I do have a suggestion! You should find a pencil and piece of paper, and start ~~drawing~~. Or, find an artist to commission, and avoid supporting the AI craze built on theft.
Hope this helped!
No, snarky comments rarely help. I wish I could draw - I really do. I have 0 talent for that. I can see clearly in my head what I want and can describe it to artists, but I cannot get it on paper. As far as finding an artist, I will do that if I ever go to get stuff published. More than happy to pay someone who is talented, or split profits with them, but for my homebrew items I don't have time for that.
I do have a suggestion! You should find a pencil and piece of paper, and start ~~drawing~~. Or, find an artist to commission, and avoid supporting the AI craze built on theft.
Hope this helped!
No, snarky comments rarely help. I wish I could draw - I really do. I have 0 talent for that. I can see clearly in my head what I want and can describe it to artists, but I cannot get it on paper. As far as finding an artist, I will do that if I ever go to get stuff published. More than happy to pay someone who is talented, or split profits with them, but for my homebrew items I don't have time for that.
I think if it is for personal use and you don't plan to distribute or sell the image or products created with the images I think this is acceptable, I would still argue that you would be better served by learning to draw and drawing the items yourself but so long as you are not distributing the images and it is for your own personal table then I do see this as an acceptable use of AI generated images.
However if it is part of a work you plan to sell or distribute online I do think you should be drawing the items yourself or at least commissioning an artist to do it for you. I know it isn't illegal to use AI generated artwork but the way I look at it is if you use AI generated artwork in the products you sell then you can't really complain when the AI starts replacing your job. I know we probably can't stop AI generated artwork and scripts from being used by greedy corporations who only care about money but I do think we should try to resist it as hard as we can and support artworks made by people instead of products made by an algorithm.
That said I kind of hate seeing people say that they cannot draw, drawing just like anything is a skill you cultivate and is easily something you can learn if you are willing to put a little bit of effort into, lots of Youtube videos that will teach the fundamentals as well as more advanced concepts and even places like Udemy that have drawing courses for a small fee, if you don't really care that much about drawing or don't really have the time to devote to learning and have other priorities that is fine but if you truly do want to be able to draw then there is nothing stopping you from learning, sure your initial drawings will probably suck but in the wise words of Jake the Dog...........
I do have a suggestion! You should find a pencil and piece of paper, and start ~~drawing~~. Or, find an artist to commission, and avoid supporting the AI craze built on theft.
Hope this helped!
No, snarky comments rarely help. I wish I could draw - I really do. I have 0 talent for that. I can see clearly in my head what I want and can describe it to artists, but I cannot get it on paper. As far as finding an artist, I will do that if I ever go to get stuff published. More than happy to pay someone who is talented, or split profits with them, but for my homebrew items I don't have time for that.
I think if it is for personal use and you don't plan to distribute or sell the image or products created with the images I think this is acceptable, I would still argue that you would be better served by learning to draw and drawing the items yourself but so long as you are not distributing the images and it is for your own personal table then I do see this as an acceptable use of AI generated images.
However if it is part of a work you plan to sell or distribute online I do think you should be drawing the items yourself or at least commissioning an artist to do it for you. I know it isn't illegal to use AI generated artwork but the way I look at it is if you use AI generated artwork in the products you sell then you can't really complain when the AI starts replacing your job. I know we probably can't stop AI generated artwork and scripts from being used by greedy corporations who only care about money but I do think we should try to resist it as hard as we can and support artworks made by people instead of products made by an algorithm.
That said I kind of hate seeing people say that they cannot draw, drawing just like anything is a skill you cultivate and is easily something you can learn if you are willing to put a little bit of effort into, lots of Youtube videos that will teach the fundamentals as well as more advanced concepts and even places like Udemy that have drawing courses for a small fee, if you don't really care that much about drawing or don't really have the time to devote to learning and have other priorities that is fine but if you truly do want to be able to draw then there is nothing stopping you from learning, sure your initial drawings will probably suck but in the wise words of Jake the Dog...........
