I’m a noob too. I think one problem is that so many people are doing so many different kinds of things in blender that it’s hard to connect with people doing the same kind of thing- unless it’s pretty popular already. For instance, I am very interested in NPR, but in particular in what might be called an “American Comic Book” style of the kind that Frank Frazetta used to do, rather than the more common Anime style, but I can’t find anyone else who is doing this.
I’m also interested in emulating the look of 1950s magazine ‘photography’, which was often painted over photography in a semi-opaque way, making it somewhere between photorealist with technical limitations and handmade illustration.
If anyone knows of any one, or any place, focusing on these kinds of issues, I’d love to hear about them.