Mediocrity Parading as the New Standard 

Solid take on this Tim!

It’s hard being an artist at the moment. Being a jeweller and seeing work like mine that’s a fraction of the price on places like SHEIN makes me incredibly anxious. I look up to artists who do what I do successfully without giving up creativity or integrity and it gives me hope.

I think part of the problem is that a lot of aspiring artists fall into the trap of thinking they have to fit into a box. And in a way - they do - if they want to get hired at one of those art factory places like Disney, Blizzard etc. Even in the art advice space on youtube and elsewhere, the talk is often all about portfolio getting you a specific job. You are advised to cater your portfolio and style to one company. It's about reaching a certain "standard" devoid of personal style that fits into a production pipeline. Some people may excel in that environment but chasing that in my early 20s really took the joy out of art for me and I still struggle with making stuff that may be outside of that "professional portfolio". I think to a certain this is an additional facet as to why AI is so disheartening for younger artists. They are trained to get away from too much uniqueness in their style as it makes them less 'employable' but then AI comes along and does exactly what they struggle towards a thousand times faster - polished commercialised art ( if you ignore the hands). Ai confronts some artists with the fact that maybe their art has inadvertently also become somewhat void of personality.

I think we live now in the age of fast fashion, fast beauty, fast trends, fast art. Everythings gotta be quick, short, easily digestable and eye-catching but not too weird.

This really said a lot of what I have been feeling, but struggled to put into words. In the early 2010s I LOVED that I had direct access to the process and inspirations of artists I liked. A few years later I loved that I had an audience for my personal work and community of other artists that I would not have otherwise had after I left art school and spent my 9-5 in a GD position. I still love the community aspect of artists on social media, but the stranglehold of the ever changing algorithm has really soured most of my feeling for insta or any other platforms. A mass exodus of artists would be really refreshing. I know many artists rely on a social media following for income though and I can't fault anyone for figuring out how to support themselves with art. It seems like all of us recognize the problem and hate participating, but also feel helpless to change the situation. It doesn't help that many people make it look so effortless. I really appreciate your candor.

One part of this video that rang especially true for me is the point about how some artists get to a certain point, find success there, and then sort of stagnate. I have seen people's work who at the time I felt was incredibly new and fresh, but they haven't progressed at all in the decade since I discovered them. I love seeing the ways a favorite artist will grow and change over time. Also, to the point about drawing what we want vs what sells... I literally never know what will sell. The pieces that have the most reach for me seem to be the ones where I got frustrated at life and said "eff it, I'm gonna do whatever I want." I have never found any modicum of "success" by following the crowd, and there is incredible freedom and bucking the norm.

At the core, the issue is that our society has been promoting over-consumption of all kinds and that eventually reflects onto the art world. Add to that algorithms are meant to find what is trending and push only that, and we're left with either staying true to ourselves and becoming invisible or playing the game and doing crap. We can't win. It's a tragedy because it's pushing artists to do the same stuff over and over again, instead of doing something that is uniquely them.

this video came to me at a perfect time. I´ve been recently struggling with "disliking" my art, and thinking about what makes great art. Because while there is no denying that on a technical level my art is great and people in my art community call me "art god" and take me as their inspiration, I personally feel dissatisfied with where my art is at. It feels a bit hollow, lifeless, restricted. Like the realism is holding me back. I want my art to be more expressive, free, painterly... I´ve decided to drop the fear of what everyone else thinks about my art, and that if I change direction they will dislike it... cos that is bullshit and useless. So when my wrist stops being painful, I´m going to experiment with my art, explore all the directions I could take it. I just ordered myself a guache set, because I miss doing traditional art, and I love painting with oils, but sadly the prep time and drying time required makes me not pick it up. So I hope that guache will be the perfect mix between the painterly joy of oil and the ease of digital also the thing you said about older art having a higher standard... well, the professional art for sure. But we only have that left. We cannot see what the average artist was painting like, or even their evolution from beginners, because a lot of that was lost and we only have the big, fancy and expensive, the "worth protecting". these days you can see what the average artist draws like, as the internet is full of artists sharing their work. That can easily make it seem like there were only great artists in the past. People aren´t born great artists, they develop to be them

