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4 years, huh?
Posted a year agoSo, today is the 4th anniversary of my making a FurAffinity account.
In that amount of time, I gathered 156 watchers and uploaded 586 pieces as of writing this post... which is actually more than I expected.
I can pat myself on the back and say that I didn't involve myself in any drama on the site. I may be a sad grouch but at least I'm not the type to stir shit up, so yay(?).
Initially, I had an idea to make a small drawing to commemorate this anniversary... but sadly, my nine-to-five job sucked the will to do so right out of me. This worries me a bit since even my content backlog is starting to dry.
So, a little peak behind the veil: I usually create a backlog of drawings which I then post over several weeks (that way I can post regularly without risking complete burnout). This was especially useful during April and May since those are my job's most demanding months.
Perhaps next year I'll post something specifically for the 5th anniversary.
Until then, I'll continue filling out my bestiary and posting more creature designs (since that is my artistic niche), I'll look forward to a few more commissions (I'm very grateful to the few regular clients I have for their continued support), and I'll continue to be glad that FA is not going down the same downward spiral deviantArt is going (seriously, they are giving community awards to AI images... that is... low...but it's not the time or place for me to rant about that).
Have a good year
In that amount of time, I gathered 156 watchers and uploaded 586 pieces as of writing this post... which is actually more than I expected.
I can pat myself on the back and say that I didn't involve myself in any drama on the site. I may be a sad grouch but at least I'm not the type to stir shit up, so yay(?).
Initially, I had an idea to make a small drawing to commemorate this anniversary... but sadly, my nine-to-five job sucked the will to do so right out of me. This worries me a bit since even my content backlog is starting to dry.
So, a little peak behind the veil: I usually create a backlog of drawings which I then post over several weeks (that way I can post regularly without risking complete burnout). This was especially useful during April and May since those are my job's most demanding months.
Perhaps next year I'll post something specifically for the 5th anniversary.
Until then, I'll continue filling out my bestiary and posting more creature designs (since that is my artistic niche), I'll look forward to a few more commissions (I'm very grateful to the few regular clients I have for their continued support), and I'll continue to be glad that FA is not going down the same downward spiral deviantArt is going (seriously, they are giving community awards to AI images... that is... low...but it's not the time or place for me to rant about that).
Have a good year
No To AI-Generated Images (my 2 cents)
Posted 3 years agoI guess I'll join in on this whole thing (if maybe a bit late...)
If you are looking for a comprehensive and detailed article on why AI-Generated images are bad, I'll add a link to a post on ArtStation that discusses this in a thought-out and civil manner:
If you'd rather read through some vitriolic ramblings of an art-veteran, then keep reading.
Back when the topic of AI-Generated images was first discussed, I had already said my piece. However, I think it is worth reiterating some points and adding a few new ones:
1) Generating images via AI leaves no room for personal growth.
Real Art is a way for people to express and improve themselves. It is a way for individuals to show off and improve their motor skills, their hand-eye coordination, their imagination, their attention span! Each time you try drawing something (be it digitally or via traditional methods) you practice! The more you practice, the more you improve your skills! You become better than you used to be!
Meanwhile, using Image Generators doesn't give you ANYTHING! You just plop in pre-existing assets and wait for the machine to process and shit out the machine's rudimentary understanding of how to make sense out of an assembly of lines, shapes, and colors. Sure, over time the AI may improve, but what about the person who feeds it? Nothing. That person does not improve. They just press a few buttons and think they are the next Rembrandt or Van Gogh... with less than a fraction of a fraction of the time and effort these two put into their works.
2) AI-Generated images are soulless and worthless
This point relates to the previous one rather directly; when someone tries to draw something on their own, be it via pencil and paper or via Photoshop (or even MS Paint), they not only devote time and effort towards creating something, but they also put a bit of themselves into it. Each line, each splash of color, every little imperfection... those are all small bits of the artist's own self; their struggles, their emotions, their personal tastes, their talent, all of that goes into an art piece. In order to create something that has value, you need to devote time and effort to it. And the people who then see the end result can see all those elements present in the work. Those who see the artist's creation can think of how much time it took them to make it/to bring it into existence. The time, effort, and soul put into each piece is what gives art its value. Its heart.
