That New Generative Ai Thing Is Breaking My Heart

Appreciation post for all the beginner artists who work hard despite the AI ​​looming over us. You are fabulous. You are precious. Keep up the hard work, you are needed.

So earlier in art class today, someone drew a characters hands in their pockets and mentioned that hands are really like the ultimate end boss of art, and most of us wholeheartedly agreed. So then, our teacher went ahead and free handed like a handful of hands on the board, earning a woah from a couple of students. So the one from earlier mentioned how it barely took the teacher ten seconds to do what I can’t do in three hours. And you know what he responded?

“It didn’t take me ten seconds, it took me forty years.”

And you know, that stuck with me somehow. Because yeah. Drawing a hand didn’t take him fourth years. But learning and practicing to draw a hand in ten seconds did. And I think there’s something to learn there but it’s so warm and my brain is fried so I can’t formulate the actual morale of the lesson.

Lots of thoughts recently. Everything feels plastic.

I could go on and on about why all that AI "art" is bad. I could mention theft, lack of creativity, it's impact on the work field and environment, but countless people have already said all that. I wanted to touch on something that to me is the most utterly wrong about all of it.

Art is more than just something pretty to look at or listen to. It's therapeutic. It's a form of communication. A tool for human connection. It's a pure, human need.

Support real artists ☀️

I wish *I* had a cup of soup as big as my head and no worries about anything ever

Oh I am in such a Dungeon Meshi mood… you can pry this au out of my cold dead hands.

When making the au, I knew Love had to be a half-foot because it just suits her so well. …it also occurred to me that half-foots are specifically mentioned to have a low mana capacity as compared to other races like elves, and also that Love would likely be a healer and thus need a decent mana capacity… but sometimes you have to shove the rules aside and go for what FEELS right instead.

Saw a video of all these people doing super impressive sports things today, and it was meant to be inspiring (which it still kinda was, the stuff was very cool) but it got me thinking about what would happen if the way we consumed sports and art were inversed, like:

"Ah, the artist chooses another brush! Things are about to get crazy, folks." "The crimson? Oh, no, she swerved at the last moment and chose the vermillion instead! An interesting choice, we'll have to see what this does to the painting in the long-term." "He drank the paint water! This will be bad for the season, folks, we may have another hospital visit on our hands. ...And looks like he's down for this painting session."

vs.

"That backflip turned out so well! Can't believe it took you five hours." "Oh you like, play sports, right? You should kick a ball for me right now!" "Yeah I was thinking about hiring a professional, but just anyone can shoot a few hoops, you know? Plus they have that new AI thing these days... sports are just so much more accessible now."

Anyway there's a lot of interesting comparisons you can make with art and a lot of things, just kinda funny to compare it to sports especially given recent controversies I think

artists, this is ur reminder to start drawing references or redesign your original characters before artfight in july this year

Strawberry 🍓

We were all beginners at one point or another, and we ought to respect everyone's beginning regardless of what it looks like. Critiquing another artist's skills or mocking them for being inexperienced is in extremely poor taste.

"But it could look better, I'm just giving them advice so they can improve-" no. If they want advice, they'll ask for feedback. Also, feedback should be given in a constructive and kind manner, not just an infodump of their flaws. it's called constructive criticism for a reason, because it's meant to build others up not tear them down

There are so many art babies just starting and it always gives me hope for the future of art, knowing that people are still finding joy in creating and starting on the long journey of being an artist. We have got to take care of these beginners, not crush their spirits by criticizing them for not being as experienced as the artists further down the trail. It is a process. Let them learn like we did, like we still are learning.

What could they be saying…?