Really appreciate you posting this Tim. You always bring a calm, level-headed, and earnest perspective to these things. Even your "hot-takes" come off cool and composed. ;) It feels like in the last 4ish years Artists/Illustrators on these media platforms are really suffering and being done a disservice- by the media platforms themselves. We're a small fraction of the Instagram landscape as a whole- and that application isn't being designed for us or the type of content we produce. The way that our pieces just "die" after we post them feels wrong, an image used to live on for years. We still share and gush about old work the artists we look up to did decades ago- but we don't expect that same perspective on our own work or the work of our peers. As we warp our art making practice to be more and more like "content" things seem to be getting worse for us. But we're such a small community overall- we need to be on these platforms to actually reach our audiences (if that's important to us), so I don't see a great alternative. I had no idea your engagement was so poorly received by your followers, it was a special and very memorable thing to experience (even just para-socially through the internet.) Wishing you all the best.

i feel this 100%. im one of those people who never thought they could draw bc i wasnt born with --the talent--, but fanart helped me overcome that. and now i feel like i cant escape fanart/like i dont have time to develop my own original stuff bc the candy of drawing my faves is sweeter than the healthy brocolli of coming up with my own stuff lol but i hope to get there some day, and hopefully others will too, and we'll stop regurgitating the same stuff over and over

This is exactly how I've been feeling. There's been so many times I've felt pressured to change my style and start doing gimmicky videos in order to go "viral". I just think the algorithm doesn't really serve artists like it used to and the general population isn't interested in most art. I felt that the most when ppl started posting their AI generated self portraits so carelessly. I just thought about how they could have commissioned the abundance of ready and able artists on the internet. Now I'm doing my best to not attach my self worth to the attention I get on social media.

That very post of your engagement moved me to tears, to the point I even sent it to a few of my friends to show how some people are just so radiantly beautiful and inspiring. So no, social media is in no way a mirror of reality, it's the most fake thing that exists. It can be helpful, but it needs to be engaged with carefully, because it's extremely easy to get lost in it.

Tim, thanks for that video. I am a tattoo artist and I found myself just recently trapped in this whole social media labirynth full of mediocrity and themes being reworked over and over. And I just realised how much time I need to spend to try to stay relevant just to take care of myself and my wife. It is kinda depressing to realise we live in an algorythm-driven narrative but your videos gives me hope or power at least to maybe evaluate my life again.

I'm very grateful for this video and its topics. Your opening up about your engagement really messed me up, and was a very good lesson. That is kind of strange and surreal. I'm really fighting back trying to not sell out or cater but the pressure and empty fridge, and climbing rent and what that means for the immediate future means to me is frustrating. I just want to make enough to eat or have basic things like health insurance. I'm trying to learn in urgency. I started at the worst time, studios firing, AI being embraced by consumers etc. And I'm trying not to feed into my victim complex here. It's just interesting timing. Also, The "social media training us to become producers" was wildly accurate in how I feel about the landscape

love this! I love your calmness, in the way you put across your opinions. I am lucky in that I do not need to draw for a livelihood; I only draw and put up my own personal pieces as and when. So the pressure is lesser

I agree with everything you said and I think one of the big problems too is that the "Art world " has re-bloomed since the beginning of Covid yet the public who's buying art or viewing it aren't for the most part educated/aware of the different modes or ways Art is being generated. AI art IMO is just a refined version of digital art that seems to have become fairly accepted. This to me never sat well. Digital art does require imagination but I call it "The lazy Artist Platform" and I say that from the experience of creating digital art. I am not a digital artist and instead I am a multimedia artist. Its all about education!

Beautifully said!!

Just found your channel. One of the things I wish was mentioned is that so much art feels like its made more for viewing on a cellphone (or computer screen) and maybe we've forgotten that art can be lived with in our lives (whether that be in a book or on a wall or something else). Maybe this is why illustrators seem to do so much better on social media than 'fine artists'? Not trying to bring up old arguments dividing illustration and fine art, but maybe theres something we can regain by asking what is art as an object itself rather than an image on a screen.

