I've been working with AI the past few months to develop a new signature style for character work and I'm closing in on what I'd like to be creating and offering.
While these ARE created by AI, it took some work to get just the right
look I was going for. These are a work in progress still but I'm happy
to offer these as the first batch of freebies in this fun new style.
Introducing a beautiful set of digital character illustrations that radiate nostalgic style and an innocent girl-next-door vibe.
These portraits capture the character's delightful smile and
inviting energy, drawing viewers in with her charming presence.
Hopefully you enjoy them as well! These come as 4x4" and 300dpi. Perfect for any online or print applications where an avatar or profile pic is needed.
You can access these individually in the folder link HERE.
Let me know in the comments what you think and ones are your favorites. Check back for more to come soon!
Shawnna
PIN ME
Following on from yesterday's post I have another small set of AI generated stickers, this time of adorable pastel owls. Again, these are not perfection but cute enough I think to be passable just for fun.
The lower right owl is nearly spot on as a result for a prompt I copied from another user in Mid-Journey (if you don't know, prompt copying is encouraged, it's not a bad thing). But the same prompt produced the other three stickers as well so consistency is a crap shoot.
I'm not posting them here but these are the best from about 30 options I produced. Those odds aren't really that great and shows how much time you need to spend generating images and experimenting with prompts. A fellow creator very experienced in AI has said that once you get your prompts down you should have closer to a 75% success rate. Clearly I have some way to go!
This week I'm offering a couple of sticker sets (this is set 1, come back tomorrow for set 2) that I made using Mid-Journey. These were some of the first creations I made as I learned how to navigate this program - which I thought would be a fun exercise. Mostly it was frustrating. But maybe I just need the secret prompts that produce masterpieces. idk.
Sometimes, AI just isn't all that good. While these look super cute (and I do love them anyway) they are not perfect. There are all types of little oddities if you look close, because a computer simply doesn't understand painting, it replicates in a weird way that just isn't the human hand.
But I offer these as a freebie because they're pretty and fun nonetheless. And I edited them to make them look better ;)
Because people who aren't using AI art generation rarely see the flip side, I've put together a bunch of rejects so you can see just what a struggle it is! Look close, there's all kindsa wrong going on here!
The animal prompts were: possum, squirrel, raccoon and fox. The computer def doesn't know what a possum is. Then again, many humans don't know either.
I've been playing around with AI generative art for a few months now and so far I have experimented with Stable Diffusion, Dalle-E and Mid-Journey. The conversation about AI has exploded recently and it feels like it's just everywhere. New AI tools are popping up weekly and predictions are being made that AI will eventually run everything we do online.
But where are we really at, as things stand right now? There are legal and ethical considerations looming but regardless of those outcomes or any pending regulation, AI is here to stay, on that pretty much everyone agrees. So I'm not going to get into either of those topics here. Instead, I want to address some of the fears that digital artists are feeling at being 'replaced'.
I'm by no means an expert and still relatively green at making AI art, but I have easily spotted the fact that AI generators simply can't do everything, and a lot of what it does is riddled with mistakes. The kinds of mistakes that a human wouldn't do.
Yes, AI art will get better. It already has. But I don't believe you can replicate the human mind, the human experience, or human emotion. And a lot of that is the whole point behind art in the first place.
I know, just by looking at history, that there will always be value in human made art. That some techniques may become endangered, but that there will always be those who keep certain skills and methods going. That we have this tendency to eventually revert back to 'old' ways be it for nostalgia or fashion.
In the short term, artists of all types will continue to have value and earning potential. Certain job roles may disappear but old skills will likely be needed in new ways. As I said, AI can't yet do everything, and I'm not sure it's possible it ever will. But who knows...
All that being said, as a creative maker myself, I am intrigued by AI and it's possibilities. Can I outsource tasks I don't like doing to a computer? That would be very cool. Can I use AI as an assistant to brainstorm ideas? Yes, yes I can as it turns out. Also very cool since I work alone and sometimes my one brain is just not enough. The possibilities are actually quite exciting.
What I'll be doing this year is to continue experimenting. Using AI where it makes sense to do so right now but learning skills that will likely be needed down the road. I will try to be transparent about how I use this where it makes sense to do so.
For fun, I asked ChatGPT the following and got this response:
What is the value in human made art?
"Human-made art has immense value and significance for both the artists who create it and the viewers who appreciate it. Art is a form of human expression that allows individuals to communicate their emotions, experiences, ideas, and perspectives in a way that transcends language and cultural barriers.
Art can serve various purposes, such as providing aesthetic pleasure, challenging societal norms and beliefs, documenting historical events, expressing political and social commentary, and promoting cultural identity and diversity.
Moreover, art has been shown to have therapeutic benefits, both for the artist and the viewer. It can help individuals to process and cope with difficult emotions, reduce stress, and enhance well-being and self-awareness.
Finally, art also holds significant economic value. The art market is a multi-billion dollar industry that provides jobs and livelihoods for many people worldwide.
In summary, human-made art has tremendous value in terms of cultural, emotional, and economic significance. It serves as a powerful medium of communication, expression, and interpretation of the human experience."
Well then. How's that for an answer?!
Even though I will definitely be adding AI generated art into my Etsy shop and utilizing it within my own creations there are many things I will still be making on my own - mostly because I have to, AI simply can't do it for me yet. But one day and many improvements later, if I get exceptionally lazy, who knows.
I can say with some assurance though that human made art will always adorn the walls of my home - because the human experience cannot be replaced.
What are your thoughts on AI? Have you tried it, and if so, what have you learned from it? I'd love to hear from you.
Shawnna
These gorgeous fire tone backgrounds feature abstract watercolor textures with fall foliage. They have a watercolor paper texture and are 12x12" digital papers in full print resolution.
Created with the assistance of AI technology they have been digitally created, edited and enhanced.
Use these in any personal or commercial projects per the licensing terms of use.