As someone who grew up in the 90's, I never experienced the sentiment that digital art was not "real art". My art teachers, and their guest speakers, were just as thrilled to see my MS Paint masterpieces, as they would be to see my traditional art. Even when I made it in more advanced software like Fireworks. The first 30 years of my life, were a period where tech enthusiasts and creative people thrived in harmony.
I don't think it's not art, but there are things to consider, since the advent of digital, the ease of acces for color and corrections have affected a lot of artists and affected how undisciplined they are with color choices and corrections. Anyway, thos is apparent, but it's not impossible for artists now to do great coloring or foster discipline, but the trend is there, it's not arguable, and if people do argue about it I don't know what reality they're living in.
@@quack2thesequel I guess it depends who you are talking to. A lot of the artists before Digital Art already knew a lot of traditional principals so they were able to transfer it to digital but if it's artists that started with digital art then they do have the same principals like others though they can learn not to be to depend on color corrections and other digital help, unless its printing that don't count lol
The biggest frustration with AI for me is it was already hard being seen as is when compared to other artists, but I respected that those artists worked hard, networked better, and just had more clear well designed ideas than I did…. But now, we are just being drowned under an ocean of Ai garbage and it feels more and more of a struggle to get up to the surface for a breath.
The amount of times I've seen people randomly saying that artists supposedly started drawing as they are right now "out of nowhere" and therefore all their accomplishments are undeserved. Completely ignoring all the years studying, practicing, asking others to comment and roast their work. All while trivializing all the days/weeks someone spent on a single piece as it took them only a few seconds to "consume" it. AI made this infinitely worse as it entitled such individuals at thinking that putting effort in your passions is "a waste of time".
@@Dexter01992 Oh totally. Nothing was more soul crushing than working weeks on a painting only for it to either go over looked or in class critiques to hear that it didn't look right. But I have spent nearly 20 years doing this, and while I feel I should be much farther than I am, I have to accept every one has a different pace, and some times people just arn't as lucky to be in the right place and time. But most importantly to what you said at the end. I think it is more important to have passion in your time and effort, it is exactly why all their work may look pretty, but has no soul.
@@Dexter01992 I think it's now or never to reconsider that the end goal is not social media fame or even being a pro, but the journey. Unless your goal is to make money, art should be a journey, being better at what you do and enjoying it IS the reward. It's harder said than done, but I feel so accomplished seeing myself getting better, understanding concept and having thing clicking you know ? When that happen, all of the world problem stop existing for me. We are in for a wild ride until it kind of balance itself but hard work on something you love is NEVER a waste of time. I know that even with all this crazy AI bullshit, that my future self will be way more happier if I keep drawing and getting better, than if I quit right now, and that's all that matter.
@@CaptainRx-ss3rtThe goal is to make money doing something you love full time and to positively impact people with your creative vision. That has always been the goal. Not personal enrichment from a private hobby.
@@omgukillkenny7576 You're wrong and missing the point. If wealthy people can pay artists for their work then why are some of them also depriving them of monetary compensation when stealing their artwork to feed into their AI algorithm? They're profitting off ill-gotten works by genuine creators, surely they could pay them for their art, but they simply won't. These same people are selling the lie that typing an image into existence is the equivelant of being a skilled artist so long that you pay them for it, and a pencil and paper are much cheaper and learning to draw is basically free on the internet. Now you have lower and middle class people handing their money to these AI companies and wealthy individuals to perpetuate a lie, when it could've been spent on an actual artist's commission or learning to create art themselves. AI images are brain rot at this point.
I’ve also seen that quote, and it’s totally correct. Dont worry about the AI bro trying to argue with you tho 👍nobody will care what they do in the end and they’ve been suckered by the manipulative propaganda that I spoke about in this video, haven’t they? Sorry they took it out on you, but sometimes people have to fall on their face before they realize they’re wrong, don’t they? Time will show the futility and corruption of AI image gen 🔥
@@TheArtMentor Thanks Sean! Don't worry, I never once felt attacked as I've dealt with people like them a lot. AI bros really only know how to take ideas from others and use the same tired arguments without adding anything new. But you're right, they have to realize their faults their own way, or just like them fizzle out.
@@TheArtMentor So not even going to make an attempt at giving a counterargument to the point that AI is providing a service that artists don't for people who cannot afford to pay high commission rates? Just going to call me a "techbro" and ignore me? Guess I am never going to have a reason to stop using AI then cause you are not doing anything to convince me you are worth my limited money.
I’ve outlined the exact reasons in this video and others if you need to hear it. So no, it’s not worth anyone’s time to argue with you. I feel bad that you’ve fallen for those false reasons, as if helping anyone was ever the intent behind it, but you’ll eventually find out the hard way
Something I've seen often in art communities where AI is accepted but kept in its own category, is that there's barely any engagement in the AI pictures, especially in comments. An artist with modest following will generally have a bunch of people commenting under almost each picture, sometimes compliments, sometimes questions about the content or the technical side of the picture, sometimes even forms of roleplaying, if it's of specific communities where this such practice is common. You then check the AI side of this and... there's barely any of this. It's just entire galleries full of content released as fast as possible with numbers going up, but barely anybody talking under them. Some sporadic comment here and there as well obviously, but there's barely any feeling of being part of a community that likes "this specific franchise or characters". It feels more like a general show off of content, churning out too fast for people to bother to stop by and interact with each other. People posting content as much as they can but never stopping to appreciate what someone else has done in the same community, if not to ask "which LLM model/prompt have you used".
But that's to be expected, because the theoretical purpose of AI was that you would be able to generate your own images; you wouldn't need anyone else to make art for you anymore. That's why when there is engagement on AI image posts, it's always "How can I do this myself?". The people who like AI image generation aren't particularly interested in seeing what other people make with it, because that's not the point.
