StutleyConstable

I have recently been reminded that people do not answer questions anymore. The last time I was made aware of this was when I was building my power hammer. I had one simple question regarding the spring needed for the linkage and it took me TWO YEARS of people telling me stories about how they built their power hammers and various other adventures before I finally backed someone into a corner and got a straight answer.

This time, I asked for recommendations on novels I could read in order to do some style research for a story I am working on. I figured a group with an interest in a particular subject would be able to make such recommendations. I mean, I was asking for the TITLES of books I could go out and read. A very simple request. What do I get instead? "You need to outline your story before you start." "You should write the story from the POV of X." "You need to build slowly to the climax." "You need to have a bunch of clues." There were more suggestions but only three of the recommendations I requested and two of those were useless because they were not the kind of novel I need for the research. It's like the people just jumped in and started making suggestions without actually reading the request, or perhaps they ignored it. I have no doubt they wanted to be helpful, but they weren't at all.

It is just very frustrating, and I cannot understand why people seem to do this every time I request information forums or groups.

I don't work much in digital art these days. I look at a bunch of it, though. Seems nearly impossible to scroll through a search on any art website without seeing digital work, even when I specify 'sculpture'. Not sure how 3D models fit in the sculpture category, but that's a different matter. Anyway, AI artwork is ridiculously common. I still don't know how I feel about it. There are a ton of opinions as to whether it is "the best thing ever" or "pure evil". Neither seems to be the case. This debate makes me wonder how artists felt when photography began, though.

Back in the days before cameras were mass produced, painters painted, sculptors sculpted, and illustrators illustrated. I know there is more to it than that, but you see my meaning. Artists worked with their hands and minds to create works people could admire and enjoy. Along came photographs and suddenly, anyone with an eye for composition could turn out beautiful black and white prints. They could make as many of them as people wanted, too. That had to upset some artists, though I'm sure it hardly impacted them. As the science and art of photography progressed, some folks experimented in their darkrooms and began manipulating images with techniques like double exposure, burning and dodging, forced perspective and even colorization. There were more techniques, but again, you see what I mean. Photographers no longer simply recorded images. They began creating them as well.

I don't use AI anything, so I have very little knowledge of what it takes to create an AI image. I assume the person using AI has to tell the software what they want the end result to look like. Beyond that, I don't know. What I wonder, though, is why don't they take the image and run it through Photoshop or a similar program and clean up the numerous mistakes I see?

Usually, AI messes up fingers and toes. I've seen several images with serious mistakes in shadows that suggest weird musculature in different parts of the body. I've seen ears that just look wrong. Like they're some flap of flesh plastered to the side of the subject's head. I've seen pieces of clothing or equipment that make no sense in any way with how they are attached or even what they are intended to be.

If you are an actual artist and not some know-nothing hack, why are you not putting your AI images through editing software to eliminate these silly discrepancies? A hand with two fingers and five nubs is not that difficult to fix with Photoshop. Sure, it could take some time to do it right, but it can be done. The extra time spent correcting these issues would 100% set you apart from the folks who are just throwing [poo] against the wall and raking in all the views and sometimes the cash. Be an artist and not a hack. CRAFT your images. Don't just throw [poo] against the wall. Anyone can do that.

I just made a note to myself on my bathroom mirror. It reads "Even if it's wrong, DO IT!" I put this up there because I realized the other day that I have been entirely too wound up in getting things right the first time. I've been too concerned with little, tiny details of process, wanting the final product to be perfect. The result is a crawling pace in completing anything.

I get interrupted left and right, pulled away from my workbench and delayed on a daily basis and when I get back to work, I go over the details and waste even more time trying to determine if I got those details right before I allow myself to continue. This is not a tenable situation. With all the interruptions, I cannot concentrate and screwing around with insignificant details that nobody other than me will ever notice takes the enjoyment out of making things. This detail-oriented process also results in a lack of "happy accidents" that lend character to my pieces. It can stifle discovery, too. By working out every detail and trying to stick to the plan, I discover only what I already know. Making mistakes is vital to learning and I have been so obsessed with getting things right, I have not been paying enough attention to what goes wrong. Maybe I get a texture I did not want. I eliminate that texture and forget about it. But what if I could use that texture on another project? I have to rediscover how to create it all over again.

I wrote that note to myself to remind me every time I look in the mirror that perfect is the enemy of good enough and delays and interruptions are the bane of creativity. Momentum is essential to maintain a positive attitude towards my work. I can't keep people from interrupting me, but I can prevent myself from getting bogged down in self-imposed restrictions of process.

1st Thing: I don't want your butt in my face.

2nd Thing: Get off the keyboard.

3rd Thing: Leave my water alone.

4th Thing: Don't go in there.

5th Thing: I told you not to go in there!

6th Thing: What are you chewing on?

7th Thing: Oh GOD! Why are you chewing on that? No! No! Get out of there!

8th Thing: Jeeeeezz... Now I got to buy a new one.

9th Thing: Hey! No wrestling on me. Wrestle somewhere else.

10th Thing: You are the best cats.

Over the past year or so I have had many of my pieces favorited. I used to be pleased to see someone liked my work well enough to add it to their favorites gallery. I always preferred a comment to a favorite, but favorites were okay. Then I started checking to see what company my art was keeping in those galleries. A few pieces were alongside works of a similar nature. MOST were stuck between manga drawings of outlandishly proportioned characters and landscape photos of rising or setting suns. Or they might have a crayon drawing done by a proud five year old on one side and a rather unsavory, very adult oriented 3D model on the other. A professionally done, high end furniture piece to the left and a color pencil drawing of a dog done in the back of a text book to the right.

I'm slow on the uptake but I can see through a brick wall if I look at it long enough. It dawned on me that the peculiarly eclectic galleries were just slapped together from whatever the account owner came across. Examining a few more such galleries I realized there was no human guidance behind them. They were and usually still are BOTs. Personally, I have no notion why anyone would create a bot account to randomly favorite art on DA. It makes no sense. It helps no one. It does not even gather real data as far as I can tell. The only thing it does do is give false feedback that can easily be shrugged off with a simple inspection of the gallery. Hell, most of the favorites I have gotten lately, the account folds within a day.

Bottom line - If you decide to favorite one of my piece, please understand I will not be sending you a thank you or an emoji or anything else. Favorites mean nothing at this stage. You want to make me feel better about my art? Leave an actual comment. You want to help make my art better? Critique one of my pieces. Before doing so, though, you really need to review the definition of that term. I promise, if you critique one of my pieces, I will take the time to critique one of yours.