Hot take: That big digital art convention in Austin last month was a total letdown for me

I went to the Digital Canvas Expo in Austin expecting to see some fresh workflows and cool new tools. But honestly, every booth was pushing the same hyper-realistic style with AI upscaling. I spent $40 on a workshop about "modern textures" and it was just the guy teaching us how to run photos through filters. Has anyone else felt like these big shows are just marketing events now instead of actual skill sharing?

3 comments

3 Comments

nora1108d ago

Yeah, "feeling like one big ad" is exactly right. Lily70, you hit the nail on the head. I went to a similar thing a few years back, a "concept art summit" in Portland, and the main stage was just a guy live-painting a dragon while casually mentioning his sponsors every five minutes. No one asked any real questions, it was like watching a commercial where you paid $50 to sit in the audience.

lily708d ago

oh man, that bums me out to hear. i was thinking about checking one of those out next month but now im not so sure. its crazy how these things start feeling like one big ad instead of a place to actually learn something. like i went to a "mastering digital painting" panel once and the whole thing was just the artist talking about their patreon and not one real tip on technique. it feels like everyone is just there to sell you a course or a brush pack instead of sharing actual skills. totally get why you'd feel let down.

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kellyjones7d ago

and like, the worst part is you pay for parking, you pay for the ticket, maybe you buy a coffee there, and you leave with nothing. not even notes. i've been to a couple of those "artist talks" where the person is nice enough but clearly just there to push their patreon too. it's a bummer because you go in hoping to get some real insight, maybe a shortcut or a trick, and instead you get a sales pitch. makes you feel kinda stupid for even paying to get in, you know?