It reminds me of that episode of spongebob where king neptune is tossing hundreds of bad-taste burgers. while spongebob is taking his time to make the best burger
@@yurisei6732 And funnily enough the gate keeping on AI art is insane. Go ask any "good" AI artists, or one with a patreon, they'll never tell you their work flow, the prompt or even just the AI model. Because once you know it that's it, you can do the same stuff. Hard work is out of the window, it's just finding the prompt and the work flow
@@CaptainRx-ss3rtVery ironic that techbros constantly argue that AI was supposed to democratize art (even though art was/is one of the most accessible industries on the planet.) yet we're seeing more gatekeeping from them than we do from actual artists.
@CaptainRx-ss3rt When I stream to other people I sometimes get asked "how do you make that detail over there?" and I immediately proceed to spend next half a hour explaining as detailed as I can about possible uses. To the point my GF tells me that I'm literally "spending too much time" helping a stranger and not working on the picture. XD
I've been taking regular breaks from social media and it has also been a huge help. Granted, I find myself checking Bluesky from time to time but they are nowhere as toxic as X and Instagram have become.
7:20 so we all feel the same way about Jazza, huh? (I rewatched his video calling out ZHC yesterday and it’s just so depressing because now he’s doing the same exact thing…)
I don't think it's too hard to identify AI. Just look at volume of crap put out. Multiple pointless images with bad composition, lots of totally pointless images that are basically "here's a thing/thing + some boobies." No real artist spends that much time hyper shading a crap pose with crap composition, but AI spammers, well, spam that because they don't understand why it doesn't look good and it costs them no time to make.
I'm superstitious about my work so I never post WIP publicly but after this ai nonsense it becomes a "must do" thing. And I hate explain myself to people.
Honestly I used to look at other artists and feel like it probably looked bad on me for posting so much wips, funny how that shame can suddenly flip to a bit of a pride. You shouldn’t have to explain yourself though, if the work ifs your own, that bit of you can usually be seen across your work.
Or just laugh in people's faces for being the clowns they are. You don't owe them any sort of answer about how you arrived at your final artwork, whether you've used some tools people don't understand or not. It's not like they are great at that detection business to begin with.
Good that you're getting back into creating art. Don't let AI or the AI bros hold you back; remember, you can create art while they can't--and that makes THEM more upset.
Yeah I’m sure a lot of us have felt demotivated, me included. But now, I’m also back at art with burning passion. The love we have for art will always stay alive. I’m here to see real art created by real artists. There is no substitute. We’re in it for the genuine appreciation of art.
Recently I decided to share some sketchy unpolished works on various socials and I was surprised by how much feedback I got from them. People really do appeciate the humanity behind art and not just a pretty picture, something I can't imagine AI ever being able to replicate. Regardless, I've been drawing and improving however I can, while AI images keep getting more stale.
I think for a lot of people who aren't visual artists (such as myself) the fear of AI isn't so much the fear of lost careers (although I do think that would be tragic if that's how it played out) as it is the fear of art losing its soul. Losing a connection to the human experience. Now that that's been said, I don't think it will play out that way. There's increasing evidence to suggest that AI may never actually be cost effective on a large scale, if I'm not mistaken. And I've said this before on this channel but... I have friends who work in AI who have repeatedly told me AI will never be practically used in art. It will have uses in research and such, but for art, it's just not going to be cost effective. So, I'll say it again. Artists, I hope you know even non-artists do support and prefer you over soulless "AI" junk.
I so hope you and your friends are right about that. I'm not a visual artist but it still pisses me off when I see people who claim have "created something" by describing something to an AI and have it made it for them. The same applies to music.
I remember posting my vector art on facebook, where I used to get some clients who wanted something similar. But one day, I posted my work and put the price for those interested in having their own vector art, and suddenly, I found myself in an argument with people saying things like "why would I pay this much to buy something made by AI" I just couldn't believe that my 6 hours works were being reduced to a comparison with AI. They are not wrong, it is hard not to compare someone's art with AI made art because there are many "how to make money without knowing how to make art". In my opinion, art is made by someones hands from start to finish.
Can I go even further to defend you? Those people saying that wouldn't ever pay for your art anyways, nor would they ever, so they were never your target audience anyways
I am fortunate enough to not feel the way youve described artists feeling like. I got on social media not thinking of the attention or the job possibilities but cause i genuinely am a passionate artist who loves sharing her work with whoever happens to come across my work. Its why i upload art pieces right after another with no real set schedule. If ppl see it and like it then i feel achieved. The reasons i hate ai is cause it threatens ppl in the industry who are artists who worked hard to get to the point they are and to be laid off cause some dumb machine can generate stuff based off a few words and stolen artwork from real artists is where i draw the line. Anytime i see a favorite TH-camr use AI in their thumbnails it feels like a form of friendly fire. You’d think they’d understand the real value and time put into each art piece and to them to just use a ai generator machine to generate their thumbnails tells me they don’t truly value that and rather not pay artists who could actually benefit from their patronage.
When I make my videos now, I often make sure to put my logo in there. I’m still just getting into the art community and trying to figure out my style, and how to make/sell prints. In terms of the type of art I do traditional and digital. I have wanted to give up in the past but what has kept me going and keeps me going is that art isn’t just fun, it’s saved and still saves me, no matter how long it takes me to do a piece I don’t feel like it’s a waste is because it helped me in the moment, even if the result wasn’t what I exactly wanted. 😊 Art is a beautiful gift in my life. Scratchboard: traditional and digital is tedious, but when I finish a piece I always smile and feel my life is worth living just a bit longer. ❤
The usage of generative AI to mass-produce art has always been something I'm not a fan of. Through using such programs, there's something lost in the process - the autheticity. In my opinion, every artist has their own style, quirks, and unique way of drawing art, of which are what makes them authentic. Meanwhile the "authenticity" generative AI programs have is just, learning and scrapping off millions of images to produce their own image. Not so unique of a quirk, especially considering the amount of generative AI and AI "artists" right now. As a self-taught musician who often draws or writes poems in free time, I want all my drawings, music, and drafts to be purely designed with my own hands, not someone else's, nor with a program. I've been spending some months to learn drawing anatomy and background, and I am very much willing to do that instead of utilizing generative AI to produce one for me. I want to learn the process, not just to receive the product.
