Brain Outsource

[pshaw_raven]

This morning, I saw a news piece about Clip Studio, a program I use to create my comics. I own a copy outright and enjoy using it - I've had it since 2017. One of its nifty features is a 3D modeling module that uses AI to rotate, pose, and manipulate characters, which you can then either paste into your work wholesale, or trace over. Next week, a new update is being released which will have Stable Diffusion running right in Clip Studio, allowing you to use AI image generation right in the program.

I've already been experimenting with using SD to generate backgrounds and landscapes for my comics. I typically use image2image and paint very simple shapes, which the AI then renders into backgrounds which closely mimic my own style. I can get bogged down doing landscapes because i enjoy it, so this actually can speed up my process. Having SD run inside Clip Studio is now going to save me even more steps.

The update won't be available until next week, but for now I'm going to go ahead and start illustrating a short story I wrote with Novel AI's help, using SD for background art. I understand some peoples' aversion to AI and their distrust of it, but I see it is another art tool. I can also remember when people liked to shit on digital artists for not being "real" artists. Apparently forgetting that a digital drawing pad is just glorified paper, and if you can't draw with a normal pencil, a digital tablet isn't going to suddenly turn you into James Montgomery Flagg. Or even Randall Monroe. ;D Just because you don't have brain damage from inhaling turpentine fumes doesn't mean you aren't a real artist.

And yeah, the ability to mimic an artist's style is there. The ability to violate copyright is there. This isn't a problem AI created, though. It's just streamlined the process that you would normally have needed Photoshop and a raftload of other programs to carry out. Yes, AI has its problems and its issues, but if we don't start using it like a tool, it's in danger of just becoming another toy.

Sorry - soapbox over.

The robins have arrived here for the winter, and this morning our yard has been filled with them. They're still out there, chattering and hopping around.

Comments

[theradicalchild]

I've tried my hand at AI art and got 300 prompts as part of my DeviantArt core package, but it doesn't seem very good for anthro art, although it somewhat does better for weird ideas, which I have a lot of, and especially scenery without any beings.

[pshaw_raven]

I jokingly tell people that if they want to be able to pick out AI art from "real" art just look at the hands. And it takes SO MANY prompts to generate good faces. But you're absolutely right about "weird ideas" and surreal images. I like giving it prompts for an image I'd like to draw but can't visualize well, and then using its output to create a drawing of my own.

[8hyenas]

You get winter robins! I appreciate hearing your AI pov.

I'm not a 2d artist but I am a very visual person so I'm enjoying using the engines to make images from my dreams. Looking at the images allows me to recall the dream in a way that writing doesn't.

It's curious to me to wonder where the art is in my case. Is it the AI? Is it my sentence? Did it happen earlier in the dream?

Also, lol, open to art not being any of those things, but enjoying the ai and enjoying the new medium/ideas.

[pshaw_raven]

My personal feeling is that, if you came up with the idea, figured out the prompts and keywords, and did the work of refining and generating the images, you're the artist. I don't think making pictures should necessarily be limited to people with an ability to draw. I mean, I've got a friend who can't draw at all, and would like to be able to, because he gets lots of ideas for images. So AI generators have been a really big boost for him.