Adventures in Pixiv
Pixiv is the deviantArt of Japan. Except, it is better. Well, sort of.
The cool thing about Pixiv is that its top-ranked illustrators eventually get to throw their own themed art shows, or they get to participate in an attractive, user-generated limelight. Online art communities that swiftly and obsessively encourage brick-and-mortar efforts are uncommon: it’s a business model that should, in effect, work wonders. But it is tough to pull off.
Hoping to become more internationally-minded, I joined Pixiv last year to see how the community worked. Immediately I can admit that not everything on the site is clearly navicable for an American, non-Japanese speaker, but it is easy enough to click around and get results.
Here are some of the most prized discoveries on Pixiv. Here is what young, unknown digital artists in Japan are doing right now.
this artist is known as "24"
A stunning illustration from 輪兎
By ざいん
Much of the most popular works on Pixiv are maximalist, color-diverse, and yes, fan art. It takes a bit of digging to get to the gold. Pixiv's maxim is to be "A Place where Drawing Becomes More Enjoyable" but it has acheived so much more than that.
by おどり
by 藤原
There you go! Enjoy em
filed under: art
tags: art japan pixiv pixiv zingaro online art community art social network
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