Im on a binge on your videos and I LOVE your content a lot! No joke on being the art mentor, the mindset you're promoting can be applied to both professional and beginner artists that leads to a better long term commitment to our craft. Much love and appreciation
Sean, thank you for this. Of all the videos you have done about AI art, this is your best one yet. You also said a few hard truths that we all should consider. And also thanks again for referring to and mentioning Pressfield's THE WAR FOR ART. I just re-read it and it is good to see that someone else has also read it.
Thanks so much for saying so! I’m always trying to bring a different spin to this conversation, you know? Keep reading those great books on art and investing into yourself 💪
When I started digital art I immediately started posting, and a year ago I jumped head first into my first commission which I should have said no to because it was too much at once. So now I’ve stopped posting and I’m using this time to learn to draw for myself, not an algorithm, and improve my skills until the dust settles, like what happened with nfts. I recommend doing this, especially if you’re an anxious person like I am.
@@TheArtMentor I beat myself up for having to refund over how stressful it was, especially since I worked on it for a couple months but it helps a lot to learn that, ty
Correction - "AI ART" is overhyped... it isn't artificial intelligence, it's a scam. Intelligence is the ability to think and rationalize. These are mindless tools, and the only artificial thing about them, is their bloated stock values.
Social media is the issue not Ai. No one would care so much about art if it wasn't the clout and money people are so obsessed with. We all need less social media
I treat AI art as a toy, something fun to play around with from time to time. I've even started to put my own art through the AI filter just to see how it's handled. None of it ever gets published, though. Only shown to my friends whenever I see fit.
Yuval nailed it in Nexus here recently with the focus on Alien Intelligence being an agent, not a tool. Great book that takes this narrow focus on impact in one vertical and takes it to AI as a GPT (General Purpose Technology). Highly recommend it.
I have an extremely petty-stupid-weirdly making me feel things idea, Artists should spam absolute abstract things that only somewhat make sense while typing in random words in the captions so Ai gets confused and crashes (it will need a lot of images to be uploaded, but just imagine.) Then if Ai bros get mad about it, we all pretend they're crazy and that the ai images has always looked that way!
AI didn't even ruin art for 2 years lol. Preexisting artists took one look at it and said "I don't like that" and just kept on making art themselves, and the non-artists who persisted in using it found themselves learning art basics so that they could draw pictures to use as more precise prompts than words, and some of those people now no longer use AI because the pictures they draw are good enough for what they want. None of what people were panicking about when generative AI became available actually happened. Even the tech bros are increasingly being turned off by the term "AI", because it has come to be associated with invasion of privacy.
Yep, seen quite a few newbie artists recently who started out prompting and got so dissatisfied with the process, they wound up buying some art equipment and are now learning to make their own art.
I find real artist have a particular mindset & dialogue, it's pretty easy to sniff out the frauds. That & how someone addresses money, that's a dead giveaway.
You knw what is actually hilarious about the AI 'art' thing? I was (and still am) attempting to learn how to draw by myself right about the time it started to blow up and it spurred me to keep going because I just want to be able to do it myself. I want to be able to make whatever I think up to be real whenever I want (I'm very far from that right now but I'll get there one day) But I think had this situation blown up a year or two earlier I might have gone down the dark path since it really is that easy. I've followed the artificial picture stuff since about 2017 or so back when it was more designed for autonomous vehicles to simulate driving in different conditions with the same video feed. My my, how fast it all comes about eh? As far as social media is concerned I just view it as the Void, I'll throw stuff out there and leave it be. I suppose that is easy for a nobody like me to say but I've generally stayed away from all forms of social media, I've never really liked it. I also don't view TH-cam as social media unless you actually upload videos, Lol (so not me). I rarely even commented on videos before 2018 but I decided to leave one if I determined that either the video was worthy or the creator was.
Well I'm honored that I am worthy in your eyes 💪can I tell you how proud I am of you for pursuing your own goals and ends and not just taking the easy way out? Looking forward to what you do in the future!
Hey there! I really love and appreciate your videos, and I just got my first commission using your Reddit strategies! Quick question. You mentioned that you are “fully booked” in this video. Are you fully booked as a full time gig? Or just fully booked as your side hustle. I would love to make this art business of mine into a reality, but I haven’t heard of artists making a full time living from this approach before. Thanks again for all your helpful advice!
So I am a full time artist and run my art business on the side as well. I’m fully booked in my private mentorship and I’m usually booked up on my freelance work, but I always find ways to squeeze in work I enjoy. How does that answer your questions?
That's so awful to see, isn't it? It feels like they let you down, so sorry. Well, there are plenty of people who aren't afraid like they are, so pick that voice that aligns best to you, my friend!
This might come off-putting but thanks to AI, people, especially genuine clients have become wary of AI prompters and they tend to have become particular about choosing artists which paved the way for them paying more if you managed to show what they want and create what they want. You'll have guaranteed repeats and those certain clients won't even bother looking away again scouring the platforms to get art because they got you ( not to mention that it inconveniences them to scan through all that AI prompts crap from time to time, they'd rather simply go to you for their art). I can certainly guarantee it because I've had a couple repeats in the past couple years too including this month. It's really refreshing to know that AI is not really the enemy we used to fear when it was new. It's just another lousy mini boss that you can easily exploit when you learned its weaknesses! So long as you put the work to invest on necessary skills to make everything work things will all yield itself to you. This is really important. On other note, the thing with AI druids saying things like artists are the new elitists just crack me up so much. If that were the case I wouldn't even have tolerated my scammy day job for 10 years laboring on mere coins for paycheck because the standards in our country are low for creatives. It's another reason not to trust them because they are the actual elitists that put our efforts down by shamelessly repurposing actual artists work for their prompts while propagating cheap clients that don't respect us to pay for fair wages for their art needs. Them playing victim for something like "I'm not talented enough to do artwork so I'll use AI to make my own and I can be an artist too." BS. That's just a pathetic excuse for not laboring on your dream and instead try to downplay people that did and calling them elitists. The audacity of these people is truly shocking.
