The value of human art

Weekly letter #37: On AI, and the future for human creativity.

Hi there!

The robin and the blackbird have started singing. Spring is officially here. 🥳

I still can’t believe I’ve become a spring person, having been one of those moody autumn types all my life. (I still love autum, but that love’s been tainted by the realities of living on the countryside. Fly invasions, mice in the attic, and some-such… )

But as a bird lover, you can’t not love spring. I go all March and early April, waiting, listening. The birds are there, getting more visible and active, but they’re still quiet. And then, as if on a silent command, they all start singing.

I keep tabs on when I first hear and see my favorite birds, and these past few weeks have been busy. The forest is eagerly chirping and warbling. I recorded this bit last night, after sundown:

Can you hear the song thrush? 😍

Needless to say, I’m feeling better than I have in a long while. I’m eating better, having less pain and more energy, feeling calmer and more at peace, more cheerful.

And I’m drawing again!

To be honest, I've had a bit of a dark night of the soul with my art practice lately. I don’t know how much of it has been about the AI art thing, and how much has been me and my (possibly) hormonally-induced angst.

For over a month, I've used my studio desk space to lay jigsaw puzzles instead of painting. I’ve made a few attempts at watercolors but have stopped half-way through because it’s felt pointless and…not fun.

But then a few weeks ago, I was lying on the floor after a long session of yin yoga and suddenly felt an inexplicable urge to paint. Regardless of the supposed pointlessness of it. Wether or not anyone ever buys it or looks at it. I just needed to feel the paper underneath my pencil or brush. Feel the thrill of learning a physical skill, of creating something with my hands. Was I really going to let anyone - anything - take that from me?

Admittedly, a lot of my anxiety has been about AI. I’m still coming to terms with what’s going on in the world. Trying to find a way to be fine, no matter what happens.

I watched these two videos by Adam Duff - a person I normally go to for sane and calm advice - but this time I didn’t agree with him. Instead, I found myself agreeing with most of the top commenters on the videos. I don’t think it’s fair to compare the advent of 3D and digital art tools to what’s happening with AI. This is much bigger, much more disruptive, not to mention exploitative. I don’t think it’s fair to ask artists to simply “adapt”. How many of us are willing to write prompts into a text box instead of using our imagination and our hands? How many of us are fine with outsourcing away even more of our labour, hard-earned skills, (and income), to machines and their greedy corporate keepers? I get that these tools can be used by creatives, for inspiration and brainstorming. I get that they’re not replacements. But where do we draw the line? And how are human creatives treated and valued in the process? I for one am not touching the stuff until we have some firm boundaries, protections and regulations.

Adapting to AI, as it looks right now, is not the answer. Protests, lawsuits, and some damn common sense are.

Like this commenter wrote on this video:

“I'm adapting by appreciating art made by actual human beings even more than before. That's all the adapting I'll be doing.”

I choose to believe that this will serve as an important wake-up call for humanity. Soon, the hype hysteria and fear mongering will pass, we will write new laws, and hopefully put this technology to better use in the areas where it’s really needed, like in medicine and medical research.

I choose to believe that this will all work out eventually. We have too many smart people on the planet for blind greed and idiocy to prevail. And in the end, I do believe real art - human art and stories - will become even more valued and appreciated in the end. We are already seeing a movement away from cheap, fast, large-scale, automated, environmentally destructive consumerism and a growing preference for small, local, ethical, and artisinal kinds of products and services. This development will only speed up that transition. Sometimes, things need to get worse before they can get better.

What would the world look like in a few years if everyone of us just stopped making art, stopped writing stories, and just laid jigsaw puzzles instead? We have a responsibility. Not just towards ourselves and our mental, spiritual, creative wellbeing, but towards the world. We can’t let these technologies erode our culture, a culture that’s been around for millennia, and without which these AI tools wouldn’t even exist in the first place.

Let’s all just keep breathing and making exciting plans for the future. Let’s keep painting, drawing and telling stories. We’ll be fine.

Here’s what I’ve been drawing lately:

All references from this account.

I’ve hit a new stride with my portraits. Don’t know how that happened, since I hadn’t practiced in months. But all of a sudden, I just had a new looseness in my strokes that I love.

This is what I’ve been aiming for. Exactly this level of realism and looseness. There’s still lots of room for improvement of course, but I feel like I’ve unlocked something I struggled to find before. And they’re so fun to make!

My next course will probably be one about portraits in charcoal and pan pastel. I’ve started practicing and filming some demos, thinking about how best to teach this skill. But I’m going to take my time. My focus right now lies with the novel I’m half-way through drafting. I’m hoping it’ll be ready for release before summer, IF I can maintain some discipline and focus…

That’s it for now. I hope you’re well and enjoying spring, or whatever season it is in your part of the world. 😊 

With love,

---

Some favorite things:

• I’m playing Hogwarts Legacy.

  Here’s my young fifth-grader witch:

I named her Wilhelmina Twigfiddle, in true Harry Potter fashion. She’s a Ravenclaw. This game is my new evenings and weekends treat. Loving it, so far. Mostly for the environments. I get to wander around the enormous campus, looking at paintings and sculptures, and having tea with the other students. Oh and learning spells, defeating trolls, and saving everyone, as per ususal. 😜

• Dramatic title aside, I found this piece very intriguing, and oddly comforting:

The internet is already over

"Things will survive in proportion to how well they’ve managed to insulate themselves from the internet and its demands. The Financial Times will outlive the Guardian. Paintings will outlive NFTs. Print magazines will outlive Substack. You will, if you play your cards right, outlive me. If anything interesting ever happens again, it will not be online. You will not get it delivered to your inbox. It will not have a podcast. This machine has never produced anything of note, and it never will."

• This article, by Rebecca Solnit.

  A hopeful perspective on climate change? From someone who's not deluded and/or mad? You can bet I bought the book right away and am currently reading it. Stay tuned for a review.

• This guest post by Farrah Storr on The Hyphen that spoke directly to me. (Who else here struggles with internalized capitalism?)

"Being mediocre sets you free"

"A hobby? The very word felt mediocre. Pointless. I used to roll my eyes at people whose dinner party conversation started with: ‘So, have any hobbies?’ Who has hobbies, I used to think. Who has the time? Pursuing something for the express purpose of pleasure alone seemed so wasteful. Human potential dashed by a packet of drawing crayons."

• Oh and have you seen the new Notes function in Substack? I don’t really know what to do with it. I’ve weaned myself off this type of social sharing, so starting again, no matter how optimal the environment, just feels weird. I’ll think about it. 😅 But I love that it exists. Check it out if you’ve been looking for a less toxic alternative to Twitter or Instagram.