Sketchbook

Many artists have expressed concern about AI taking opportunities from them.

I can't deny that this is happening, but I see another opportunity presented by AI images - a chance to learn from it.

Until the age of 37, I never seriously tried to draw anything outside that blow off art class I took in high school.

But the emergence of AI has inspired me to give it a try in earnest.

What inspired the decision?

The main reason is the sameness of AI images. Back in 2023, I witnessed my Twitter feed slowly become flooded by impressive pictures that slowly began to blend together. I knew it was only a matter of time before image generation became the new stock photos.

It took about 4 months.

Although the hype has died down as of this writing (May 2024) AI generated images have quietly crept their way into more mainstream use.

For me, this became a problem.

Unlike AI generated writing, which I can easily modify and make my own, images are more difficult to customize without specialized software and skill.

That got me thinking - what does my art style look like? Could I find it like I did with writing and music before?

The answer is of course I can. It's just going to take a lot longer.

I started writing (outside of school or work) when I was 19-years-old.

I'd been listening to music my entire life.

With art... like I said, I never took it seriously or gave it any real effort until 2 years ago. This is gonna take a lot longer than the others. But I'm willing to put in the reps.

Because just like with all my other creative pursuits, I feel like human work, no matter how raw or unrefined will stand out in the sea of AI sames in the future.

Most have no desire (or time) to dedicate to refining this skill, this is where my style - whatever form it eventually takes - can become truly unique.

We'll see what happens.

I'll post some of my sketches here.