As a physical artist my problem with digital art is that 99.999% of the digital art posted online is traced fan art created and submitted by about 5% of the overall digital artist community. How is little digital artist Susie who has spent months drawing and rendering her original digital art scene of a pair of magical winged stags fighting supposed to compete with Jane who rearranges and traces already existing Pokémon scenes to make new ones which only takes her an hour a piece?
@@yurisei6732 I agree, but art is also a form of self expression and it's understanable that artists want to see their art being seen and reacted on. The "competition" comes in attention, and it's not like they want to be famous or anything, but having people seeing your work, even just a few people can go a long way for someones enjoyement, especially when it's all original work. I don't post a lot at all, but one time there was like a few dozens reply on my post, all nice and wholesome and it made my week. This come in addition to enjoying making the art.
For the most part I don't trace, and a rarely use a reference. I agree that it is kinda annoying original characters get way less views than traces of popular things but it is what it is.
@@yurisei6732 what if Susie is trying to earn money making original digital art and is trying to show potential clients what she can do without, as he mentioned has been a problem for digital artists, being accused of being an AI bot?
@@CaptainRx-ss3rt it probably makes the viewers day too. Seeing the same crap over and over again is annoying so a unique digital art piece is like a breath of fresh air.
According to AI bros Artists are somehow rich elitists gatekeeping art who also need to get a real job if they want to stop being poor. Apparently artists possess Schrodinger’s wealth here 😂😂😂. Some of my comics were made using literally nothing but paper and pencils, so what’s this talk about needing expensive tools only the elite can afford?😅😅
my university art lecturer recommends learning AI as part of my graphic design tuition as he explained many industries will be using it in the future, and professionals use it differently from just people who want to pretend they can draw, I get more attention for my Ai creations than I ever have for my traditional art…..
It's a copyright minefield. New legislation is going to challenge those views. I do not think your professor is terribly aware of that. It is also worth noting that this trajectory of delegating to AI will make professors fall out of favor, as their jobs are just as vulnerable. So it seems a little bit like lacking self-awareness, too. On the topic of art, that might be so, but this may say more about your traditional art than it does to sell the idea that AI images are worth the attention. I don't know myself, but it could be that you haven't really been at it for that long, or haven't been consistent. It can also be argued that social media tends to challenge the value of "quality over quanity," since every time you post, it's a dice roll. If you spit out 30 AI images that's 30 dice rolls. In the same day, you could work on one artwork, so that's one measly dice roll. You might also want to take into account the amount of botting that's happening surrounding the term and tags "AI" There are a lot. And a lot of the same scams that used to target artists are now targeting AI posters, too. They eat it up, starved for attention before they realize it's just scammers being scammers
@@sunla interesting points , thank you . And my traditional art does not have appeal? So I use AI to enhance, and it works great , I train the models on my own art so there is no copyright issue , I think there is a lot of fear over these technologies.
You’ve never heard that every AI model utilizes LAION and therefore you’re still using those copyrighted artworks? That’s a popular untruth most people like you are lied to about 😅 unless you trained it on 5 billion images of your own artwork. Did you?
You realize you fit into the exact predatory and easily scared demographic I speak about in this video, right? 😅 and btw NOBODY is making money or jobs with AI. Sounds like you’re a pretty young person, so are you just concerned you won’t have a job? Bc AI is designed to take yours, not give you one
Yet people with ADHD have attention, so that’s not the real problem, is it? In fact, if you have ADHD, are you aware that you actually have hyper attention on tasks you enjoy? It’s not all bad
As someone who grew up in the 90's, I never experienced the sentiment that digital art was not "real art". My art teachers, and their guest speakers, were just as thrilled to see my MS Paint masterpieces, as they would be to see my traditional art. Even when I made it in more advanced software like Fireworks. The first 30 years of my life, were a period where tech enthusiasts and creative people thrived in harmony.
I don't think it's not art, but there are things to consider, since the advent of digital, the ease of acces for color and corrections have affected a lot of artists and affected how undisciplined they are with color choices and corrections. Anyway, thos is apparent, but it's not impossible for artists now to do great coloring or foster discipline, but the trend is there, it's not arguable, and if people do argue about it I don't know what reality they're living in.
Until the tech bro nation attacked.
@@quack2thesequel I guess it depends who you are talking to. A lot of the artists before Digital Art already knew a lot of traditional principals so they were able to transfer it to digital but if it's artists that started with digital art then they do have the same principals like others though they can learn not to be to depend on color corrections and other digital help, unless its printing that don't count lol
digital and traditional art is one and the same
just different process same outcome
@@Nogardtist no, you are absolutely blind if you think that, or don't have a good eye, sorry.
The biggest frustration with AI for me is it was already hard being seen as is when compared to other artists, but I respected that those artists worked hard, networked better, and just had more clear well designed ideas than I did…. But now, we are just being drowned under an ocean of Ai garbage and it feels more and more of a struggle to get up to the surface for a breath.
The amount of times I've seen people randomly saying that artists supposedly started drawing as they are right now "out of nowhere" and therefore all their accomplishments are undeserved. Completely ignoring all the years studying, practicing, asking others to comment and roast their work. All while trivializing all the days/weeks someone spent on a single piece as it took them only a few seconds to "consume" it. AI made this infinitely worse as it entitled such individuals at thinking that putting effort in your passions is "a waste of time".
@@Dexter01992 Oh totally. Nothing was more soul crushing than working weeks on a painting only for it to either go over looked or in class critiques to hear that it didn't look right. But I have spent nearly 20 years doing this, and while I feel I should be much farther than I am, I have to accept every one has a different pace, and some times people just arn't as lucky to be in the right place and time. But most importantly to what you said at the end. I think it is more important to have passion in your time and effort, it is exactly why all their work may look pretty, but has no soul.
