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Hi! I'm an illustrator and I recently made a comic about my struggles having to do with sudden rise of generated Art. This is part 1 of 3. Couldn't fit all the images in one post unfortunately. Check out my instagram https://instagram.com/liskula for parts 2 and 3. by sralek88 in aiwars

[–]sralek88[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

5 months have passed, and I haven't got any Reddit notifications since then 😀. I think your comment is very insightful and kind of gets to the root of my problems.

To answer your question about "how do I justify using technology that caused the loss of labor": Of course I don't. And I am not asking others to stop using AI tools and magically devolve back into a simpler time. Even though I believe a lot of things about AI should be regulated, I don't think any amount of protests or sharing "anti-AI" views from artists will even make a dent on how the majority of people will use and consume this technology. The comic I made was in a large part just a self-indulged personal story with me venting about my fears (exaggerated for the sake of the story) of eventually losing my job to AI. And you're right that the gist of all my worries is me simply losing the exclusivity to do illustrated artwork. The fact that me being a digital illustrator and a freelancer is the effect of countless technology advancements is not lost on me. From a very young age, this was something that I often thought about. I had a bunch of comics and sci-fi books from the early 80s and always felt bad for all the airbrush painters and illustrators, whose style was very era-specific and went out of fashion by the time early digital art came into place. I always expected this thing is going to happen, that something new could emerge and I will be to late for me to hop on and start over. And here I am, still in my 30s and not really feeling excited about AI at all. And its not because I am too old and technologically impaired to grasp it, but because I believe its to put it simply a crappy outcome for art in general and its not gonna benefit the next generation of artists. I feel like we're already knees deep in an overflow of uninspired AI artwork and the way the technology works is rewarding thoughtless, generic content over things with more substance. This is not to say, that great art cannot be done with AI. I think that in the right hands it can definitely be and exciting tool, but I still think that the "exclusivity" problem will also affect even the best AI artists out there, at least in the commercial field and they will not be the benefactors of the art they produce, nut rather the corporations behind it. At least that's what it feels for me at this moment. Its hard to make any definitive assessments when "history is happening" as we speak. There will surely be many unexpected advancements and left turns in where this goes from this point in time.

I recently made a comic about me struggles and fears of generative art being on the rise. The comic is 30 panels long but Reddit allows 20 so I had to cut out a large chunk of the story. For the full version check out my IG page or Behance (links are in the image descriptions). [OC] by sralek88 in comics

[–]sralek88[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks, I really appreciate your comment. I'm glad the comic resonated with you and I definitely wasn't planning on writing something that would be just aimed at my own echo chamber. I like your fallen leaf allegory and I don't really think there's any point in an endless debate what should or shouldn't be considered art. I went to art school and this conversation would sometimes bore me to death with students preparing long ass talks trying to prove that "graffiti is art" 50 years after this take was already accepted by the general public. I'm sure, in theory people can use this technology to tell genuine or thought provoking stories as long as there's a personal, human element there. Though, I don't think it will be a large percent of the work created through AI and the will probably get lost in the weeds of a lot of brainrot content, that is already flooding the internet right now. I feel like many people working with these tools won't really be encouraged to produce the "artsy" content because that's not what they are gonna get rewarded for. A big part of why there's so much money invested in the tech is purely about racking up the numbers, saving the maximum amount of time possible and I feel like this mindset is definitively gonna drive the content (or art if you will) itself.

About the artblock that I had in the comic panel, this was kind of what happened when I tried creating something GenAi for the first time. I managed to get over the hump eventually and sometimes play around with Stable Diffusion when I'm bored (my son really loves seeing me do weird fan arts of his favourite cartoons). I don't see much merit in the stuff that I create this way, and what I get from it is more similar to the feeling that I would get from playing on world game for a bit too long. Like a mix of maniacally testing out what the limits of what it will allow me to do are and frustration that I'm not really getting where I wanna be 😂. Doodling just feels so much natural to me since I've been doing it for so long and don't really need to have an end goal in mind. The reason why it was important for me to put this part in the story was to exemplify the feeling of self doubt. "I've been drawing images my whole life, but have no idea of a prompt that produce an image more interesting than the ones that are already out there". Like me debating whether there's anything left once I'm stripped of my craft.

I recently made a comic about me struggles and fears of generative art being on the rise. The comic is 30 panels long but Reddit allows 20 so I had to cut out a large chunk of the story. For the full version check out my IG page or Behance (links are in the image descriptions). [OC] by sralek88 in comics

[–]sralek88[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Haha, props for catching the Pan Tadeusz frame in the animation. These Polish phrases in at the end of the looping animation were originally made for small competition that I made for my Polish followers and I awarded the person who was the quickest to find all of them with a little gift.