I fell into the algorithm for a bit. I was trying to keep up with the numbers and was producing art pieces too much and too fast. Honestly, I didn't feel like they meant something since I was drawing for the sake of producing.... I'm glad I pulled myself out of that rut. Thank you for posting this video. It shows that others have similar thoughts.

“We’re in the commercialism movement” that’s a great take, I totally see that, unfortunately.

I havn't watched one of your video's in some time. I have to say this topic grabbed my attention and was a delight to watch! This is a great thread to persue.

This addressed everything I’ve been feeling. Thank you. I hope this gets more people talking

started sharing stuff on yt and insta this year and it sure can get in your head - the constant anxiety about numbers. so have to work towards having time limits while using these apps and just make the type of art i enjoy and practice at own pace. however it's not easy at all.

Thank you for this video.Very great take and very collected! I have been telling these very same things to people, and some of these are reasons why I started pulling out from my area's art scene. Same, safe artworks everywhere and when something is slightly off and challenging, as you said, it gets thrown out , overlooked etc, because people want to see pretty, naive art. Once again, that is my area. But I start seeing this a lot everywhere too. And when someone mentions it or talks about it, that person gets stamped as jealous and insecure. "The pretty art with the flowers do better boohoo" when it is not the case at all. And in the end, if you don't have the numbers, you don't know the game. :\ Very sad!

thanks friend, this video voiced everything that's been on my mind and bothering me the past few months

thank you so much for the video!! the topic is one I think about a lot, yet find myself again and again in the same traps of social media... will reconsider a lot now... thank you^^

Thank you so much for this video! This inspired me and put me back on track with my art work. ❤

This is the most inspiring video I have seen for years ! Thank you so much for sharing yours thoughts !

Hi Timothy! I've only just discovered your channel and this video, so my comment is probably too late, but I still wanted to thank you for making this video. I've only just started posting my art online and despite promising myself I wouldn't let the numbers get to me, I'm already feeling the self-imposed pressure you are describing. I entered the online art community hoping to find like-minded people to connect with, but have been overwhelmingly met with an atmosphere of competition: the competition for attention. Fortunately, once in a while, I find a gem like this video and I regain my belief that there are people out there who feel the same way and are looking for a similar sense of connection. I'm so sorry you had to go through some bad experiences to help you get back to feeling happy and passionate about what you want to create instead of what you think you need to create, but I'm happy you found your way back. I feel like this video has given me the insight and courage to keep pursuing what I envisioned all along instead of giving in to the pressure to enter the rat race. So I wanted to thank you. Also, I think your art is breathtaking! It definitely has the soul you are describing. I'm looking forward to seeing more art and discussions from you in the future. Cheers!

Definitely feel this. I've been drawing my whole life but recently I've been much more serious about it, and it makes me question what the future really holds. Is there a point in continuing to post it? Is social media warping my ideas towards my own art? Is there even a point in pursuing what I love for the sake of it, when the reality is that art takes a lot of time and I still have a life to maintain? I think the current state of the art world doesn't just harm those who are already in it, but any prospective artists too. I'm more involved in local art communities now, people who don't have social media and who still create art without much worry of appealing to an algorithm. But of course, if you want to make a life out of it, then you have to toe the gossamer thread between using social media as a tool and having social media negatively affect you. Honestly, feels less possible than ever these days, because if you don't fit into the box, then your art isn't seen. I think this video is so important, and I sincerely hope that more people start to talk about it. The point about how social media reception can influence your own feelings on art (or anything else that might be shared!) cannot be repeated enough. It's a shame that you either have a thick skin or risk having the reception of the faceless many potentially sour your own feelings towards your art. I've found that it's more difficult to be exposed to a variety of art too, as if the pool of subjects and styles grows smaller. All by design, I suppose. I don't see a way out of it, but I'm worried about the future. Thank you for making this video!!