@@Dexter01992 I think it's now or never to reconsider that the end goal is not social media fame or even being a pro, but the journey. Unless your goal is to make money, art should be a journey, being better at what you do and enjoying it IS the reward. It's harder said than done, but I feel so accomplished seeing myself getting better, understanding concept and having thing clicking you know ? When that happen, all of the world problem stop existing for me.
We are in for a wild ride until it kind of balance itself but hard work on something you love is NEVER a waste of time.
I know that even with all this crazy AI bullshit, that my future self will be way more happier if I keep drawing and getting better, than if I quit right now, and that's all that matter.
I know right.
@@CaptainRx-ss3rtThe goal is to make money doing something you love full time and to positively impact people with your creative vision. That has always been the goal. Not personal enrichment from a private hobby.
Saw this on Twitter: AI's underlying purpose is to allow those with wealth access to skills while denying the skilled access to wealth.
@@omgukillkenny7576 You're wrong and missing the point. If wealthy people can pay artists for their work then why are some of them also depriving them of monetary compensation when stealing their artwork to feed into their AI algorithm? They're profitting off ill-gotten works by genuine creators, surely they could pay them for their art, but they simply won't. These same people are selling the lie that typing an image into existence is the equivelant of being a skilled artist so long that you pay them for it, and a pencil and paper are much cheaper and learning to draw is basically free on the internet. Now you have lower and middle class people handing their money to these AI companies and wealthy individuals to perpetuate a lie, when it could've been spent on an actual artist's commission or learning to create art themselves. AI images are brain rot at this point.
I’ve also seen that quote, and it’s totally correct. Dont worry about the AI bro trying to argue with you tho 👍nobody will care what they do in the end and they’ve been suckered by the manipulative propaganda that I spoke about in this video, haven’t they? Sorry they took it out on you, but sometimes people have to fall on their face before they realize they’re wrong, don’t they? Time will show the futility and corruption of AI image gen 🔥
@@TheArtMentor Thanks Sean! Don't worry, I never once felt attacked as I've dealt with people like them a lot. AI bros really only know how to take ideas from others and use the same tired arguments without adding anything new. But you're right, they have to realize their faults their own way, or just like them fizzle out.
@@TheArtMentor So not even going to make an attempt at giving a counterargument to the point that AI is providing a service that artists don't for people who cannot afford to pay high commission rates? Just going to call me a "techbro" and ignore me? Guess I am never going to have a reason to stop using AI then cause you are not doing anything to convince me you are worth my limited money.
I’ve outlined the exact reasons in this video and others if you need to hear it. So no, it’s not worth anyone’s time to argue with you. I feel bad that you’ve fallen for those false reasons, as if helping anyone was ever the intent behind it, but you’ll eventually find out the hard way
Something I've seen often in art communities where AI is accepted but kept in its own category, is that there's barely any engagement in the AI pictures, especially in comments. An artist with modest following will generally have a bunch of people commenting under almost each picture, sometimes compliments, sometimes questions about the content or the technical side of the picture, sometimes even forms of roleplaying, if it's of specific communities where this such practice is common.
You then check the AI side of this and... there's barely any of this. It's just entire galleries full of content released as fast as possible with numbers going up, but barely anybody talking under them. Some sporadic comment here and there as well obviously, but there's barely any feeling of being part of a community that likes "this specific franchise or characters". It feels more like a general show off of content, churning out too fast for people to bother to stop by and interact with each other. People posting content as much as they can but never stopping to appreciate what someone else has done in the same community, if not to ask "which LLM model/prompt have you used".
But that's to be expected, because the theoretical purpose of AI was that you would be able to generate your own images; you wouldn't need anyone else to make art for you anymore. That's why when there is engagement on AI image posts, it's always "How can I do this myself?". The people who like AI image generation aren't particularly interested in seeing what other people make with it, because that's not the point.
It reminds me of that episode of spongebob where king neptune is tossing hundreds of bad-taste burgers. while spongebob is taking his time to make the best burger
@@yurisei6732 And funnily enough the gate keeping on AI art is insane. Go ask any "good" AI artists, or one with a patreon, they'll never tell you their work flow, the prompt or even just the AI model. Because once you know it that's it, you can do the same stuff. Hard work is out of the window, it's just finding the prompt and the work flow
@@CaptainRx-ss3rtVery ironic that techbros constantly argue that AI was supposed to democratize art (even though art was/is one of the most accessible industries on the planet.) yet we're seeing more gatekeeping from them than we do from actual artists.
@CaptainRx-ss3rt When I stream to other people I sometimes get asked "how do you make that detail over there?" and I immediately proceed to spend next half a hour explaining as detailed as I can about possible uses. To the point my GF tells me that I'm literally "spending too much time" helping a stranger and not working on the picture. XD
I been cutting down my usage of social media notice I am more happy without it.
Same, every time i stop using instagram, twitter, etc. my mental health improves. I really hate what social media has done to art and to artists.
I've been taking regular breaks from social media and it has also been a huge help. Granted, I find myself checking Bluesky from time to time but they are nowhere as toxic as X and Instagram have become.
Great to hear! It’s liberating, isn’t it?
I cut social media entirely around 2020... it made wonders on my mental health.
7:20 so we all feel the same way about Jazza, huh?
(I rewatched his video calling out ZHC yesterday and it’s just so depressing because now he’s doing the same exact thing…)
huh haven't seen that one yet. I'll have to check that one out
I don't think it's too hard to identify AI. Just look at volume of crap put out. Multiple pointless images with bad composition, lots of totally pointless images that are basically "here's a thing/thing + some boobies." No real artist spends that much time hyper shading a crap pose with crap composition, but AI spammers, well, spam that because they don't understand why it doesn't look good and it costs them no time to make.
Don't say what ai does wrong, some jerk will edit it out making it harder to tell.