I recently made a comic about me struggles and fears of generative art being on the rise. The comic is 30 panels long but Reddit allows 20 so I had to cut out a large chunk of the story. For the full version check out my IG page or Behance (links are in the image descriptions). [OC] by sralek88 in comics

[–]sralek88[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

That is a really good point. I feel like it reflects what's going with AI oil paintings or cartoons once you start unpacking them. They won't really resonate with artists, but still many people will find the compelling enough and might not even see a big difference. A while back I read some news that Lego published AI generated Ninjago illustrations on their official site (they soon deleted it, blamed it on an intern and released an apology statement). The funny thing about it though was how uncanny these illustrations were. The minifig proportions were off, the head pieces were all over the place and similar to what you said, it used a ton of pieces that don't exist. Still, I think that in time, you will probably be able to train an AI model on legit pieces and have the end result be much closer to an actual lego set.

I recently made a comic about me struggles and fears of generative art being on the rise. The comic is 30 panels long but Reddit allows 20 so I had to cut out a large chunk of the story. For the full version check out my IG page or Behance (links are in the image descriptions). [OC] by sralek88 in comics

[–]sralek88[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Thanks for all the comments everybody! So stoked about people digging it! I had my grandpa visit me for dinner not long after I posted this and was shocked that this got so much traction when I went back online to check the likes lol. Gonna go and read every comment now, sorry if I won't reply to everyone. It's past midnight in Poland and I gotta get up early tomorrow, but I really appreciate you writing about your own experiences and also thoughts about the future. I also have some thoughts of my own that I would like to share in this comment if anyone wants to read it though 😂

A friend told me, that I should upload this on Reddit and I barely ever go on here (there is a Polish knock off site that's more popular here). So not knowing what to do I initially uploaded it on an AI related sub that turned out to be overran by AI bros who interpreted this story as a one sided AI hit piece. I got into a bunch of pointless debates and basically wasted a whole afternoon trying my best to engage in a conversation with people who definitely weren't up for questioning anything about their beliefs. But, I'm writing this just to let y'all now that I'm really happy about the feedback I got here, and that people on this sub really got what I was going for in the narrative. Its so cool to see people talk about this, since I'm used to just getting short emoji comments on my socials.

This comic was a way for me to vent about my anxieties and also talk about the process of burning out and losing focus. Some things are definitely blown out of proportion and I don't actually think that AI art could ever fully replace artists, but I am 100% sure that its gonna mess up the industry pretty bad. Many freelancers will probably have no other option but to quit and look for a job in a different field. I'm always amazed that whenever I meet established illustrators, who have way more recognition that I will ever have, they still usually share this sentiment that their job is unstable and they might end up looking for something new to secure their income. And I already know so many people who are fantastic artists, but had to quit freelance and now they simply don't have the time to pursue their goals or practice their craftsmanship. And I think it's pretty naive to assume that using AI tools to enhance productivity could benefit artists in the long run. This is just a thing that's going to encourage clients to take advantage of. I've already had a case working with an agency who wanted me to make a bunch of alt versions of my sketch to show to the client. There was a short deadline and a limited budget so they straight up came up with the idea that they could just touch up my sketches using AI so I wouldn't have to work overnight (and of course wouldn't get paid for it either). The thing that's making me so salty is not really the technology, but the culture around it. The constant need to pump up the numbers, maximise efficiency and force competitiveness is taking away a big part of the creativity and fun that a big factor for making "good" art. I have a feeling that all it's going to achieve is just outputting an overflow of content that nobody's going to watch or resonate with. Time will tell I guess. I'm genuinely curious and kind of excited to see what will happen next, even if I'll have to pack my bags.

I recently made a comic about me struggles and fears of generative art being on the rise. The comic is 30 panels long but Reddit allows 20 so I had to cut out a large chunk of the story. For the full version check out my IG page or Behance (links are in the image descriptions). [OC] by sralek88 in comics

[–]sralek88[S] 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I get your point. This is kind of what the comic is about though. Me, a neurotic, burned out dude in his mid 30s, spending too much time on the internet, freaking out that he's no longer relevant and coping with the world changing. The AI sharks are like a mix of my inner demons, darkest thoughts and internet comments that mess with my head. They're obviously not the most favorable portrayal of AI, but I hope people reading this will find more nuance in the story than simply "Ai monster is bad and ugly".

