Friday, September 19, 2025

Artificial and Actual Art

I am an artist. My art is writing books and designing the covers.

I would love to quit my two jobs to make art full time… but I have bills to pay… and my art does not make me the money to pay the bills.

There is concern about AI and rightly so, especially for artists who make money for commissioned work. We are already struggling. Now we have unfair competition.

AI is not really the problem. It is proving useful, actually. An artist who makes his own comic books uses it to illustrate generic backgrounds such as forests or cities so he can focus on illustrating the characters. He explained that drawing trees and buildings was too time consuming. He would rather spend the time crafting costumes and poses.

My writing is excellent. My illustrations are stylish but amateurish. If I ever have a career as an artist, it shall not be as an illustrator.

People tell me I should use AI to illustrate my covers. I would rather do it myself. Yes, my art is pathetic… but it is MY art. It is illustrations of the stories by the actual author. It ultimately serves as concept art for better artists.

Despite my desperate hope, it is obvious that I shall never be able to make a living as an artist. My fiction may became lucrative someday… but not in my lifetime. I must toil in the meantime. Though in vain, I never squander a day.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/347409

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