve also joined a community that teaches digital illustration, providing me with tips and comments on my works if I were to share them within the group.

1. Gestalt 

Out of all the art-discord I’ve joined, Gestalt is one of the most professional servers for artists. Gestalt is a server that focuses on teaching digital art. Gestalt is described as a background art based discord server with people coming from all over the world, and all levels of arts, primarily in illustration, games, and animation with a mix of industry professionals and hobbyists. The server is a SFW community open to discussion about the industry, drawing environments, and constructive criticism on your work.

I’m not as active as I am in Gestalt because the server consists of professionals and use it mostly as a teaching platform on discord. The tips and advice shared on this server comes from hobbyists and actual professionals who are from the industry itself.

 

2. JJBA Art Discord

The Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (JJBA) Art Discord is a server that mainly focuses on fan artist (fanart artist) to participate in art events that are focused around said topic alone. This discord consists of artists who share the same interest towards the anime and allows them to share and participate in art events that are held by the community itself. The discord server does not limit themselves to art but also discussion and conversation regarding the anime.

As far as I’ve joined the server, I’ve managed to get myself involved in several events which includes the monthly character piles (A monthly participation) and a digital calendar participation.

Before joining the discord, I would never be involved in events regarding the fandom itself as I do not know much about the community. Ever since COVID-19, I’ve been actively participating in these events as I’ve been having loads of free time. This goes out to most of the community members as they are also finding more free time in this pandemic. 

3. Windows to World - Discord Art Zine

   

Unlike the other discord groups I’ve joined, The Window to Worlds discord server is a server dedicated to an event. This server is a server for participants of a digital art zine (art magazine) which is created for artists to share their own original characters and stories to the world. This zine was established during early this year and collects funding from those who want to purchase a digital copy of the art zine. The proceeds from this server were donated to two charities. 50% of the proceeds went to the ACLU legal defense and educational fund and the other 50% went to Direct Relief for COVID-19.

After the deadline of the event, the discord server became inactive as the main objective of the server was met. We, the participants however keep in touch with each other through other social media networks such as twitter and instagram.

4. Art Fart Discord server

For this server, I haven’t experienced much since it was just established today (20/12/2020). This server is invite exclusive and only those who have connections in the art community can join it. So far my experience in that art discord has been pleasant. Every single person in this discord is a hobbyist that isn’t bound into a specific fandom or interest besides art. Eventhough we just met, a lot of us had connected with eachother since we share the same interest and were recruited by people from the same community. I was able to meet people from all over the world, including the US, Canada, Australia and much more. Personally, I feel like this group might be able to last long as it seems that everyone in this group is highly active on discord. 

Final thoughts

Personally, I’ve felt more exposed and connected with the artists that I’ve met on discord. Apparently the pandemic has opened a gate for online artists and allows them to have more free time. The lack of physical interaction also makes people crave company be it online. Discord has allowed artists to break these barriers and enable them to connect with artists from all around the globe regardless of their backgrounds despite the whole world being in shambles from COVID-19.