Well said! No care or true appreciation, is there?
I'm superstitious about my work so I never post WIP publicly but after this ai nonsense it becomes a "must do" thing. And I hate explain myself to people.
Honestly I used to look at other artists and feel like it probably looked bad on me for posting so much wips, funny how that shame can suddenly flip to a bit of a pride. You shouldn’t have to explain yourself though, if the work ifs your own, that bit of you can usually be seen across your work.
Can I be honest and just say that anyone trying to force you to prove yourself probably doesn’t have an authentic interest in you to begin with?
Or just laugh in people's faces for being the clowns they are. You don't owe them any sort of answer about how you arrived at your final artwork, whether you've used some tools people don't understand or not. It's not like they are great at that detection business to begin with.
Ai did make me feel demotivated/burned out for a couple months but I'm getting ack into the swing of things.
Good that you're getting back into creating art. Don't let AI or the AI bros hold you back; remember, you can create art while they can't--and that makes THEM more upset.
@@MarcMcKenzie-qb6or Yeah, they will never know the joy of creating.
Yeah I’m sure a lot of us have felt demotivated, me included. But now, I’m also back at art with burning passion. The love we have for art will always stay alive. I’m here to see real art created by real artists. There is no substitute. We’re in it for the genuine appreciation of art.
@@pong3e Agreed!
Good for you! What reignited your spark?
Recently I decided to share some sketchy unpolished works on various socials and I was surprised by how much feedback I got from them. People really do appeciate the humanity behind art and not just a pretty picture, something I can't imagine AI ever being able to replicate. Regardless, I've been drawing and improving however I can, while AI images keep getting more stale.
That's amazing! I'm so happy you had that reception to it, and you're right on the money. People appreciate the work of art so much
I think for a lot of people who aren't visual artists (such as myself) the fear of AI isn't so much the fear of lost careers (although I do think that would be tragic if that's how it played out) as it is the fear of art losing its soul. Losing a connection to the human experience. Now that that's been said, I don't think it will play out that way. There's increasing evidence to suggest that AI may never actually be cost effective on a large scale, if I'm not mistaken. And I've said this before on this channel but... I have friends who work in AI who have repeatedly told me AI will never be practically used in art. It will have uses in research and such, but for art, it's just not going to be cost effective. So, I'll say it again. Artists, I hope you know even non-artists do support and prefer you over soulless "AI" junk.
I so hope you and your friends are right about that. I'm not a visual artist but it still pisses me off when I see people who claim have "created something" by describing something to an AI and have it made it for them. The same applies to music.
Excellent points! I’ve spoken out about those concerns in my previous videos on this topic. Have you seen those as well?
@@TheArtMentor How much do you get paid per view?
@@TheArtMentor I have. They raise some pretty good points that I think we're starting to see play out already.
Like $0.001 per view. That’s an interesting question, why do you ask?
24:28 I may not be a professional, but I still have this urge to improve. Thank you for the reminder
Happy to help! Have you been doubting yourself lately, and that’s why that segment spoke to you?
I remember posting my vector art on facebook, where I used to get some clients who wanted something similar. But one day, I posted my work and put the price for those interested in having their own vector art, and suddenly, I found myself in an argument with people saying things like "why would I pay this much to buy something made by AI" I just couldn't believe that my 6 hours works were being reduced to a comparison with AI. They are not wrong, it is hard not to compare someone's art with AI made art because there are many "how to make money without knowing how to make art". In my opinion, art is made by someones hands from start to finish.
Can I go even further to defend you? Those people saying that wouldn't ever pay for your art anyways, nor would they ever, so they were never your target audience anyways
I am fortunate enough to not feel the way youve described artists feeling like. I got on social media not thinking of the attention or the job possibilities but cause i genuinely am a passionate artist who loves sharing her work with whoever happens to come across my work. Its why i upload art pieces right after another with no real set schedule. If ppl see it and like it then i feel achieved.
The reasons i hate ai is cause it threatens ppl in the industry who are artists who worked hard to get to the point they are and to be laid off cause some dumb machine can generate stuff based off a few words and stolen artwork from real artists is where i draw the line. Anytime i see a favorite TH-camr use AI in their thumbnails it feels like a form of friendly fire. You’d think they’d understand the real value and time put into each art piece and to them to just use a ai generator machine to generate their thumbnails tells me they don’t truly value that and rather not pay artists who could actually benefit from their patronage.
When I make my videos now, I often make sure to put my logo in there. I’m still just getting into the art community and trying to figure out my style, and how to make/sell prints. In terms of the type of art I do traditional and digital. I have wanted to give up in the past but what has kept me going and keeps me going is that art isn’t just fun, it’s saved and still saves me, no matter how long it takes me to do a piece I don’t feel like it’s a waste is because it helped me in the moment, even if the result wasn’t what I exactly wanted. 😊 Art is a beautiful gift in my life. Scratchboard: traditional and digital is tedious, but when I finish a piece I always smile and feel my life is worth living just a bit longer. ❤
Nice channel. You just picked up another subscriber.
Way to support another artist 😁
@@digitalbrinjen3245 thank you 😊
The usage of generative AI to mass-produce art has always been something I'm not a fan of. Through using such programs, there's something lost in the process - the autheticity. In my opinion, every artist has their own style, quirks, and unique way of drawing art, of which are what makes them authentic. Meanwhile the "authenticity" generative AI programs have is just, learning and scrapping off millions of images to produce their own image. Not so unique of a quirk, especially considering the amount of generative AI and AI "artists" right now.
As a self-taught musician who often draws or writes poems in free time, I want all my drawings, music, and drafts to be purely designed with my own hands, not someone else's, nor with a program. I've been spending some months to learn drawing anatomy and background, and I am very much willing to do that instead of utilizing generative AI to produce one for me. I want to learn the process, not just to receive the product.
great point!