And what do AI-Generators bring to the table? Nothing. They can only imitate things that already exist. There is no effort behind AI-Generated images. There is no soul. Just a bad imitation. It's like putting a spoonful of sugar into a glass of tap water and claiming it's actually fine wine.
3) AI-Generated images are a form of theft and corruption... and real danger
And here is the big one. When you put an actual artist's image into an AI-Image Generator, you basically intend to copy whatever makes said artist's art good: their particular style of coloring, their linework, their use of light and shadow... All of that, without the artist's knowledge or consent. And what's the end result? For the time being, with the current level of AI-Generators, the result is a corrupted copy of whatever was put into the generator. All of the original artists' hard work, time, and passion...all of that trivialized and twisted into some sort of soulless abomination...all one press of a button away.
And it can only get worse.
As this technology improves, who's to say that it won't allow lowlife hacks to use actual artists' works to create a medium for hateful agenda? Or use it to satisfy some depraved fetish? An artist who draws cute kittens and puppies in a soft and appealing style may one day discover that their art was used to create some sort of neo-nazi propaganda piece with scat, hard vore, and pedophilia on top of it... all of that in the artists' style...all made through an AI-Image Generator.
You may think the last point is a gross over-exaggeration. To that, I say this: technology is advancing at a startlingly fast rate. Things like that may become possible faster than one would be comfortable admitting or accepting. And also... never underestimate the levels of hate and depravity that humanity is capable of. Because whatever is the worst thing you can imagine (the worst thing someone could ever do to another person, the lengths to which someone would be willing to go in order to make another person miserable) there is always something far, far darker and more depraved lurking somewhere in the dark.
I promised vitriol at the beginning of this post. Well... here it comes:
To those who think they can call themselves artists, just because you use Image Generators: you're not artists. You have neither the talent, patience, nor passion to create anything by yourselves. All you do is take what is not yours and feed it to a soulless machine that spits out garbage by the thousands
. Even tracers have more merit to them than you. Because tracers at least spend time trying to copy someone else's work; they put in at least the minimum effort in order to try and copy from others...and the ones who actually have some personal integrity, have a chance to create their own stuff, based on the practice they have gotten from copying others. Tracers have a chance to grow... users of AI-Image generators DON'T.
The only thing that AI-Image Generator users do is take stuff that doesn't belong to them and tell a machine to do all the hard work for them. They are lazy. They have no drive to improve themselves. Their egos are more inflated than they have any right to be. And why? Because they think that telling a machine to do stuff for you is equal to what many artists spend literal years to obtain. And that...that is simply pathetic.
Say NO to AI-Generated Images.
If you are looking for a comprehensive and detailed article on why AI-Generated images are bad, I'll add a link to a post on ArtStation that discusses this in a thought-out and civil manner:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/03Pbz4 If you'd rather read through some vitriolic ramblings of an art-veteran, then keep reading.
Back when the topic of AI-Generated images was first discussed, I had already said my piece. However, I think it is worth reiterating some points and adding a few new ones:
1) Generating images via AI leaves no room for personal growth.
Real Art is a way for people to express and improve themselves. It is a way for individuals to show off and improve their motor skills, their hand-eye coordination, their imagination, their attention span! Each time you try drawing something (be it digitally or via traditional methods) you practice! The more you practice, the more you improve your skills! You become better than you used to be!
Meanwhile, using Image Generators doesn't give you ANYTHING! You just plop in pre-existing assets and wait for the machine to process and shit out the machine's rudimentary understanding of how to make sense out of an assembly of lines, shapes, and colors. Sure, over time the AI may improve, but what about the person who feeds it? Nothing. That person does not improve. They just press a few buttons and think they are the next Rembrandt or Van Gogh... with less than a fraction of a fraction of the time and effort these two put into their works.
2) AI-Generated images are soulless and worthless
This point relates to the previous one rather directly; when someone tries to draw something on their own, be it via pencil and paper or via Photoshop (or even MS Paint), they not only devote time and effort towards creating something, but they also put a bit of themselves into it. Each line, each splash of color, every little imperfection... those are all small bits of the artist's own self; their struggles, their emotions, their personal tastes, their talent, all of that goes into an art piece. In order to create something that has value, you need to devote time and effort to it. And the people who then see the end result can see all those elements present in the work. Those who see the artist's creation can think of how much time it took them to make it/to bring it into existence. The time, effort, and soul put into each piece is what gives art its value. Its heart.
