My Art Process & Rampant AI
A small rant.
My Art Process
If you’ve had the chance to check out my YouTube channel, you may have noticed that I started making videos about AI art and using them for references over a year ago. I did this ironically since, at best, I thought A.I. imagery would be settled on the fringe of “art.” How pissed off do you think I was when, over a year later, A.I. imagery is literally everywhere? Answer: decently pissed. To put things in perspective, here’s a video I did demonstrating how to take an A.I. image and use it for a character drawing reference:
During the demonstration, I took 2 unreleated images and showed how to, pardon the phrase, “strip them down” to basic shapes and create poses. I even demonstrated how to complete the leg cut-off in the frame to create a full-body character pose. Little did I know that I was stumbling on to something waaaaay bigger.
To this day, I refuse to call A.I. images art. They are not art. A.I. models take existing creations, recycle them, and present them as something new. The difference between A.I. doing this and people doing this is people have souls and cannot mass-produce the images. Art is created from within a living thing. It comes from a state that computers cannot understand or feel.
Right now, A.I. images are being produced at an incredibly alarming rate. They are being used to sway public opinion, display disasters and circumstances not actually happening, create video trash, and so much more. I’ve watched multiple videos on how to establish your own local A.I. server/production farm and create uncensored A.I. images. The technology is impressive, but highly worrisome.
So, as part of my artwork process, I take some A.I. images I like and use them as references in my own work. I understand anatomy and the character creation process, so I know when a reference does and does not work. This is my art education coming into play. “Thanks Art Institute of Dallas!” You know, before they were cancelled due to predatory practices and whatnot.
I’ve been using this new A.I. reference for a while now and here is one of my later videos to show the progress:
Rampant A.I.
Trash is Everywhere
Have you opened and scrolled through Pinterest lately? Or, if you’re artistically inclined, DeviantArt? If not, you’re in for a treat. I mean this in the most sarcastic sense. My feed on both platforms is littered with A.I. garbage. Many of the creators I followed before have all embraced the allure of mass-producing A.I. images and my feed is flooded with them. Images, videos, memes, A.I. products, just everything now is A.I. It’s so difficult to even locate an actual human posting photos or human-written stuff anymore.
So, back to DeviantArt… I used to contribute to this site many years ago. As a matter of fact, I discovered one of my all-time favorite artists on that platform – J. Scott Campbell. I love his work and have viewed hsi work as inspiration for my own. I also discovered Reiq and several others.
However, the site is no longer what it was. DeviantArt has embraced A.I. in a big way. Last week, I logged back into my account after a very long absense. I was poking around and noticed that certain tiers of subscribers have access to a built-in A.I. tool to help people generate “art.” I did not appreciate this at all. Then, I noticed a multitude of premium shops all dedicated to selling unsensored A.I. images. Many were called “adoptable” signalling a very NFT-feel to them. These images were being sold as packages and on the subscriber model upwards to $80/mo to view them. Just mass-produced bundles of sex and nudity. Some were even indicating they were ‘sold.’ Who’s paying money for this?
To put it plainly, I’m not happy with the state of art today and I’m working in my own little slice of the internet to help make it better with what I have. I hope you follow and join me.
Follow on Instagram
I’m a real human doing human things. Follow me on Instagram where I share other projects and stuff. I follow back, so let’s be excellent to each other!
Thanks for Stopping By
Until next time! – Tim Truelove