I agree with what you are saying about AI and I definitely would not want to use it for anything I wanted to sell. And sure, everything is a skill, but saying that in no way means someone can become good at it. Yes, it is a skill, but there will always be a limit to the skills people have. There are videos showing how to be a good basketball player - that doesn't mean I can be one just by constant practicing.
I do have a suggestion! You should find a pencil and piece of paper, and start ~~drawing~~. Or, find an artist to commission, and avoid supporting the AI craze built on theft.
Hope this helped!
No, snarky comments rarely help. I wish I could draw - I really do. I have 0 talent for that. I can see clearly in my head what I want and can describe it to artists, but I cannot get it on paper. As far as finding an artist, I will do that if I ever go to get stuff published. More than happy to pay someone who is talented, or split profits with them, but for my homebrew items I don't have time for that.
I think if it is for personal use and you don't plan to distribute or sell the image or products created with the images I think this is acceptable, I would still argue that you would be better served by learning to draw and drawing the items yourself but so long as you are not distributing the images and it is for your own personal table then I do see this as an acceptable use of AI generated images.
However if it is part of a work you plan to sell or distribute online I do think you should be drawing the items yourself or at least commissioning an artist to do it for you. I know it isn't illegal to use AI generated artwork but the way I look at it is if you use AI generated artwork in the products you sell then you can't really complain when the AI starts replacing your job. I know we probably can't stop AI generated artwork and scripts from being used by greedy corporations who only care about money but I do think we should try to resist it as hard as we can and support artworks made by people instead of products made by an algorithm.
That said I kind of hate seeing people say that they cannot draw, drawing just like anything is a skill you cultivate and is easily something you can learn if you are willing to put a little bit of effort into, lots of Youtube videos that will teach the fundamentals as well as more advanced concepts and even places like Udemy that have drawing courses for a small fee, if you don't really care that much about drawing or don't really have the time to devote to learning and have other priorities that is fine but if you truly do want to be able to draw then there is nothing stopping you from learning, sure your initial drawings will probably suck but in the wise words of Jake the Dog...........
I agree with what you are saying about AI and I definitely would not want to use it for anything I wanted to sell. And sure, everything is a skill, but saying that in now way means someone can become good at it. Yes, it is a skill, but there will always be a limit to the skills people have. There are videos showing how to be a good basketball player - that doesn't mean I can be one just by constant practicing.
Well with Basketball you would have to work out and train your body as well as constant practice, but unless you have some sort of physical condition that prevents you from playing basketball you can become better at basketball if you are willing to put the work in, of course it would be incredibly hard to reach NBA levels and few honestly do but learning to play basketball to a decent level is not out of reach for most people.
It is the same for drawing which I would say is probably even more accessible for most people than basketball if they are willing to learn. It is all about studying form, shape and anatomy, training your eye to see things differently and training your hand to do smoother strokes and learning how to quickly measure things with your eye. start with basic shapes, cubes, cylinders and spheres then blend those shapes together to create new shapes, it is why you see so many paintings of bowls of fruit, it is because the bowl of fruit has a lot of different shapes and textures that you can practice with. Saying you can't do something and can't learn to do it is just an excuse not to try and you have already defeated yourself at the first hurdle, now I can understand if learning to draw just isn't a priority and there are other things you would rather do but I don't think you should stop yourself from trying by telling yourself that there is no way that you can learn.
Use AI art as much as you want, you will have your own reasons and as long as you are not breaking any laws theres no problem with it.
Except for the moral issues that AI art steals from artists to “create” its art, and then steals from them again by hurting their business.
And you are absolutely right. No sarcasm, I agree with you. But since AI tools already exist and people are already using them, many may not be interested in paying money when everyone around is making art for free. This is everyone's personal choice.
I do have a suggestion! You should find a pencil and piece of paper, and start ~~drawing~~. Or, find an artist to commission, and avoid supporting the AI craze built on theft.
