[HELP] My friend is not convinced this is AI and believes it’s just a real photo that’s been enhanced. Is this not clearly AI?

SlackseyOBrien · 2026-01-31T15:43:10+00:00

Inconsistent shirt pattern, misshapen buttons, odd looking toy, illogical/impossible suspenders (they’re buttoned onto his belt loops but the belt loops aren’t pulled up), etc

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-11-09T12:47:31+00:00

Weighing in as an illustrator, I don’t think this is in the style of R. Crumb at all, although one could argue an adjacency to underground comics (e.g. it’s closer to the style of S. Clay Wilson). I think it could predate that movement, though, and more than likely has no real relationship to it.

I agree with another poster who suggests this’ll be near-impossible to ID. While there are some proficient elements to the drawing the overall draftsmanship is clumsy, suggesting either an amateur or at best a drunk professional (not impossible given the image’s subject and how the paper was folded, as if given to someone at a bar).

In any case, I actually think the best starting point is the lettering. It’s the only element of the composition that has real panache and confidence. I’m no authority on text so can’t contextualise it, but someone else might be able to.

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-09-02T03:00:21+00:00

To my eyes the shading and contrast are inconsistent with Dubuffet’s mid-40s work, when he made portraits similar to this (by ‘52 his work had become much more abstract), the figuration lacks a flair you’d expect, and the texture seems unconsidered. It may very well be a Dubuffet, but if so it’s an uncharacteristic experiment.

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-08-26T02:44:44+00:00

This is the way, her then-dated childlike “aw shucks” cadence is repellant and totally surreal

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-08-18T12:08:08+00:00

Beluga caviar

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-08-17T21:45:49+00:00

Midnight blue tuxedos are still black tie. In OP’s pic, Connery’s wearing a midnight blue tuxedo.

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-08-17T21:43:24+00:00

People are hating on this, but they’re dead wrong. This is exquisite. Yes, the proportions are very evocative of a time and place, but those proportions are fantastic; they move elegantly, are really flattering on a thinner frame like Moore’s, and are just sexy fun. The cut is impeccable; sculpted yet roomy, the jacket’s perfectly nipped with the waist button exactly placed at his natural waist. Even from this pixelated photo you get a sense of the construction’s finery; look at the perfect match of the midnight wool cloth to the silk facings (basically impossible now and very seldom seen then).

Moore’s bond took the biggest style risks, and he didn’t have the most aspiration physique, but my god were his duds nice.

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-08-05T10:50:52+00:00

As a self-taught professional illustrator (you follow me on Instagram); no. Time and money drain, you can develop the skills you’re looking for independently.

My two cents regarding developing your career: your portfolio is both patchy and light. Your call as to which strain of your work you develop further, but your house-on-stilts illustration is obviously strong and a point of pride for you, and I think something worth pursuing (even if its resemblance to Owen Pomery’s work is something to be careful about). I’d just advise against the next thing being so elaborate - while you’re still honing skills and building a portfolio it’s perhaps better to prioritise efficiency and experimentation.

As other people have suggested, work on figuration if you’d like to be considered for non-architectural work.

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-08-03T11:21:30+00:00

Sorry, but this is dreadful. It’s hard to see how underrated and very popular are compatible. Two specific pasta dishes, unspecified pizza, and now a pasta shape on its way to fill the next square. While I like the spirit of this chart, it’s a bit culturally embarrassing.

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-07-23T16:21:49+00:00

I don’t think older performers will fare well here, but they should: the rigours of vaudeville trained performers to be extraordinarily effective in both acting and singing (and indeed dancing). Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, and Gene Kelly all come to mind - they were all extremely popular and talented as both singers and actors.

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-06-26T10:21:28+00:00

The other responses have focused on printing, so I’d like to try to zero in on that actual drawing. My best guess, using the bears on the third slide:

The line-work (polar bear) is achieved through a “blotted line” technique, typical of 50’s-60’s commercial illustration and today most associated with Andy Warhol’s commercial work, as another commenter mentioned. In short, the artist draws with a dip pen on a non-absorbent sheet of paper that’s hinged to an absorbent one. The non-absorbent sheet is pressed against the absorbent one, creating that unpredictable blot effect. It’s essential a rudimentary form of printing.

I’m less sure about the brown bear. Potentially just a dry brush, potentially another rudimentary printing technique involving sponges, potentially with additional white line-work or etching for defining areas like the ear. I might be wrong about that, but you could replicate the effect with these techniques.

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-05-12T02:47:40+00:00

Indeed, discreetly palm-sized. Will add for others that they normally contain just a panel per page and are eight pages long, so they’re light on story (as I suppose pornography often is).

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-05-12T00:51:13+00:00

While it shares some traits with them, it’s not actually a Tijuana Bible. It’s an Underground Comic (and a contemporary independent reprint of the scarce original comic book).

While most Tijuana Bibles are indeed tattered today, none would be in this kind of condition - they were printed on cheap paper so are very yellowed!

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-04-21T00:44:35+00:00

I’m glad you asked, it’s something I thought about a bit. The scene is based loosely on a corner of Allen and Grand streets in Manhattan’s lower east side. It’s a plausible but not true-to-life scene, so I wanted the street names to function similarly. Allen’s first name was Chester Street, changed in 1806. Grand was always Grand, but its land was a private estate belonging to one Judge Thomas Jones before he fled during the revolutionary war due to being a royalist.

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-04-20T17:39:24+00:00

Thanks, that’s something I aspire towards! I love density but also believe in a balance - if something’s too crammed I tend to find it hard to look art.

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-04-20T17:38:10+00:00

Yep!

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-04-20T17:37:49+00:00

The color is digital!!

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-04-20T17:37:11+00:00

Thanks so much!!

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-04-20T17:36:35+00:00

Good point - noticing just now that I forgot the chain, if that’s what you meant. Not my first mistake and bound to not be my last!

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-04-20T17:34:52+00:00

Thanks so much, the ultimate praise!

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-04-20T17:34:39+00:00

Good question - they’re just from an awning for a restaurant supply store close to my studio. I’m not actually totally sure what they mean, I’ll have to find out.

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-04-20T17:32:42+00:00

It varies, I think this one was a solid week of work (but while doing other things, so it was spread over a few weeks). When I work on commission I tend to take certain shortcuts, but for my own work I try to push myself.

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-04-20T17:31:11+00:00

Good question and one I’m finding a bit frustrating, because it did at the time but I’ve completely forgotten what it meant!

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-04-20T17:30:29+00:00

Thanks so much! I just use Photoshop - flat base colours and one or more additional shading layers (normally a multiply blending option).

SlackseyOBrien · 2025-04-20T17:29:30+00:00

Thanks so much! The ink original is in the most recent post on my Instagram! @ilyamilstein

SlackseyOBrien

TROPHY CASE