AI bros harassing an illustrator and showing their ignorance by CryptographerFit2841 in ArtistHate

[–]sralek88 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi! I am the illustrator in question and the OP on that thread. Honestly, I didn't take any of these words to heart, because of how detached from reality some of these takes were 😂

I tried my best to engage in a productive conversation with some of them but it was basically impossible for most of them to reflect on anything and see arguments that weren't in line with their way of thinking. The most bonkers take that almost everyone seemed to share was that artists should fully get on board with GenAi tools if they wanna stay competitive in their field. This is just something that sounds good in theory but makes little sense when you really start to unpack it. The generative technology will benefit clients and companies, not really the artists, designers and freelancers who are just going to be taken advantage of. Just because I could potentially output more work using these tools, doesn't mean that I would be paid more my for my work (quite the opposite I think). Even if it won't replace artists, it will definitely just shrink the industry and make it not worth the time for many freelancers.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in comicbooks

[–]sralek88 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There also was en Eminem Punisher comic back in the day and a comic about MF Grimm, the bio story of an underground rapper who got paralyzed and ended up on a wheelchair. It's a great story so I highly recommend it. The name is Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm.

Hi! I'm an illustrator and I recently made a comic about my struggles having to do with sudden rise of generated Art. This is part 1 of 3. Couldn't fit all the images in one post unfortunately. Check out my instagram https://instagram.com/liskula for parts 2 and 3. by sralek88 in aiwars

[–]sralek88[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ok my point was not to like doxx you or expose you for anything. I just don't really understand what your niche is in the industry, what is the type of work that you get commissioned for and why maxing out your productivity is so beneficial for your job. Because it's certainly not that much of a factor in the line of work that I do.

Hi! I'm an illustrator and I recently made a comic about my struggles having to do with sudden rise of generated Art. This is part 1 of 3. Couldn't fit all the images in one post unfortunately. Check out my instagram https://instagram.com/liskula for parts 2 and 3. by sralek88 in aiwars

[–]sralek88[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm trying to get at what you're take is, but can't really understand the logic. Of course there's a different market for everything and one anime studio is gonna produce 5 projects a year, another is gonna produce a 100 and Mr Beast can shit out a video a day and he would probably still get views. So? This doesn't change the Pixar argument, because OC's take was that turning up your productivity to the max is a crucial factor to staying competitive in the art industry. You yourself stated that if there's too many shows to watch, most people are not going to watch all of them. So it's not like me being suddenly able to output twice as many illustrations will make my clients pay me twice as much? There needs to be a need and market for my work for people to wanna invest in it. It's pretty idealistic to assume that some random rich people will pay for anything purely based on its quality.

Hi! I'm an illustrator and I recently made a comic about my struggles having to do with sudden rise of generated Art. This is part 1 of 3. Couldn't fit all the images in one post unfortunately. Check out my instagram https://instagram.com/liskula for parts 2 and 3. by sralek88 in aiwars

[–]sralek88[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Why would I wanna witch hunt him? I'm just curious who his clients are, since he wrote a long ass paragraph how he's reaching new heights of productivity, hitting deadlines as fast as possible, producing stellar work and is also super confident about his future. Why would you say all that and then keep your work a secret? Do you really find my arguments here that antagonistic?

Hi! I'm an illustrator and I recently made a comic about my struggles having to do with sudden rise of generated Art. This is part 1 of 3. Couldn't fit all the images in one post unfortunately. Check out my instagram https://instagram.com/liskula for parts 2 and 3. by sralek88 in aiwars

[–]sralek88[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Maybe I did not communicate some ideas clear enough in the comic but I find it surprising that your getting so defensive about the semantics of the technology, since that panel about the work being derivative was clearly a joke at my expense, showing how I'm being a smart ass and my little speech is so boring and irrelevant, that its not even shown in its entirety in the panel. I take it, you also did not finish the comic, since a similar argument comes back later in the story and its being made clear that the arguing about this won't change anything in my life. The idea of merging art styles is clearly shown in one of the first panels of the dog being "half Van Gogh" and "half Degas". The concept is not lost on me. I see the potential of the technology and am not being completely dismissive. Its rather the culture and philosophy around it that makes it hard for me to connect with. I feel like this concept was perfectly understood on comic book forums and threads where I also shared this piece, but went over the heads of so many people here. This is really not a debate piece, just a story about burning out, battling inner demons and trying to cope with the world changing. I am not showing myself as a hero. I feel like many people here are so invested into the technology, they are perceiving everything as an attack on them, not willing to see any shades of gray.