Hope this helped!
No, snarky comments rarely help. I wish I could draw - I really do. I have 0 talent for that. I can see clearly in my head what I want and can describe it to artists, but I cannot get it on paper. As far as finding an artist, I will do that if I ever go to get stuff published. More than happy to pay someone who is talented, or split profits with them, but for my homebrew items I don't have time for that.
I think if it is for personal use and you don't plan to distribute or sell the image or products created with the images I think this is acceptable, I would still argue that you would be better served by learning to draw and drawing the items yourself but so long as you are not distributing the images and it is for your own personal table then I do see this as an acceptable use of AI generated images.
However if it is part of a work you plan to sell or distribute online I do think you should be drawing the items yourself or at least commissioning an artist to do it for you. I know it isn't illegal to use AI generated artwork but the way I look at it is if you use AI generated artwork in the products you sell then you can't really complain when the AI starts replacing your job. I know we probably can't stop AI generated artwork and scripts from being used by greedy corporations who only care about money but I do think we should try to resist it as hard as we can and support artworks made by people instead of products made by an algorithm.
That said I kind of hate seeing people say that they cannot draw, drawing just like anything is a skill you cultivate and is easily something you can learn if you are willing to put a little bit of effort into, lots of Youtube videos that will teach the fundamentals as well as more advanced concepts and even places like Udemy that have drawing courses for a small fee, if you don't really care that much about drawing or don't really have the time to devote to learning and have other priorities that is fine but if you truly do want to be able to draw then there is nothing stopping you from learning, sure your initial drawings will probably suck but in the wise words of Jake the Dog...........
I agree with what you are saying about AI and I definitely would not want to use it for anything I wanted to sell. And sure, everything is a skill, but saying that in now way means someone can become good at it. Yes, it is a skill, but there will always be a limit to the skills people have. There are videos showing how to be a good basketball player - that doesn't mean I can be one just by constant practicing.
Well with Basketball you would have to work out and train your body as well as constant practice, but unless you have some sort of physical condition that prevents you from playing basketball you can become better at basketball if you are willing to put the work in, of course it would be incredibly hard to reach NBA levels and few honestly do but learning to play basketball to a decent level is not out of reach for most people.
It is the same for drawing which I would say is probably even more accessible for most people than basketball if they are willing to learn. It is all about studying form, shape and anatomy, training your eye to see things differently and training your hand to do smoother strokes and learning how to quickly measure things with your eye. start with basic shapes, cubes, cylinders and spheres then blend those shapes together to create new shapes, it is why you see so many paintings of bowls of fruit, it is because the bowl of fruit has a lot of different shapes and textures that you can practice with. Saying you can't do something and can't learn to do it is just an excuse not to try and you have already defeated yourself at the first hurdle, now I can understand if learning to draw just isn't a priority and there are other things you would rather do but I don't think you should stop yourself from trying by telling yourself that there is no way that you can learn.
And you presume I have not done any of those things. I realized long ago that I would never be an artist that way. My mindset doesn't work that way, nor does my hand-eye coordination. Not worth the amount of time it would take for me to draw some mediocre-at-best artwork that I would never send out on anything I wanted to sell, and most likely would not even use it internally to my group. My skill set is my knowledge of sci-fi/fantasy, mythology, medieval history, and my ability to research the heck out of anything I want to write.
My first publications used AI artwork, and I subsequently made the moral decision to use my own, significantly less polished looking artwork for my projects.
There will be people who feel strongly about the AI art stuff, as we all will when someone inevitably makes an AI homebrew content creator which uses everyone's stuff on DMs Guild to make it for significantly less time investment than our creations. It is important both to realise that there are very few laws governing AI art (except the monkey selfie photograph based ruling that no-one can own an image that was not created by a human) and that any ruling we make is based on our own morals.
Basically, it's important that people know that AI art is not creative, its amalgamative - it takes other peoples art and cleverly mixes it together to make something coherent. It both takes (theft or not) from the artists to create its own images, and then takes from them again by reducing the demand for artists.
