[micke]

This place used to be a very active forum. At least 10 years ago. Sijun was one of the very first digital art-forums and now there is just around 1 active thread. Why? What happened?

[Sumaleth]

The extreme quiet Sijun is experiencing right now is actually only a couple of weeks old, and it seems to go through a flat spot like this from time to time. To date, it has recovered from each flat spot. I guess people just need a break from time to time, or maybe it'll take a particularly inspiring post to kick start a new season.

It hasn't been at those insane 98-00 levels for a long time though. Sijun was the only digital art forum back then, but it was probably inevitable that members would split off and form their own communities, and for the professionals (those providing the best feedback) to burn out. And once the commercial juggernauts got rolling - cgtalk and conceptart - there was no way back to what it was.

The consolidation to a handful of themed threads here on Sijun was an unusual trend, but it has been like this for four or five years now. And even though the feedback side of things has died right down there still a very large number of people visiting the forums, so it has become more of a place to enjoy fresh art and watch new artists develop, rather than be the feedback-driven site that it was in those early years.

Dhabih has been happy for us to cultivate a relaxed, easy-going community, rather than drive for market share or a particular purpose. It is whatever it is, and the people who visit seem to enjoy it for that.

And the speedpainting thread is one of the all-time great internet forum threads.
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Art Links Archive -- Artists and Tutorials

[micke]

I see. Might pop by the speedpainting thread, but it would be fun if the other sections became alive again. I learned so much from this place and i hope it will blossom again. This time around i will stick by longer and see how it turns out. I especially need to paint more rather than to draw so i hope my stay here might improve that. Well, good to see you around here anyway

[durgldeep]

Sumaleth, thanks for the overview.
Summer (northern) might be part of it too?

[daryl]

Still browsing through the speedpainting thread daily
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[Lemur]

i'd say the summer has been a part of it, I notice the cycle of certain people taking breaks (including me lol) but it always keeps rolling

[balistic]

Welcome back, Micke.

The real reason it's so quiet is that Shizo doesn't seem to be around
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brian.prince|light.comp.paint

[durgldeep]

I like that Sijun isn't "commercial". That's why I'm here rather than elsewhere. If 'non-commercial' tends to cheapen real effort, I think we should realize that real people are involved and that a few (or many; as mentioned) have put a lot of effort into the forum, to date. Personally I don't think it's okay to shrug at that or say 'whatever happens, happens'. But that's just me.

What began as a "personal homepage" unpredictably became something else. I think that's really cool; and also heavy. Forums can be a lot of work (been there); seems there's a balance between active management and letting it unfold naturally (kinda like bonsai). Easier when a lot of people do a little rather than a few a lot (burnout)?

I tend to take the past effort seriously (cross-linking to relevant topics). I see Sijun as a whole, as an 'art piece' in itself (digital within digital): made by real people. Simply 'letting it go' isn't an option I can understand, really - except when real life gets in the way (yep, got the T-shirt there).

Anyhoo, those are my thoughts (useful or not; relevant or not). Brief as I can make it (not nearly short enough). Now I'm gonna post it before I start re-writing again...

[Tomasis]

well written, durgldeep

sijun is special place for me. maybe because that I learned me much here how to paint. especially when spooge was here around. So if anybody who wants start an artist's career, he should look over spooge's posts history, learn and voila. no need for school or teacher. I try to point out durgldeeps meaning over archival stuffs, what we need are old paintings that texts refer to. texts stay archived yeah but other material are lost forever.

To visit conceptart.org is like to attend in market under big discount days. Yelling, pushing, grabbing stuffs, lol.

[durgldeep]

Sad that so many images have disappeared (agreed). Though that was partly the image hosting shakeup, I guess (new/better sites appeared...). Just checked archive.org, they *do* have a few images (that aren't in the current/local pages):

Speed-painting:
http://web.archive.org/web/20061104000239/http://forums.sijun.com/viewtopic.php?t=29807&start=0

Self-portrait thread:
http://web.archive.org/web/20060616164509/http://forums.sijun.com/viewtopic.php?t=29784&start=0

Cool.

Anyhow, huge undertaking to restore even those (even if people volunteered and copyright owners agreed) - of course the thing to do would be restore the really useful/educational threads. Guess it's up to individuals to be concerned about that (or not). That much hasn't changed.

[Sumaleth]

Yeah, that's something I've thought about too. I thought I might be able to write a script that searched for old images on the archives sites, cached them locally, and inserted them into the database. Maybe one day when I've got some free time.

It's interesting that the way it works now, with images randomly disappearing with age, is similar to the way memories work.
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[durgldeep]