Thank you so much for this video. As someone who is just starting out on her artistic journey (at 50, lol), I feel the pressure to post more and create content to gain followers and to “fit in”. I’m fighting imposter syndrome but am extremely lucky to be surrounded by amazing supportive artists where I live. The local small gallery that I have been a member of for 2 years is giving me a solo exhibition this year and I am so excited! I’m still trying to find my voice as an artist, well, honestly still trying to find which medium even! I just want to say that I absolutely love your art, and am grateful for artists like you who aren’t afraid to share your struggles. It really helps those of us starting out to know that we aren’t alone, and inspires us to keep pushing forward to do what we love and create for ourselves rather than the almighty algorithm.

Thank you so much for this video, I really needed this now! ❤️ I am in the start up of following my artistic path and my dream of becoming an artist, after having put the pens and paints away for my whole adult life and concentrating on education and work in an other direction, house and family... A few years ago I decided to start painting and drawing again but got ever increasing health problems which put a stop to that. Now I finally have my health back and all this new energy to put into my art and as I see my work more clearly I want to paint a lot more details, explore different mediums, do more whimsical artpieces and so on, but almost everyone tells me to try and create faster, not to make it so difficult and "tinker" with details. I try to tell them "but that's the kind of artist I want to be", but do feel the pressure of producing both for people around me and for social media. Thank you for puting words to my feelings and giving me strength to continue on my own path! I can't tell you how much that means. 🤗💕

Tim, I relate to this video on a deep level. Thank you for sharing! You are such an inspiration!

I'm very sorry to hear about the reaction of your engagement Tim, that is truly disgusting but well done on figuring it out. Nicely talked out video.

I can't even pick a point I like the most, I resonate with so much of what you've said. I'm trying to grow my presence online and find an audience so I can profit - but it's hard not to despair in the process. I'm trying to find a balance between the joy of creation and the chore of marketing myself. I have been trying to consider my following, and the people I follow, as potential connections, maybe even friends. Pushing myself to be more extroverted, leaving genuine comments and messages, really trying to bring some humanity back into the whole experience. It's extra difficult wading through all of the other distractions and ads in your face online. But at the end of the day I stick to creating art that feels like a part of myself, rather than a part of the machine. I hope some day I can take your other advice on the 5 sources of revenue!

Love this topics, really interesting to see how art and its meaning have changed so drastically in recent years

I feel the frustration! It's not about good art anymore especially with the shift to videos. It's just about churning out 5 sec videos that are addictive but have no depth. My art isn't even being seen anymore by new people because I still prefer still images.

I enjoyed listening to your perspective on this

I completely understand what you're saying, and I agree!! I honestly do not bother myself with worrying about the algorithm, but then again i am a housewife and do not have to rely on my art income, and I have very few followers lol. I think theres a balance in there, I am a fan of great inspiring art AND seeing "satisfying" process videos of them set to catchy songs 😂 so im gonna keep trying to do that myself, even with my sparse posting and possibly overly detailed art. It would be nice to be successful on social media but I think i would be physically unable to create something gimmicky for mindless consumption. I honestly think that non-artists enjoy seeing simplistic mediocre art done in novel ways, new art supplies being opened and tested, etc. Its more exciting and relatable for them, its probably somewhat overwhelming to see exquisitely rendered images being made, but for artists this is the most exciting.

Really interesting thoughts in here. I'm really enjoying making videos of my art for my channel, but it's so tempting to give in and be more entertaining than art focused. I am a silly person by nature, so I'm trying to just embrace that aspect of my personality when posting anything on socials. I did start posting reels and shorts, which made me feel like a sell out at first, but...again, I'm trying to just let myself have fun with it. I am very careful to only make art that I care about, though. And if reels and shorts get my art in front of a few more people who might actually care about it? Awesome. Marketing is part of being an artist, if you want to make a living at it. If social media isn't a thing that works for someone, there ARE other ways! That's also something I've been thinking about lately. Thank you for the video!

You are lovely btw. Those eyes! 😍 Also, this is a great take on these ideas and It's reassuring to see someone talking about it.