And what do AI-Generators bring to the table? Nothing. They can only imitate things that already exist. There is no effort behind AI-Generated images. There is no soul. Just a bad imitation. It's like putting a spoonful of sugar into a glass of tap water and claiming it's actually fine wine.
3) AI-Generated images are a form of theft and corruption... and real danger
And here is the big one. When you put an actual artist's image into an AI-Image Generator, you basically intend to copy whatever makes said artist's art good: their particular style of coloring, their linework, their use of light and shadow... All of that, without the artist's knowledge or consent. And what's the end result? For the time being, with the current level of AI-Generators, the result is a corrupted copy of whatever was put into the generator. All of the original artists' hard work, time, and passion...all of that trivialized and twisted into some sort of soulless abomination...all one press of a button away.
And it can only get worse.
As this technology improves, who's to say that it won't allow lowlife hacks to use actual artists' works to create a medium for hateful agenda? Or use it to satisfy some depraved fetish? An artist who draws cute kittens and puppies in a soft and appealing style may one day discover that their art was used to create some sort of neo-nazi propaganda piece with scat, hard vore, and pedophilia on top of it... all of that in the artists' style...all made through an AI-Image Generator.
You may think the last point is a gross over-exaggeration. To that, I say this: technology is advancing at a startlingly fast rate. Things like that may become possible faster than one would be comfortable admitting or accepting. And also... never underestimate the levels of hate and depravity that humanity is capable of. Because whatever is the worst thing you can imagine (the worst thing someone could ever do to another person, the lengths to which someone would be willing to go in order to make another person miserable) there is always something far, far darker and more depraved lurking somewhere in the dark.
I promised vitriol at the beginning of this post. Well... here it comes:
To those who think they can call themselves artists, just because you use Image Generators: you're not artists. You have neither the talent, patience, nor passion to create anything by yourselves. All you do is take what is not yours and feed it to a soulless machine that spits out garbage by the thousands
. Even tracers have more merit to them than you. Because tracers at least spend time trying to copy someone else's work; they put in at least the minimum effort in order to try and copy from others...and the ones who actually have some personal integrity, have a chance to create their own stuff, based on the practice they have gotten from copying others. Tracers have a chance to grow... users of AI-Image generators DON'T.
The only thing that AI-Image Generator users do is take stuff that doesn't belong to them and tell a machine to do all the hard work for them. They are lazy. They have no drive to improve themselves. Their egos are more inflated than they have any right to be. And why? Because they think that telling a machine to do stuff for you is equal to what many artists spend literal years to obtain. And that...that is simply pathetic.
Say NO to AI-Generated Images.
A year has passed
Posted 4 years agoSo, this is my first journal entry on this site. Funny, huh? You'd think I would've written something over the period of time I've been here, but I just didn't have anything to say.
Now, however, there is some sort of occasion that makes it worth it.
Today is the one-year anniversary of my joining FurAffinity.
yup...
Been stinking up this place with my mediocrity for a year now. At first, I thought I'd draw something to commemorate this occasion but... I don't have the high spirits to make anything worthwhile.
I guess this will just be another day of the year that passes me by with no consequence whatsoever... just like my birthday.
I mean... what? I lasted a year on this site.
So what, right?
I'm not gonna get a "badge of honor" or "gold star" for it. Nor do I expect anything of the sort.
Well... let's see where I'll end up in a year.
Maybe this year will be better? We'll see... we'll see...
Now, however, there is some sort of occasion that makes it worth it.
Today is the one-year anniversary of my joining FurAffinity.
yup...
Been stinking up this place with my mediocrity for a year now. At first, I thought I'd draw something to commemorate this occasion but... I don't have the high spirits to make anything worthwhile.
I guess this will just be another day of the year that passes me by with no consequence whatsoever... just like my birthday.
I mean... what? I lasted a year on this site.
So what, right?
I'm not gonna get a "badge of honor" or "gold star" for it. Nor do I expect anything of the sort.
Well... let's see where I'll end up in a year.
Maybe this year will be better? We'll see... we'll see...
