A List of Online 3d Artist Communities for 3d Artists

Social media is endless.  It can be exhausting.  You have to have the right amount of followers, likes, and “engagement” or the algorithm won’t show anyone your posts.  This is not how you build a community.  Before social media, artists took to the internet to build online art communities.  Today, the online 3d community is strong.  There are plenty of websites you can join to be an active member of the 3d community.  Here are a few of the popular 3d artist community websites we frequent.

CGSociety is one of the older online 3d communities for CGI artists.  The site started as a forum site called CGTalk.  Industry professionals used to get software help and creative ideas here.  They later expanded into a portfolio site to showcase the 3d portfolios of the artist members.  The forums are still there and still active. Many 3d artists using all kinds of 3d software are there.  it’s still a great place to reach industry professionals, freelancers, and students.  Create a profile and build your 3d artist portfolio to share with CGSociety users.  

ArtStation is the newer version of CGSociety.  Built specifically for game art – it’s now an all-inclusive 3d community.  It’s a great place to get your 3d portfolio seen by industry professionals all over the world.  There is an education component full of tutorials as well as a job board.  Art Station runs regular 3d art challenges section where you can compete for prizes and make a name for yourself.  There is also a marketplace where you can sell on-demand art prints.  A great 3d artist community is found here.  

3d Total is the UK version of these two.  3d Total started as a tutorial site but has grown to much more.  It features a forum, 3d challenges, galleries, asset store, and of course 3d tutorials.  It’s more UK focused than the others which could be helpful if you are a freelancer in that part of the world.

Polycount is focused on the 3d game designers.  If you aren’t interested in film or VFX Polycount is where you want to be.   Post your 3d game ready model art here.

Area by Autodesk is a forum for Autodesk software.  If you are using Autodesk software you’ve probably already been on this forum looking for help. In addition to technical help, you’ll find tutorials, blogs, galleries, and articles by industry professionals.

CGArchitect is 3d artist community for 3d architectural visualization artists.  They have forums and contests.  Talk arch viz and photorealistic architectural rendering here.  Lots of professionals and freelancers on this site.  You can post a gallery of your 3d work.

Behance is not 100% 3d, but since it’s owned by Adobe, it’s a popular design community.  A lot of 3d rendering companies and corporate folks can be found here.  You can build a 3d artist portfolio with all genres of art.  Organize and share your artwork within the Behance community.  Tag your work with relevant tags to maximize views.  You will get views by using tags and categories for your portfolio.

Dribbble is a creative community for anyone that cares about design.  Lots of designers and creatives have portfolio sites here.  You can share your work and create an artist portfolio.  They also have a job board and a freelance project board where you can connect with creative agencies.   You can find all kinds of creative projects listed here.  Note the extra B in Dribbble.

Deviant Art is the world’s oldest and largest online art community.  Born in 2000 in a chat-room, Deviant Art quickly becomes the first large-scale online art community.   Not just for 3d artists, Deviant Art features all kinds of artists.  Something for everybody here, in the oldest online art community.

There are many other forums and online communities out there.  Many popular 3d software have their product forums for users.  If you are looking for specific tech help with a 3d software package you should start there.  Even Reddit has 3d software and 3d industry-related subreddits.

Although not built for the art community, you’ll find a lot of artists post their work on Instagram. There is a lot of 3d work here.  You can grow your outreach and engage fans.  You will find both individual and company 3d rendering portfolios here.  There are also community accounts that will help share and spread your work.  Search by name, hashtag, or location.  Make sure you use relevant 3d art hashtags to be found in search.  

Another general site you can find a lot of 3d artists talking about 3d modeling or 3d printing or 3d software is on Reddit.  Check out the  r/3dmodeling sub to start. 

Sharing is caring.  The more you post the more feedback you will get and the more you will learn and grow as a 3d artist.  Some forum sites encourage WIP posts, loose concepts, and test renders. Get valuable feedback and interact with other 3d artists.  Support other artists and they will return the favor. Simple likes and positive comments show other artists you appreciate their work.  Some may like your work, and others may not.  People have different opinions, and that is fine.  All criticism can be helpful.  Even if you don’t agree – feedback helps us grow as artists.  Most importantly, be professional.  You never know you might be watching.

When you join online 3d artist communities everybody wins.  Community building is about relationships.  Share your expertise with the group and they will return it to you.  Finally, if you need a boost – lookup Studio2a. You’ll probably find us under username Studio2a3d.  We’d love to connect and help if we can.