My original plan was to use AI art until I had some funds to pay for an artist. Now I am using my own art, until I either can afford a decent artist, or I get decent.
Would you define stealing in this context? From what I have learned, every artist is inspired by other artists and is influenced by their work. In fact, many artists may even copy the work they are inspired by to help them learn and develop their own style. AI is no different in this regard.
The process of learning through imitation has been fundamental to artistic growth for centuries. Aspiring painters often replicate the works of the masters to understand technique. Musicians study and incorporate elements from past compositions into their own. Writers draw from literature that came before them to shape their voice. These practices are not seen as theft but rather as essential steps in the creative journey. AI operates in a similar way—it is trained on vast datasets of images, learning from them to generate something new.
The process of learning through imitation has been fundamental to artistic growth for centuries. Aspiring painters often replicate the works of the masters to understand technique. Musicians study and incorporate elements from past compositions into their own. Writers draw from literature that came before them to shape their voice. These practices are not seen as theft but rather as essential steps in the creative journey. AI operates in a similar way—it is trained on vast datasets of images, learning from them to generate something new.
This is especially true today, when most of the songs that are released are just the same beat/tune with new lyrics. Your favorite artists are probably not original, in the slightest, about their beats. VERY rare to hear a beat that is actually original or imaginative. Same with art - everything that can be drawn has been drawn. No two ways about it. If you've thought it, someone has drawn it, I guarantee it.
Another thing I want people to be acutely aware of is these two facts:
Commissioning artists is either cheap and not the style you want or the style you want but more than you care to pay for art (especially when that artwork is simply a full body illustration of your character with no background). I've been quoted from $80 USD all the way to $800 USD. That's a MASSIVE range and that's for ONE character.
Most artists you find online have queues/other projects. You probably won't get your art any time soon. Rarely are people going to want to wait for art. If you're playing a game system, like D&D, and you're trying to get art, it's because you have an immediate/very quick turnaround need for your character/campaign. The same is true with maps. There are lots of Patreon Creators who make maps. The more known the artist, the longer the wait time for art. I saw one artist's schedule that was booked through July of 2026. That's insane. I'm not waiting a year and a half for art that won't matter by then.
AI is a good baseline. It's not perfect, nor do I think we'd ever want it to be. But saying that "you shouldn't use art because it takes away jobs" is like saying we shouldn't use any of our heavy machinery for mass production of goods because it takes away jobs. Machines improve the process. Sometimes they're the whole process (like Hershey's chocolate). That's just a fact of life. You're delusional if you pretend like it's not.
For what it's worth, if people are still curious - Wonder creates some pretty decent art. It does screw up on things like fingers and multi-layered clothing sometimes (like cloaks looking like they have 2 tails), but it is good enough to play a campaign until you either a) can afford an artist or b) can find an artist who is available.
Let's also be honest with ourselves - are you really commissioning art for every single new character? What if you have a bunch of one shots with new characters, do they all have commissioned art? That could be thousands of dollars every few months just for art that is basically throw away art. That's insanity. What if you are a DM who wants some long lived NPCs - are you commissioning art for all of them too? Are you waiting potentially months to start your campaign because the artist you want is busy with your art and 20 other art pieces?
Also, asking people to commission art is like telling Chefs they have to work with other chefs to learn how to cook. Don't use any online recipes, don't use any recipes books, don't hoard your secrets. That's insanity.
AI is a good baseline. It's not perfect, nor do I think we'd ever want it to be. But saying that "you shouldn't use art because it takes away jobs" is like saying we shouldn't use any of our heavy machinery for mass production of goods because it takes away jobs. Machines improve the process. Sometimes they're the whole process (like Hershey's chocolate). That's just a fact of life. You're delusional if you pretend like it's not.
Well it isn't so much that it takes away jobs but more there is no creative input or skill in it's use, you just type in a prompt and the AI generates something, I really don't think you should be using AI generated assets in something you intend to sell for profit.
