Many artists want a place to share their creations and engage with other artists as well as potential fans. It feels great to get good feedback on your latest creation or see inspiring work! However for some that can be hard to find if you aren’t interested in the problems that occur with mainstream social media.
For example, I refuse to use Facebook and since Instagram is owned by them, I don’t use that either. I’m not interested in having my data mined like that. I liked ArtStation as a place to post my semiprofessional work and then they were bought out by a gaming company and the attitude displayed by admins turned sour very quickly. I used to truly enjoy DeviantArt! It was a huge, relatively supportive art community that was also fun and quirky. Then I noticed that they basically ignored spammers, scammers and art thieves. They were gradually reducing the options open for non-paying members and were hosting questionable events. Worst of all, they were using the art of their own userbase to feed AI algorithms. Not cool. Now they claim to offer protection against that but the “protection” is mostly a sham. What’s a lonely artist to do?
After much searching I discovered a new site called InkBlot. It’s only been in existence for two years and is currently in open beta. It’s US based, in my own state actually, and it has a strict policy against AIs and NFTs. It contains space for visual artists, musicians, and writers. It even has an account type for people who want to enjoy art but not create. They are welcome too! There are no outside ads on InkBlot, and it’s community funded.
I really like InkBlot – the only downside is the community is a bit small, but masses of weary artists are pouring in who want a break from the BS in other art communities. There is “Forever Free” account option so you don’t even have to pay, but I have chosen to. The subscription levels start at a dollar a month and are all very reasonable. I don’t mind paying a small fee since it means I am buying a product not being used AS the product.
Before moving to InkBlot I researched a lot of other communities but this one won out by a mile. Here are a few screenshots – development is still ongoing and there are plans for accessibility options for the disabled, different color themes, and more. You can already control the colors on your own profile to a degree not often seen on other sites.
See below for a screencap of my profile – the home page contains other peoples’ art so I didn’t want to re-post that without permission.
If anyone reading this wants a good place to go to post and enjoy art, I’d recommend InkBlot! I like that it is built and maintained by small group of passionate people. If you have your own artistic haven, I’d love to know where – I might check it out too!
Mindflight 
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