Im on a binge on your videos and I LOVE your content a lot! No joke on being the art mentor, the mindset you're promoting can be applied to both professional and beginner artists that leads to a better long term commitment to our craft. Much love and appreciation
Thanks so much, and I appreciate your support! Looking forward to seeing you in the comments of more videos haha
Sean, thank you for this. Of all the videos you have done about AI art, this is your best one yet. You also said a few hard truths that we all should consider.
And also thanks again for referring to and mentioning Pressfield's THE WAR FOR ART. I just re-read it and it is good to see that someone else has also read it.
Thanks so much for saying so! I’m always trying to bring a different spin to this conversation, you know? Keep reading those great books on art and investing into yourself 💪
@@TheArtMentor Thanks, Sean! I will continue to do just that.
Digital art is a medium.i started using pencil and paper in high-school so thier is no difference the fundamentals are the same
precisely! You have autonomy, and you as an artist have control of the medium. Only those who don't try it still consider that
@@TheArtMentor amen brother art is love
Nice video dude!!! Been waiting a long time for such video.
Glad to hear you enjoyed! Can you relate to these concerns in this video?
When I started digital art I immediately started posting, and a year ago I jumped head first into my first commission which I should have said no to because it was too much at once.
So now I’ve stopped posting and I’m using this time to learn to draw for myself, not an algorithm, and improve my skills until the dust settles, like what happened with nfts.
I recommend doing this, especially if you’re an anxious person like I am.
Can I say I've been there too? lol. My first commission was a pain haha
@@TheArtMentor I beat myself up for having to refund over how stressful it was, especially since I worked on it for a couple months but it helps a lot to learn that, ty
AI "Art" is overhyped.
Correction - "AI ART" is overhyped... it isn't artificial intelligence, it's a scam. Intelligence is the ability to think and rationalize. These are mindless tools, and the only artificial thing about them, is their bloated stock values.
Social media is the issue not Ai. No one would care so much about art if it wasn't the clout and money people are so obsessed with. We all need less social media
So true! What did you think about my segment on this issue in this video?
I treat AI art as a toy, something fun to play around with from time to time. I've even started to put my own art through the AI filter just to see how it's handled. None of it ever gets published, though. Only shown to my friends whenever I see fit.
exactly how most users see it, and why it'll never take off beyond that
When you describe a piece of art you want an AI to make for you, you don't create that art - you commision it.
I'd say it's less of a commission and more of a request lol
@@TheArtMentor Yeah, I think that's even more fitting.
Yuval nailed it in Nexus here recently with the focus on Alien Intelligence being an agent, not a tool. Great book that takes this narrow focus on impact in one vertical and takes it to AI as a GPT (General Purpose Technology). Highly recommend it.
Underwater basket weavers mentioned, lets goooooo!
I have an extremely petty-stupid-weirdly making me feel things idea,
Artists should spam absolute abstract things that only somewhat make sense while typing in random words in the captions so Ai gets confused and crashes (it will need a lot of images to be uploaded, but just imagine.)
Then if Ai bros get mad about it, we all pretend they're crazy and that the ai images has always looked that way!
AI didn't even ruin art for 2 years lol. Preexisting artists took one look at it and said "I don't like that" and just kept on making art themselves, and the non-artists who persisted in using it found themselves learning art basics so that they could draw pictures to use as more precise prompts than words, and some of those people now no longer use AI because the pictures they draw are good enough for what they want. None of what people were panicking about when generative AI became available actually happened. Even the tech bros are increasingly being turned off by the term "AI", because it has come to be associated with invasion of privacy.
Couldn’t have said it better myself, respect 🙂👍
Yep, seen quite a few newbie artists recently who started out prompting and got so dissatisfied with the process, they wound up buying some art equipment and are now learning to make their own art.
This. What people call AI is just complex math. It will slowly remove the lazy attention seekers and make the good artists even better.
Yeah, Sean, do that; share your insights on reference gathering. I believe that’d be pretty cool.
Happy to share that in a future video!
Preach it! Your videos always hit the nail on the head. I always love your uplifting attitude, too. That keeps me going. Thank you!
And thanks so much for your support! What keeps you creative during these times?
I find real artist have a particular mindset & dialogue, it's pretty easy to sniff out the frauds. That & how someone addresses money, that's a dead giveaway.
You knw what is actually hilarious about the AI 'art' thing? I was (and still am) attempting to learn how to draw by myself right about the time it started to blow up and it spurred me to keep going because I just want to be able to do it myself. I want to be able to make whatever I think up to be real whenever I want (I'm very far from that right now but I'll get there one day)
But I think had this situation blown up a year or two earlier I might have gone down the dark path since it really is that easy.
I've followed the artificial picture stuff since about 2017 or so back when it was more designed for autonomous vehicles to simulate driving in different conditions with the same video feed.
My my, how fast it all comes about eh?
As far as social media is concerned I just view it as the Void, I'll throw stuff out there and leave it be. I suppose that is easy for a nobody like me to say but I've generally stayed away from all forms of social media, I've never really liked it. I also don't view TH-cam as social media unless you actually upload videos, Lol (so not me). I rarely even commented on videos before 2018 but I decided to leave one if I determined that either the video was worthy or the creator was.
Well I'm honored that I am worthy in your eyes 💪can I tell you how proud I am of you for pursuing your own goals and ends and not just taking the easy way out? Looking forward to what you do in the future!
Hey there! I really love and appreciate your videos, and I just got my first commission using your Reddit strategies! Quick question. You mentioned that you are “fully booked” in this video. Are you fully booked as a full time gig? Or just fully booked as your side hustle.
I would love to make this art business of mine into a reality, but I haven’t heard of artists making a full time living from this approach before.
Thanks again for all your helpful advice!
So I am a full time artist and run my art business on the side as well. I’m fully booked in my private mentorship and I’m usually booked up on my freelance work, but I always find ways to squeeze in work I enjoy. How does that answer your questions?
6:23 What I got was worse than that, I got my heroes just tell me AI is just better than me and to give up.