Let's also be honest with ourselves - are you really commissioning art for every single new character? What if you have a bunch of one shots with new characters, do they all have commissioned art? That could be thousands of dollars every few months just for art that is basically throw away art. That's insanity. What if you are a DM who wants some long lived NPCs - are you commissioning art for all of them too? Are you waiting potentially months to start your campaign because the artist you want is busy with your art and 20 other art pieces?
Generally I go to other sources for my character images but if it is for your own personal Dungeons and Dragons game with friends I dont see as much of an issue with using AI
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Use AI art as much as you want, you will have your own reasons and as long as you are not breaking any laws theres no problem with it.
No, snarky comments rarely help. I wish I could draw - I really do. I have 0 talent for that. I can see clearly in my head what I want and can describe it to artists, but I cannot get it on paper. As far as finding an artist, I will do that if I ever go to get stuff published. More than happy to pay someone who is talented, or split profits with them, but for my homebrew items I don't have time for that.
I agree, absolutely logical idea.
Except for the moral issues that AI art steals from artists to “create” its art, and then steals from them again by hurting their business.
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I think if it is for personal use and you don't plan to distribute or sell the image or products created with the images I think this is acceptable, I would still argue that you would be better served by learning to draw and drawing the items yourself but so long as you are not distributing the images and it is for your own personal table then I do see this as an acceptable use of AI generated images.
However if it is part of a work you plan to sell or distribute online I do think you should be drawing the items yourself or at least commissioning an artist to do it for you. I know it isn't illegal to use AI generated artwork but the way I look at it is if you use AI generated artwork in the products you sell then you can't really complain when the AI starts replacing your job. I know we probably can't stop AI generated artwork and scripts from being used by greedy corporations who only care about money but I do think we should try to resist it as hard as we can and support artworks made by people instead of products made by an algorithm.
That said I kind of hate seeing people say that they cannot draw, drawing just like anything is a skill you cultivate and is easily something you can learn if you are willing to put a little bit of effort into, lots of Youtube videos that will teach the fundamentals as well as more advanced concepts and even places like Udemy that have drawing courses for a small fee, if you don't really care that much about drawing or don't really have the time to devote to learning and have other priorities that is fine but if you truly do want to be able to draw then there is nothing stopping you from learning, sure your initial drawings will probably suck but in the wise words of Jake the Dog...........
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu8YiTeU9XU
I agree with what you are saying about AI and I definitely would not want to use it for anything I wanted to sell. And sure, everything is a skill, but saying that in no way means someone can become good at it. Yes, it is a skill, but there will always be a limit to the skills people have. There are videos showing how to be a good basketball player - that doesn't mean I can be one just by constant practicing.
Well with Basketball you would have to work out and train your body as well as constant practice, but unless you have some sort of physical condition that prevents you from playing basketball you can become better at basketball if you are willing to put the work in, of course it would be incredibly hard to reach NBA levels and few honestly do but learning to play basketball to a decent level is not out of reach for most people.
It is the same for drawing which I would say is probably even more accessible for most people than basketball if they are willing to learn. It is all about studying form, shape and anatomy, training your eye to see things differently and training your hand to do smoother strokes and learning how to quickly measure things with your eye. start with basic shapes, cubes, cylinders and spheres then blend those shapes together to create new shapes, it is why you see so many paintings of bowls of fruit, it is because the bowl of fruit has a lot of different shapes and textures that you can practice with. Saying you can't do something and can't learn to do it is just an excuse not to try and you have already defeated yourself at the first hurdle, now I can understand if learning to draw just isn't a priority and there are other things you would rather do but I don't think you should stop yourself from trying by telling yourself that there is no way that you can learn.
And you are absolutely right. No sarcasm, I agree with you. But since AI tools already exist and people are already using them, many may not be interested in paying money when everyone around is making art for free. This is everyone's personal choice.
