INTRODUCTION:
Im an artist on instagram and follow and support small artists because they deserve their work to be seen!
HOWEVER I have a feeling that this artist is generating AI images, and then printing them to trace them over with pen. They have around 4K followers. (I covered their name and signature to protect their privacy)
I don’t want to support AI art, but at the same time I’m confused and I’m not sure if it is or not (that’s why I need your help).
I also wouldn’t want to stop supporting an artist thinking they use AI when they actually don’t.
WHAT MAKES ME THINK IT’S AI:
Image 1: as soon as I saw it, it really gave me AI vibes. The composition…idk, it looks AI-ish. The sign is super weird, and the confetti sometimes looks warped and weird. An artist would never choose to make them look like that in some specific spots.
Image 2: same drawing, zoomed on the sign. What the hell is that?? It looks like that standard AI font. Also the quality of the writing looks different from the parts in ink…as if they retraced the drawing with ink but then didn’t trace over the writing.
Image 3: The drawing feels like something AI would come up with, and also (idk if it’s something instagram does) but it literally says AI???
Image 4: Posted today and it’s what prompted me to make this post. I love and adore Jack Skellington and that is NOT how his bowtie looks. The rest is right, so I don’t feel like an artist would make the conscious choice of drawing it like that. I feel like the AI got confused and just gave him a normal tie, and a dress shirt(???) and then added the side-thingies to the jacket.
Image 5: this is a screenshot from a video they posted of them drawing with ink over what I think they’re passing out as a sketch…but if you look closely you can see it looks printed out. It has that halftone printing effect (yk, the dots)
Image 6: It again feels like AI…the texture is very weird.
I hate we even have to go through this…AI is taking away artist’s jobs and as an artist you really shouldn’t be using it…
If you could help me figure this out, I would be so grateful🫶
UPDATE (October 17)
I ended up texting them to ask them directly and kindly and they essentially answered me that their drawings are handmade by them using traditional ink and paper. They sometimes use Pinterest for inspiration when they experience art block. Although they occasionally use AI, it’s only to enhance photos of their artwork so they better reflect the original pieces, and to help write captions. They do not use AI to create the drawings themselves.
I don’t know if that’s believable