I hope you've all had a lovely weekend.

It's been a hot minute. It took a while to realize just how negative the impact of AI has been on my psyche. Not just art--which, for the record, I don't view what I do with 3D as art, per se, but rather I make my story characters from other people's art. Those people being all of you who generate beautiful assets for the rest of us to use. That may change as I side-eye both Blender and Linux as blossoming possibilities in my near future.

I used to use Pinterest for a lot of inspiration. Mostly because I suffer some amount of Aphantasia and find it difficult to visualize what I imagine. I know, it seems counterintuitive, but imagination and visualization are different beasts. Hawks and sparrows. I have a writer friend who can't seem to wrap his head around the idea: "But you can 'see' the things I describe just fine."

I can't. I use memory and association. So, I relied on places like Pinterest for visual references. Combating ads sucked. Horribly. At least my private boards seemed to be ad-free, so accumulate enough of those and I could skate through, pick a castle, a geographical location, or a person, and boom. Instant access to details. Then the only challenge is picking the right words to convey those details.

AI-slop ruined my Pinterest feed. Gradually, real faces were replaced with a cookie-cutter sameness that slowly dampened my perception. Real geographical locations became AI composites of nowhere, or anywhere, and with little real-world beauty. Sure, some of the generated images were colorful enough and fantastical enough to be interesting, but only on a surface level. As an artist, I NEED depth and diversity. In writing as well as what limited 3D art I attempt. Hell, I need diversity in my life because no matter how tasty it is, vanilla is effin' BORING. Especially after weeks on repeat. (I make fabulous vanilla extract, btw. Just sayin'.)

I lamented my Pinterest woes to another writer friend and she pointed me to the settings in Pinterest where I could shut down AI content. It's not perfect, but after a few days REAL faces began to bubble up in my feed. Craggy, aging faces. Faces with imperfections like wrinkles, thin lips, and asymmetrical eyes. Actors and actresses without filters applied (well, unless you count Botox). Actual art and places across the world arrived, too.

Buy a purple car. Wear a rainbow-colored shirt. Turn off the filters. Be an individual; embrace your diversity. (Discovering the AI gallery here largely just collects cobwebs lifts the spirit.)

In the meantime, I'ma keep chasing the elusive characters that fill my head with their stories. This is my attempt to find Farro in a cross between Tom Sturridge (as Dream / Lord Morpheus in the Sandman) mated with Timothée Chalamet (as Paul Atreides in Dune). Not quite there yet, but which do you like better? Also, my attempts at flaws end in disastrous, goon-like montages, but I'm hopeful. Farro's supposed to be pretty, but I have some guys that need to be gritty.

Have a beautiful week.

Eve