That's so awful to see, isn't it? It feels like they let you down, so sorry. Well, there are plenty of people who aren't afraid like they are, so pick that voice that aligns best to you, my friend!
13:18
i feel called out
anyways thanks for the vid
Oh no! What hit home for you on that one?
@@TheArtMentor "the 13,12 year old kid that might be watching this video right now"
It’s true isn’t it? We have to inspire and support the next generation of artists don’t we?
AI is a hard lesson anyone can learn from but will most likely not >.>
Care to elaborate?
well said!
Wow lots of good points in here, nicely and succinctly summed up! More people need to hear this, not just artists!
This might come off-putting but thanks to AI, people, especially genuine clients have become wary of AI prompters and they tend to have become particular about choosing artists which paved the way for them paying more if you managed to show what they want and create what they want. You'll have guaranteed repeats and those certain clients won't even bother looking away again scouring the platforms to get art because they got you ( not to mention that it inconveniences them to scan through all that AI prompts crap from time to time, they'd rather simply go to you for their art). I can certainly guarantee it because I've had a couple repeats in the past couple years too including this month. It's really refreshing to know that AI is not really the enemy we used to fear when it was new. It's just another lousy mini boss that you can easily exploit when you learned its weaknesses! So long as you put the work to invest on necessary skills to make everything work things will all yield itself to you. This is really important. On other note, the thing with AI druids saying things like artists are the new elitists just crack me up so much. If that were the case I wouldn't even have tolerated my scammy day job for 10 years laboring on mere coins for paycheck because the standards in our country are low for creatives. It's another reason not to trust them because they are the actual elitists that put our efforts down by shamelessly repurposing actual artists work for their prompts while propagating cheap clients that don't respect us to pay for fair wages for their art needs. Them playing victim for something like "I'm not talented enough to do artwork so I'll use AI to make my own and I can be an artist too." BS. That's just a pathetic excuse for not laboring on your dream and instead try to downplay people that did and calling them elitists. The audacity of these people is truly shocking.
I have found this to be true as well! Thanks for sharing your thoughts as well
As a physical artist my problem with digital art is that 99.999% of the digital art posted online is traced fan art created and submitted by about 5% of the overall digital artist community. How is little digital artist Susie who has spent months drawing and rendering her original digital art scene of a pair of magical winged stags fighting supposed to compete with Jane who rearranges and traces already existing Pokémon scenes to make new ones which only takes her an hour a piece?
Why does Susie need to compete? Art isn't a competition.
@@yurisei6732 I agree, but art is also a form of self expression and it's understanable that artists want to see their art being seen and reacted on. The "competition" comes in attention, and it's not like they want to be famous or anything, but having people seeing your work, even just a few people can go a long way for someones enjoyement, especially when it's all original work.
I don't post a lot at all, but one time there was like a few dozens reply on my post, all nice and wholesome and it made my week. This come in addition to enjoying making the art.
For the most part I don't trace, and a rarely use a reference. I agree that it is kinda annoying original characters get way less views than traces of popular things but it is what it is.
@@yurisei6732 what if Susie is trying to earn money making original digital art and is trying to show potential clients what she can do without, as he mentioned has been a problem for digital artists, being accused of being an AI bot?
@@CaptainRx-ss3rt it probably makes the viewers day too. Seeing the same crap over and over again is annoying so a unique digital art piece is like a breath of fresh air.
According to AI bros Artists are somehow rich elitists gatekeeping art who also need to get a real job if they want to stop being poor.
Apparently artists possess Schrodinger’s wealth here 😂😂😂.
Some of my comics were made using literally nothing but paper and pencils, so what’s this talk about needing expensive tools only the elite can afford?😅😅
AI bros want to make all jobs a "Schrodinger's job", no matter how "real" of jobs they always have been.
You're awesome.
Thanks! You're awesome for watching 😁
my university art lecturer recommends learning AI as part of my graphic design tuition as he explained many industries will be using it in the future, and professionals use it differently from just people who want to pretend they can draw, I get more attention for my Ai creations than I ever have for my traditional art…..
It's a copyright minefield. New legislation is going to challenge those views. I do not think your professor is terribly aware of that. It is also worth noting that this trajectory of delegating to AI will make professors fall out of favor, as their jobs are just as vulnerable. So it seems a little bit like lacking self-awareness, too.
On the topic of art, that might be so, but this may say more about your traditional art than it does to sell the idea that AI images are worth the attention.
I don't know myself, but it could be that you haven't really been at it for that long, or haven't been consistent.
It can also be argued that social media tends to challenge the value of "quality over quanity," since every time you post, it's a dice roll. If you spit out 30 AI images that's 30 dice rolls. In the same day, you could work on one artwork, so that's one measly dice roll.
You might also want to take into account the amount of botting that's happening surrounding the term and tags "AI"
There are a lot. And a lot of the same scams that used to target artists are now targeting AI posters, too. They eat it up, starved for attention before they realize it's just scammers being scammers
**shudders at the thought of being told to learn AI by a uni art lecturer** Glad my uni mentors don't do that.
@@sunla interesting points , thank you . And my traditional art does not have appeal? So I use AI to enhance, and it works great , I train the models on my own art so there is no copyright issue , I think there is a lot of fear over these technologies.
You’ve never heard that every AI model utilizes LAION and therefore you’re still using those copyrighted artworks? That’s a popular untruth most people like you are lied to about 😅 unless you trained it on 5 billion images of your own artwork. Did you?
You realize you fit into the exact predatory and easily scared demographic I speak about in this video, right? 😅 and btw NOBODY is making money or jobs with AI. Sounds like you’re a pretty young person, so are you just concerned you won’t have a job? Bc AI is designed to take yours, not give you one
Sean: “Most important thing is attention”
Me with ADHD: 🥲
Yet people with ADHD have attention, so that’s not the real problem, is it? In fact, if you have ADHD, are you aware that you actually have hyper attention on tasks you enjoy? It’s not all bad