AI and the Artist
As most people are aware, Artificial Intelligence is here and growing exponentially. People are using it for work, for play, for everyday things. The Art Community has been abuzz with thoughts and theories, worries and admiration. Today, I will discuss my personal thoughts on the matter. One thing I will state from the beginning is no AI is used in any part of my paintings or drawings. Not in design nor in execution. As a wildlife and nature artist, I must use references to create correct anatomy in my animals. My references will all come from photos. Photos themselves do have drawbacks, but they are a real reflection of the world around us. Distortions are frequent and need to be corrected but I feel that is more in line with natural observation than AI images. Now, I put multiple references together to create the image I want. Even doing this, I don’t use any type of AI. I don’t even use photoshop. I let my hand and eye get my vision to emerge, usually starting with sketches and then moving on to the canvas. Such as this painting I’m working on now. A bird photographer kindly allowed me the use of her photos for reference and then I took one myself for the background at the bottom of the canvas. Then scouted more for the clouds in the background. About 7 photos are incorporated into this idea.
Initial sketch of “Incoming”, figuring out the composition and values.
I understand AI could make this process easier and faster but I feel my OWN idea, my vision, would be lost quickly. I feel that an artist’s hand is guided by not just their thoughts and skill but by outside forces. Creating art is spiritual. I believe if I turn to a computer to help me create, I will lose my authenticity. It no longer is my art but influenced by the collective. The reality is AI has scraped its information from copyrighted images and text from all across the internet. I have a strong ethical issue with that. I sincerely wish its original designers had also had those moral values. Unfortunately, some artists names have been used so much in the creation of AI images, writing and music, it’s difficult to wade through the generated slop to their original works. Lawsuits have begun. In my opinion, using “In the style of ….” when utilizing AI is theft. Are we going to reach a point where Artists will no longer be able to post images on the internet to protect their copyrights? Software is available to “glaze” images so AI is unable to use them, some even “poison” the AI, but programmers are working around it. Why should we not be able to protect ourselves and our hard work?
Work has started on the canvas: a mid-tone imprimatura, then sketched laid out and now background.
I will continue to create as authentically as possible. My paintings and drawings will be a conglomeration of marks made by my hand and not by a computer. I hope that the feeling, effort and heart directly put into handmade art continues to be valued. Losing the human element would be tragic.