Ive made a new years resolution to stop acquiring sketchbooks and actually use them, instead of letting them get dusty and just admiring them from afar. I get too hung up on each page being a full piece instead of a place to play and try new stuff. I think it will be a slow process because ive also began working on my digital art so my traditional work is being neglected as well. but Im hoping ill have atleast 1 completed book this year!
I have a question I wanted to ask you Mr.Gurney.. Recently, I saw a twitter post of those AI (mid journey) developers admitting to inputting popular artists into their engine, 'training' it to learn these art styles and replicating them, I guess a whistleblower leaked a massive list of artists they are feeding to the machine, I saw your name on the list.
How does that make you feel?
I don't hate AI but it becoming clear to me people don't have good intentions with it, maliciously copying work for profit is how i see it. Then trying to justify it by claiming it as their own 'creative expression' or claiming it as equality? as if we are either born with the ability to draw or not, like its not something everyone is capable of learning...
it feels like these AI 'artists' are only concerned with the final result, like they have a fundamental misunderstanding of WHY people create and what makes it special.
I have taken up sketching cartoons of people a lot more on my daily subway commute. I started do this 13 years ago inspired by many urban sketch crawlers. But by doing this quick way of working it keeps my mind in a creative vibe I suppose. I stand while I use a hand-held cardboard backing clipped with loose leaf paper. I'll draw freestyle with a micron pen and watercolor from a travel kit with water pens. I use a velcro system, one patch on the cardboard backing and the other side to the lid of my watercolor kit. Other times I may just use a standard sketchbook and do some pure marker lines without watercolor.
Mackenzie, I understand that many artists are concerned about Generative AI “scraping” copyrighted images in their training data. Others worry about it displacing artists. Some people are trying to stop it or use a code to poison the results.
I don't feel that way. Even though I haven't found a way to use MidJourney or DALL-E in my workflow, I'm fascinated with the work that leaders in the field are coming up with.
I know my works are in the training data, and my name has been used in prompts for several years. I'm not worried about the plagiarism issue because AI art for the most part alters and transforms its source material, just as humans do. An artist’s style can’t and shouldn’t be copyrightable.
I don’t feel threatened by AI Art. There's no way it can take away my livelihood because I work in traditional media. But I sympathize with people starting out, especially digital artists and concept artists.
I would caution the alarmists to remember that applying some sort of digital rights management mechanism or poison pill code could have a chilling effect on the growth of this new art form, and end up helping the powerful entertainment corporations more than the little guys.
Yes, I did! Last year I started going out more to draw and for this year I made my own 'drawing calendar' where I plan all kinds of 'drawing trips' to places like the Rijksmuseum (model drawing workshop there with a tour this January) or a city, an event or whatever interests me. Last year I had so much fun doing these trips, I learned a lot and met all kinds of people. Thanks to you James Gurney for being part of the inspiration to do this!
I set a goal to get better at figure drawing. I'm going to work through the Drawabox homework, read and work on Loomis Figure Drawing, and focus on spending my family and people in public when I can. I'm also resolving to ignore all my other art interests while I work on this. I don't have a lot of time, so I'm treating this as a workout plan. It's a focused effort towards a specific goal. So each session doesn't have to take a lot of time to see results. The only other art I plan to do is noodling around with watercolors in a completely unstructured way to relax. I'll report back in three months.
Ive made a new years resolution to stop acquiring sketchbooks and actually use them, instead of letting them get dusty and just admiring them from afar. I get too hung up on each page being a full piece instead of a place to play and try new stuff. I think it will be a slow process because ive also began working on my digital art so my traditional work is being neglected as well. but Im hoping ill have atleast 1 completed book this year!
ReplyDeleteI have a question I wanted to ask you Mr.Gurney..
Recently, I saw a twitter post of those AI (mid journey) developers admitting to inputting popular artists into their engine, 'training' it to learn these art styles and replicating them, I guess a whistleblower leaked a massive list of artists they are feeding to the machine, I saw your name on the list.
How does that make you feel?
I don't hate AI but it becoming clear to me people don't have good intentions with it, maliciously copying work for profit is how i see it. Then trying to justify it by claiming it as their own 'creative expression' or claiming it as equality? as if we are either born with the ability to draw or not, like its not something everyone is capable of learning...
it feels like these AI 'artists' are only concerned with the final result, like they have a fundamental misunderstanding of WHY people create and what makes it special.
Wellll, I thought about it! But I know I'm bad at sticking to n.y.resolutions 🤣
ReplyDeleteWelll, I thought about it! But I know I am not good at keeping n.y.resolutions! So I'll just say, I shall try 😅
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking about drawing everyday
ReplyDeleteI am thinking about drawing everyday
ReplyDeleteI have taken up sketching cartoons of people a lot more on my daily subway commute. I started do this 13 years ago inspired by many urban sketch crawlers. But by doing this quick way of working it keeps my mind in a creative vibe I suppose. I stand while I use a hand-held cardboard backing clipped with loose leaf paper. I'll draw freestyle with a micron pen and watercolor from a travel kit with water pens. I use a velcro system, one patch on the cardboard backing and the other side to the lid of my watercolor kit. Other times I may just use a standard sketchbook and do some pure marker lines without watercolor.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had! Maybe I will...Yes, I think it is a good idea. But I will start with doing 2 sketches a week. Thank you for the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteRosemary
i am. It has been very stressful allday drawing in my dark, small bedroom..
ReplyDeleteActually, yes! I changed my set-up to be more efficient
ReplyDeleteMackenzie, I understand that many artists are concerned about Generative AI “scraping” copyrighted images in their training data. Others worry about it displacing artists. Some people are trying to stop it or use a code to poison the results.
ReplyDeleteI don't feel that way. Even though I haven't found a way to use MidJourney or DALL-E in my workflow, I'm fascinated with the work that leaders in the field are coming up with.
I know my works are in the training data, and my name has been used in prompts for several years. I'm not worried about the plagiarism issue because AI art for the most part alters and transforms its source material, just as humans do. An artist’s style can’t and shouldn’t be copyrightable.
I don’t feel threatened by AI Art. There's no way it can take away my livelihood because I work in traditional media. But I sympathize with people starting out, especially digital artists and concept artists.
I would caution the alarmists to remember that applying some sort of digital rights management mechanism or poison pill code could have a chilling effect on the growth of this new art form, and end up helping the powerful entertainment corporations more than the little guys.
finally got myself a tripod easel, just in time for winter. im so ready
ReplyDeleteYes, I did! Last year I started going out more to draw and for this year I made my own 'drawing calendar' where I plan all kinds of 'drawing trips' to places like the Rijksmuseum (model drawing workshop there with a tour this January) or a city, an event or whatever interests me. Last year I had so much fun doing these trips, I learned a lot and met all kinds of people. Thanks to you James Gurney for being part of the inspiration to do this!
ReplyDeleteI set a goal to get better at figure drawing. I'm going to work through the Drawabox homework, read and work on Loomis Figure Drawing, and focus on spending my family and people in public when I can. I'm also resolving to ignore all my other art interests while I work on this. I don't have a lot of time, so I'm treating this as a workout plan. It's a focused effort towards a specific goal. So each session doesn't have to take a lot of time to see results. The only other art I plan to do is noodling around with watercolors in a completely unstructured way to relax. I'll report back in three months.
ReplyDelete