And you presume I have not done any of those things. I realized long ago that I would never be an artist that way. My mindset doesn't work that way, nor does my hand-eye coordination. Not worth the amount of time it would take for me to draw some mediocre-at-best artwork that I would never send out on anything I wanted to sell, and most likely would not even use it internally to my group. My skill set is my knowledge of sci-fi/fantasy, mythology, medieval history, and my ability to research the heck out of anything I want to write.
My first publications used AI artwork, and I subsequently made the moral decision to use my own, significantly less polished looking artwork for my projects.
There will be people who feel strongly about the AI art stuff, as we all will when someone inevitably makes an AI homebrew content creator which uses everyone's stuff on DMs Guild to make it for significantly less time investment than our creations. It is important both to realise that there are very few laws governing AI art (except the monkey selfie photograph based ruling that no-one can own an image that was not created by a human) and that any ruling we make is based on our own morals.
Basically, it's important that people know that AI art is not creative, its amalgamative - it takes other peoples art and cleverly mixes it together to make something coherent. It both takes (theft or not) from the artists to create its own images, and then takes from them again by reducing the demand for artists.
My original plan was to use AI art until I had some funds to pay for an artist. Now I am using my own art, until I either can afford a decent artist, or I get decent.
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I've had great luck with Midjourney. Below are some cool lizardmen and the prompts I used to generate them.
/imagine lizardman --s 50 --niji 5 --style expressive
/imagine Lizard warrior comic book action pose --niji 5
Don't listen to the haters... AI art is awesome if you know what choices to make.
Would you define stealing in this context? From what I have learned, every artist is inspired by other artists and is influenced by their work. In fact, many artists may even copy the work they are inspired by to help them learn and develop their own style. AI is no different in this regard.
The process of learning through imitation has been fundamental to artistic growth for centuries. Aspiring painters often replicate the works of the masters to understand technique. Musicians study and incorporate elements from past compositions into their own. Writers draw from literature that came before them to shape their voice. These practices are not seen as theft but rather as essential steps in the creative journey. AI operates in a similar way—it is trained on vast datasets of images, learning from them to generate something new.
This is especially true today, when most of the songs that are released are just the same beat/tune with new lyrics. Your favorite artists are probably not original, in the slightest, about their beats. VERY rare to hear a beat that is actually original or imaginative. Same with art - everything that can be drawn has been drawn. No two ways about it. If you've thought it, someone has drawn it, I guarantee it.
Another thing I want people to be acutely aware of is these two facts:
AI is a good baseline. It's not perfect, nor do I think we'd ever want it to be. But saying that "you shouldn't use art because it takes away jobs" is like saying we shouldn't use any of our heavy machinery for mass production of goods because it takes away jobs. Machines improve the process. Sometimes they're the whole process (like Hershey's chocolate). That's just a fact of life. You're delusional if you pretend like it's not.
For what it's worth, if people are still curious - Wonder creates some pretty decent art. It does screw up on things like fingers and multi-layered clothing sometimes (like cloaks looking like they have 2 tails), but it is good enough to play a campaign until you either a) can afford an artist or b) can find an artist who is available.
Let's also be honest with ourselves - are you really commissioning art for every single new character? What if you have a bunch of one shots with new characters, do they all have commissioned art? That could be thousands of dollars every few months just for art that is basically throw away art. That's insanity. What if you are a DM who wants some long lived NPCs - are you commissioning art for all of them too? Are you waiting potentially months to start your campaign because the artist you want is busy with your art and 20 other art pieces?
Also, asking people to commission art is like telling Chefs they have to work with other chefs to learn how to cook. Don't use any online recipes, don't use any recipes books, don't hoard your secrets. That's insanity.
</rant>
Well it isn't so much that it takes away jobs but more there is no creative input or skill in it's use, you just type in a prompt and the AI generates something, I really don't think you should be using AI generated assets in something you intend to sell for profit.
Generally I go to other sources for my character images but if it is for your own personal Dungeons and Dragons game with friends I dont see as much of an issue with using AI