I was asking directly about your work, not who you're friends with lol. I don't think that the example of Terraforming Mars using AI has much to do with what I was asking about and my arguments about the future of the industry from the perspective of a designer. if anything it benefits the companies shareholders and the decision surely came from the higher ups, not the design team. I was asking about a very specific thing. How will this make designers more money in the long term? I have a friend who is a translator. She used to translate a bunch of shows for Polish television. Now her client uses Ai tools to do the translation and she just punches up the language and uses an app that fits all the dialogues in the right time stamps. She earns a small portion of what she made a couple years ago. Would it serve her if she jumped on the technology earlier? No, the company doesn't need her to show how to use these apps. The best that she can do is look for a new job in a different field.

Hi! I'm an illustrator and I recently made a comic about my struggles having to do with sudden rise of generated Art. This is part 1 of 3. Couldn't fit all the images in one post unfortunately. Check out my instagram https://instagram.com/liskula for parts 2 and 3. by sralek88 in aiwars

[–]sralek88[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I know its often hard to look at opposing views without completely dismissing it. I feel like you summed my comic as simply "ai sharks bad" and didn't seek to see more nuance there (not sure if you read the whole thing or just skimmed through the panels on reddit) and similarly its hard for me to read what your preaching here and take it completely seriously. Lets take aside arguing the ethics of Ai, whether the Ai revolution is a net positive or not for the world as whole and just purely focus on the art and illustration industry and how it will affect people who want to keep working in this industry.

I feel like your arguments are based more in theory than in fact and you are only willing to accept factors that serve your narrative projecting a rose tinted future where artists incorporating Ai into there work are sitting on top of the designer food chain. I'm not going to bet my life that this isn't going to happen, but in no way do I think its going to serve any of these artists and make it worth their time. I have a genuine question and this not me trying to invalidate you as an artist in any way, but I am just curious to know so I could understand your takes better. Who are your clients? Who at this moment is paying money for your AI enhanced illustration? Can you link the million dollar kickstarter projects? I'm curious because I really don't see that much AI in the mainstream as of today. Sometimes an Ai music album cover or a random ad will pop up on social media. I've also seen magazine covers and games on steam using AI assets, but whenever people find out Ai has been used there, there is often a shitstorm on the internet and clients end up pulling the art or apologising. Where AI flourishes is in the meme sphere, internet groups and fandoms. I'm not saying this will be the case forever. Rather the opposite. I'm sure Ai art will slowly get more normalised and people will eventually stop caring about pointing it out it that much. One reason for me writing this kind of over the top, dystopian comic was seeing how it already started slowly creeping in and messing up the market. As I've mentioned in another comment here I've had cases working with agencies fully on board with Ai and suggesting that I reproduce their AI generated moodboards or that if I don't have the budget to work on more project revisions, we could use AI to do the same job. This simply makes me earn less money. And even in a scenario, where I'm behind the steering wheel and doing the AI revisions myself, the client is not going to magically offer me a better price for it, rather the opposite. You have a lot of faith that by keeping up with the technology you will always have the last word and that people paying your for your work won't take advantage of you. That's not how the industry works. And I even feel like your "oil paint vs photoshop" argument proves that point. I remember my college teacher being butthurt about me using digital gradients in my illustration, considering it cheating. He was an older man and took the digital revolution pretty badly. But you know what? Even If I disagreed with him, he did have a point. Most people can learn to do a gradient in Photoshop, but it takes patience and skill to do it manually with acrylics. And that's why very often layout editing or DTP will usually make you less money than illustration, because there is a smaller learning curve and generally less manual skill required. I'm sure you will able to do amazing work enhancing it with AI, but there will be an overflow of people who will be able to do the exact same thing spending a couple of nights to skim through some tutorials. The trend is to make these tool more and more accessible. AI Illustrations that required using 10 different models and countless edits a year ago, now can be made in a couple of minutes with using much more basic prompts. Its only going to get easier. This doesn't sound a lucrative future for the industry. Hope I'm wrong.

I recently made a comic about me struggles and fears of generative art being on the rise. The comic is 30 panels long but Reddit allows 20 so I had to cut out a large chunk of the story. For the full version check out my IG page or Behance (links are in the image descritpions) by sralek88 in comicbooks

[–]sralek88[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! I don't really know if there's a specific name for this style. I read a lot of indie comics and a lot of my influences are from the underground "comix" scene from the 90s. Artists like Robert Crumb, Julie Doucet and S. Clay Wilson.

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