I really feel what you say about the struggle between drawing what we want/drawing what will sells. As a growing artist, still trying to find my voice, but still aiming to making some living out of it some day, and practicing to do so, it is sooooooo hard. I always drew girls since I'm a kid because that was the kind of art I would always see, and today I'm so sick of it. I know this isn't me, it's easy, but it is not what I want to do. Like there's so many things I want to paint, and I know that I won't be able to produce anything with the quality I want soon because of the lack of knowledge, and that it will never match today's market. The pressure to produce fast even though I just can't is really ruining everything, and holding me back. Like you said, I'm thinking of the next piece instead of having fun with the one i'm doing. Always with this voice "I haven't posted anything for so long, I need to finish this." It really feels like I'll never be able to make a living out of art and have the opportunity to invest myself fully in it without having to work aside, until I reach fifty years old or get in line with the others.

For a time I tried to do things to grow, to see what's trending or what's working for others. But it made me miserable because I didn't paint the things I really wanted but things I hoped would perform. I couldn't do it and quite frankly I'm far too lazy to try to keep up with trends and to do stuff I don't enjoy (unless I really, really have to). Now I paint and draw, what I feel like in the moment and what makes me happy. If it makes others happy as well then that's wonderful and I always hope to make people smile. But if not...at least I'm happy with it. Art is not only my job but it's also selfcare. All my personal art is now something I enjoy. Does that sometimes mean, that an artwork is laying untouched for 2 years till I finish it? Unfortunately yes. But I'm done with trying to force myself to work on something I'm stuck on just to finish it. Does this make my artstyle and themes sometimes a bit random? Yeah, so what... My art may not be unique and it's quite simple...but it brings me joy. :)

This is something I needed to hear. I get a lot of pressure to do fan art or adhere to the algorithm and it leaves me feeling completely drained. This reminds me of what I consider to be the greatest hope against AI art. I believe that is our quintessential need for what can never be explained. I feel bad for people that wish to see the man behind the curtain when they have the ability to BE him. Btw your proposal pic was amazing!

"Commercialism" gets at the problem but slightly misses the mark, IMO. Most art throughout history has had a commercial element. Some of my personal favorite art comes from commissioned adverts such as Mucha. The greats of the Renaissance and other eras were funded by private patrons on commission not to mention the Church. Loomis in his 1940s introductory and still widely used books on drawing wrote specifically to the aspiring artist *who wishes to make it a career, a matter of income, a profession* rather than some bleeding soul The problem seems to be "Consumerism" in the modern mass sense. Art is, as you say, often just "content" to be moved in the pipeline. Images created to get views on social media, or to optimize print sales at a con. Its like tableware. In the past it was sturdy, a source of pride if one could afford a good set, and a display of aesthetic taste. Now there's much disposable, cheap, quickly used and discarded, functional, wasteful, convenient. It's the sheer massness and speed which work has to churn through, plus the ability for anyone to share their work with the internet that produces this problem so there's no escape I don't see.

Hi. First time watching your videos as I've just found out your youtube channel! To begin with, let me just say it was a great joy to listen to you and to discover that I'm not alone in thinking that most of the art on social media is content rather than art. Many of it is amazing content, but made to comfort hashtags rand trends or rather coming from a heart. I often find myself comparing to others and getting frustrated over my progress. I'm really thinking of taking a break from social media. Already deleted Facebook permanently. I'll definitely read all the comments under this video cause I'm very interested in what people have to say. On a personal note, I think that the way forward for art is becoming fully independent and creating personal pieces, rather than fighting over positions in corpo shit environments. Too all reading (and not) I wish great success and personal satisfaction regardless your goals :) PS. Also, this is the longest comment I've ever left under a video on YT, but i was really great. Thanks again!

I completely agree with you, I learned to take my own time for my art, or else I hate it and can't enjoy it... I used to try to draw every day, but with a full-time job + trying to be an adult = mental health destroyed (I suffer from depression and have adhd since forever...) I'd rather spend a long time on an artwork and be happy with it than do something to please others for likes.

