the reason the attitudes are like this is because there's a super egotistical group that formed out of the members here and they have driven away a lot of people
look no further than the slack chat to find this group, they frequently talk negatively about everyone there, it's no surprise that their negative attitudes are now leaking into the forum
If people talk behind other people's backs in private that's their business. You shouldn't let nay sayers stop you from participating in an activity you enjoy. Sure they can make it less enjoyable, but it's the internet, you'll end up finding someone you can respect on here I'm sure.
@capta1n_Henry It's as simple as practice. If you wanna get better you have to invest more time into it. I would recommend starting on something smaller at first. Your pieces are rather large. Try making a sprite in a 100x100 or even a 50x50 sized canvas, and see what you can do. Try to focus on setting an actual light source, and work on implementing shadows into your work.