Oiran Site

A CG art platform that brings together free CG industry news, resources and learning in one place

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Want to get into CG game art but don’t know where to start? Or have you been in the industry for a while and feel there’s nowhere to really exchange ideas? When Oiran Site comes up, many people have a few honest things to say. This community has been running since 2013, has built up more than a decade of goodwill, and has long become a hub for exchange in China’s game art scene that’s hard to avoid.

A small circle built over a decade — what’s its secret

Back in 2013, China’s game art industry was just heating up. Plenty of people wanted to get in and the number of practitioners kept rising, but good content was badly scattered — locked away in personal cloud drives or buried in scattered small groups, so finding reliable reference material took ages. That’s when Oiran Site came along, with the idea of gathering this scattered content in one place so learners no longer had to search blindly.

Official Website: https://www.hkcgart.com/

Unlike platforms that rely solely on official uploads, the most practical thing here is that nobody polices who can post what. You can dig around for resources others have shared, upload tutorials you’ve collected or exercises you’ve done, or even vent about a technical problem you’ve just hit — someone will always chip in. With this back-and-forth, no one feels like an outsider, and it gradually became a place where you can learn in earnest.

Five sections tied together — no more running around hunting for content

When many people first enter the site, they glance over the sections and find it’s not just a pile of materials — it sorts out the whole learning journey from start to finish. Take the most commonly used parts: they’re not laid out in any fixed order; whichever stage you’re at, you can find the right place for it.

First, the industry news section: it’s not a random repost of headlines, but a curated feed of updates in niche areas like concept art, modelling, and animation — for example, what kind of art roles game companies have been hiring for lately, or how the art style of a new game has changed. This content helps you avoid detours and stop wasting time on useless things.

If you want to learn something specific, the resource-sharing section is worth spending plenty of time in. Everything there is uploaded by members, from beginner tutorials you can actually understand to material templates and work references useful for veterans, all organised by learning stage — no more rummaging through a messy pile of links.

When you really hit a technical snag, don’t struggle on your own — drop into the learning and discussion section, post your practice artwork, or ask something like “how should I adjust the topology of this model”, and you’ll always find someone who knows their stuff and will offer a word or two. If you want a proper chat, there’s also a dedicated QQ group; post a question and you’ll get a reply quickly — far faster than waiting around on forums.

Finally, there’s the artwork showcase, where you can post anything from a freshly drawn quick study to project work from your job. It’s not about showing off — it’s about getting honest feedback from people in the industry, such as which part doesn’t fit the game style well enough or which detail could be polished further. That kind of feedback is far more useful than fumbling about on your own.

People at different stages use it in different ways

Complete beginners: don’t hoard materials first — work out what you need to learn

The most common mistake newcomers to game art make is downloading a pile of materials first, only to have no idea which to use when it’s time to actually learn. Just spend a few days in the industry news section first: see what concept art involves, which software modelling requires, even what the entry bar for different roles looks like. Once you’ve got the big picture, go to the resource section for content matching your stage, and learning becomes much smoother.

Once you have the basics, don’t go it alone — spend more time in the discussion section

After six months or so of learning, you may feel you know a bit, but whatever you produce still falls slightly short. At this point, don’t keep grinding away alone. Bring the sticking points from your practice to the discussion section — ask things like “how should I pose this character so it looks natural” — or browse the study notes others have shared to see how they practise topology, then tweak your own approach. It saves a lot of time compared with fumbling blindly on your own.

Already working: use the showcase section to build genuine connections

Working artists no longer need to collect tutorials like beginners do; instead, post more in the artwork showcase. Regularly put up project work and revised exercises — no need to chase perfection; even an adjustment to a single detail can draw suggestions from peers. Over time, you’ll not only hone your craft but also let other companies and fellow artists see your level, building connections that actually count.

A few honest questions people often ask

Is this site right for me

As long as you’re interested in game art — whether you’re a newcomer hoping to enter the field or someone who has spent years in concept art, modelling and similar roles — you’ll find content you can use. There’s nothing with a barrier so high you can’t understand it, and nothing so shallow that veterans find it boring.

Are the resources in the resource section reliable

Everything in the resource section is uploaded by members rather than vetted centrally by the team, but most of it is shared only after people have used it and found it useful. If you come across something useless, you can say so in the comments and it will gradually get filtered out. On the whole, it meets the needs of different stages.

Is posting your work really useful?

Posting work isn’t about gaining followers — it’s about getting genuine industry feedback. For a character model you’ve made, someone might say “this topology will cause lag when it runs in-game” or “this style doesn’t match the project’s requirements”. These are opinions you’d never hear at school or while practising alone, and they’re genuinely useful for improving your craft.