Nice write up about the Ape, Darren Di Lieto, the Little Chimp Society founder and to me, a thought leader in the world off internet communities for illustrators. An excerpt speaks to his point of view:

The internet has given public access to a lot of rubbish ... ‘cough MySpace cough’ ... but at the same time I think it has given birth to a global community of like-minded image-making individuals. Being able to access the work of so many great illustrators at the same time has raised the bar as far as quality and competitive drawing goes. The problems start to show when you think about how big the internet is and how much choice there is. How can a freelancer compete with the rest of the world when someone on the other side of it is happy to work for half the fee and (allegedly) deliver the same goods…?

Right on. Check out the whole thing (http://www.illosaurus.com/vs-lcs.php)