hello, back to basics, and (no) AI

Hi! Last year was crazy. A hundred commissions was an exciting challenge but also just a lot. I had to cut myself off for a couple months and reset.

Then in the middle of the reset, I caught pneumonia for a month, and meanwhile my state (Minnesota) has been fighting tooth and nail to expel ICE who — let’s not forget — have been abducting, abusing, and in two public instances murdering innocent humans for 75 days now. So that was comprehensively preoccupying.

When I wasn’t fighting off pneumonia or talking about resisting our Federal oppressors, I was working on larger-size pieces which felt really good. Now, I am back to my happy place of constantly exploring faces, and sometimes full figures. It’s all about that muscle memory baby.

I am still in Minneapolis’ Northrup King building which is great.

I messed around with one of the AI image generators for a couple weeks. Those things are (a) really cool and (b) absolutely the worst. You can drum up a month’s worth of references pretty fast and for almost no money. But also your brain will atrophy so fast, and because your brain is so important, I really cannot stress enough, don’t use AI to make your art, and don’t let friends spend their money on that shit. It makes you stupid, its aesthetic will look weird compared to your non-AI art, and I feel like collectors will eventually catch on and then get mad you’re asking $1000 for what is essentially a Midjourney copy. Also? It’s terrible for the environment, and is driving up our electrical bills, and enriching our oligarchical puppet masters.

I don’t use AI. I either work with people on good reference photos for commissions, use my own photos for practice, or find great photos online.