Feels like forever since I last typed up a blog post; but then I did have the last one done almost a week in advance, so…
Barely halfway into December’s Showcase story, and I’m already suffering a schedule slip. Lots of factors, yada yada, broken record; I have been pulled in several directions this past week, and will continue to be pulled in several more for the next one, so finding the time to draw has been tough. Not to mention with load shedding on top of everything else, I’m often limited by the battery power of my laptop, which while impressive, can only take so much. I am going to make a concerted effort to get three pages out before next week, so that the schedule isn’t disrupted too much; the public holiday tomorrow will help with that.
Speaking of next week, the day job will finally be closing for the holidays on Wednesday, so that will be a nice injection of some spare time into my life. I’ll likely stick to my regular wake up routine (I don’t think my cat would let me do anything else), but since I won’t have to leave the house at 7am, I can knuckle down and pump out some artwork right after breakfast if I so wish. It’s the kind of momentum I need to get a lot done throughout the day, because I know that if I don’t get an early start, I get lazy, and then even less will get done.
I’m still trying to figure out a way to make a different style of page for the website, one that doesn’t follow a webcomic format and is more of a traditional gallery, where I can display miscellaneous portfolio pieces. I don’t know if my site theme can support a page like that, though it would be very convenient if it can; I’d like a space where I can put my favourite artworks that are under my full creative control. This has arisen out of the fact that I recently deleted my DeviantArt account; no doubt those in the creative sector are aware of why: the integration of AI art into the platform.
Speaking as someone with a very small platform of my own, I view AI art as incredibly detrimental to artists everywhere, especially those who are trying to grow their presence online from next to nothing. It’s hard enough to have your work seen without it being scalped by search engines and used to fuel a lifeless, assembly line form of media that seems specifically designed to rob artists of work and make cheap people feel a sense of false accomplishment; because why should anything made with passion and determination have any place in an efficient, corporate, capitalist society? I’m always pleased when I see artists online protesting and giving the figurative (and literal) middle finger to those who push AI as the future of artwork, which is ironic since most AI programs can’t formulate a picture of a middle finger despite all the algorithms in the world.
I’m in support of AI as an assistive tool when it comes to art; a lot of art programs have AI elements in them that make the artistic process easier, like reducing noise on hand-drawn lines, or mapping out colours on a highly detailed render. But to churn out “complete” artworks that have done nothing but mash together the hard work of real artists for the benefit of skinflint techbros, is just downright insulting.
Anyway, enough venting from me, time to get back to work and make some real art.
Ciao for now.