Oh I can't handle social media at all, although I do sometimes post on Instagram. I can't even handle having more than 3 tabs open, how am I supposed to handle multiple social media accounts, advertise myself, analyse user retention, update my website, do finances, have a full time job, do taxes, draw, plan, etc. I love technology but sometimes I just can't help but fantasize about buying some cheap plot somewhere, producing my own food, and drawing to my heart's content.

I love this brother...

This video literally made me tear up due to the sad truth of our future becoming more tangible.

I use to create art based on the praise/clicks I would receive. I've reached the point now where I paint for myself and if others like it that's GREAT!!! but that's not my main motivation for creating anymore!

Outcome independent, true art is.

It's wild bc i was literally looking into this topic when i got this notification. I'm going to be experimenting more with my sketching after I've felt a few months of hollow influence on my work. I need to get a little space from the money aspect. Im not interested in the quality over quantity aspect, my sales aren't great but i refuse to go down that route, i can't keep churning content out and influencer culture needs to stop making people into productions. I'm going to go back to nonart stuff to pay the bills till I'm more sure of my style. Ppl like the familiarity of brands and it stifles my ability to try new things. Ps. Is there a platform for artists that focuses more on critique / quality / process / etc? Like a slow living pinterest lol. Something where you don't need to sign a monetary value and can be anonish Pps. I'm upset on your behalf that ppl unfollowed you over the ren Faire couple stuff it was so sweet!

I also like Gustav Dore's style, he has interesting works that make you see reality from another perspective, regards...

I haven't finished the video yet, but I have thoughts I need to put down so I don't forget to. So far I'm enjoying your talking points, but I have to disagree with the premise of your argument. Whenever I hear someone say that "this thing is bad/mediocre/too pandering nowadays", I think of my recent rereading of Plato's Allegory of the Cave (I'm not a stuffy philosophy person, but was forced to read this). In it, Plato says a lot of "kids these days" things, particularly noting guys who stand around "debating" simply to argue and to "win" at debating, who then call themselves philosophers while they are nothing of the sort. Plato complains that in the old days, those guys didn't exist. But considering those debate bros are still around and we all still complain about them, I am convinced that they were *always* around, and Plato was noticing them more as he got older, because when he was younger he could only see the great philosophers who predated him. I bring this up because I think this is the case whenever we start to talk about "media/art/people these days." We are experiencing survivorship bias- looking behind us, we see only what has survived. But looking around us in the present, we see everything from every, whether it's going to survive into the future or not. There have been millions of mediocre artists, whether professional or hobbyist, who have been forgotten through the centuries because they were mediocre, or their art was uncredited commercial work, or they simply made art for themselves in their free time. Meanwhile, we look to the greats because they were so skilled and deserve to be remembered. No one is watching any summer flicks from 1977 that broke even and were critically panned- no one remembers them! They're watching Star Wars, one of the biggest blockbusters of all time that brought scifi to the forefront of our cultural awareness. You bring up Disney remakes, but who will revisit them in 20, 30 years? No one; most people won't have seen them, and there'll be a new face of mediocrity for someone to point at. (Though, none of this is to say that soulless art hasn't been visible before; look at Thomas Kinkade, for example. But I think a lot of that falls to him being as much an businessman as artist). To be honest, I just get a kneejerk reaction when I hear this kind of argument, because it feels shortsighted to me. Everyone in the past wasn't great. Most of them *were* mediocre. Everyone else just didn't see it because we weren't all posting to social media at all skill levels and having an algorithm pick up the most pandering, crowd pleasing pieces and putting them in front of us constantly. All that said, I definitely agree with you that social media and algorithms are making this issue *worse*. Someone who may once have been content being a hobbyist, happily making amateur art for their own enjoyment, now feels the need to get engagement. The hit of attention really is addictive, even if you never posted your art with that intention. It's true of all areas; social media is ruining the way we interact with any hobby, with people, and with the world. Despite my previous anti-"people these days" stance, the type of interaction we get with social media is not comparable with anything we've had before, and it is making people crave likes and simply churn out content in order to get them. Do I think that's their fault, necessarily? Not really. These platforms are engineered to play our brains like that. Again, I haven't finished the video (going to right away!) so I don't know where you go with these points, but I think the platforms, rather than the people, need to change. Behavior will follow that. And we also need to learn about survivorship bias so we don't sound like 80 year old men when we're in our 30s yelling about going uphill both ways.

You're speakin' my language ~

This reminds me of the Situationist International and Baudrillard. I agree. But I feel like I’ve developed a style and because of all the content I just want to create botanical illustrations which is very to the point. I just need to make them accurate.

As a tattoo artist on instagram I feel it. I have way more followers than I deserve, I think, no idea why... And I always feel this pressure to be relevant, to be an influencer, a content creator, a videographer and social media expert. But I just want to draw designs and do tattoos in peace.

Only a few are lucky enough to be able to make a living as an artist because of their own unique style and that's the truth. When I see what sells at artist alleys (excluding fanart), it is cute animals, cute girls, familiar things you have seen a dozen times, or styles that are very mainstream, but we can't change what people like, we can't force people to like our unique voice. If mediocrity isn't based on skill level, I can't see an artist successfully selling to the mainstream as mediocre. The goal of every artist is to make a living off their art, right? Or you'd just be a hobbyist hanging your drawings on your fridge or posting to a private account for your friends and be content with that. A person who can live off their art isn't mediocre to me.

what you're describing is the monetization of art by capitalism!

100%

Unfortunately, if you're looking to make money from your art through social media it can be harder and even counterproductive to not follow trends 24/7. Just leave social media then right, but because of its potential to show you to so many people it can be a lucrative tool. Idk just the thoughts of someone thinking of making art into a career. Time to starve 🤨

people are comertialising their art in order to provide a stable income that will allow them to do art all the time. people want to be able to provide themselves and their family a living with their art. social media made it more possible now than ever. if it means they have to cater to the audience to reach their goials so be it. in every creative industry the plight is the same. most chefs hate making fast food but they do it because it will provide enough income and allow them to spend some time creating art they are passionate about too instead of being rigid and not compromising and suffering as a consequence. not everyone is top tear artist like yourself. not everyone is a michelin star chef. even us cooks deserve to do what we like as a living and if it means 70% of the time baking / painting doughnuts - so be it. doughnuts it is.

It does frustrate me to hear people describe what comes out of AI as "their art", when really AI art is commissioned art. You are not creating it, you are giving criteria to be used for a commission. In a way, you are commissioning all the artists whose work was used to train the AI (but without getting their permission or benefiting them in any way).

I don't believe this issue is as present in the art world offline. I've recently been to a gallery and was struck by the profound and deliberate ugliness of the abstract work that was exhibited there. To my tastes, made soft by years of consuming homogenized online content, it was repulsive. Yet here they were, wall upon wall of impasto wounds, in the lurid colors of disease and injury forcing viewers to strive to see something of value in it by virtue of where it was displayed. I could not deny that it was art because it was making me think and feel things effortlessly. I do not experience that online. Is the answer you're looking for possibly to move to more offline art circles?

Everything is rather bleak and mediocre these days. People will chase clicks cause that’s what their environment is. The best thing to do is keep it out of sight and out of mind when doing anything.

in a way you can blame advertising for this churn out art quickly. the demographics they are after 18-35 yo, they have figured have a short attention span so you have to grab their attention by flashy flashy . the same with art. if one takes weeks or months to make a piece to the level YOU want viewers get bored and move on so hence the rush to crank out art AI can make art, it cannot CREATE art. by make I refer to making a cake. AI grabs a bit of this, a bit of that a dash of this other and spits out the results. Artist know the cake they want to make but are missing an ingredient and they can shift and/or substitute, getting creative. AI cannot do this, at least in for seeable future for the record I am 66, never had any art classes and am just beginning my artistic voyage as I head into retirement next year. I wlil have time to learn as it is just me an my cat, Jon Snow