Autumn Logic

 

Getting used to the new Affinity by Canva by designing a new wallpaper for my phone home screen. Conclusion - It's the same but different. I am not interested in the Canva side of things but liked Affinity as an affordable alternative to PhotoShop. The saying goes 'If it's free then you are the product' meaning they, the tech companies want everything from you. Friends, family, pets, habits, income, likes, dislikes, if there was a way to collect your soul there would be a team dedicated to it. I talked about the social media contract being broken at the start of the year and why I opted out. Signing up to a company with huge Ai investment feels like all bureaucracy, dull and a little bit evil.

 

I installed and uninstalled the software three times vowing never to use it again and stick with my paid for Affinity 2 programs, my main concern is the data collection and ai training. Checked out what other users were saying on Reddit and YouTube and the consensus is, enjoy it for now but features will be paid for in the future. Yes, I am using the Affinity Canva software but I live in hope that someone will come up behind and supply a digital studio that just does the simple things without the pervy intrusions.

Oh... Hello Krita.

I spent the start of this year using a computer, Affinity software and a graphics tablet to create my comic art work but I fell apart again, concerned that I was relying on using Ai to generate compositions. Like a chocolate addiction it starts out manageable but ends up very quickly becoming addictive, unhealthy, time consuming and... for what? I can't remember who said it in a YouTube essay (it may have been Sam at Artloud) where he said something along the lines of 'What if someone mentions what they like about your work, and you know that you used ai to make that particular part. How would you feel?' and that struck me hard.

My response to this. I have spent the last few months going back to basics and drawing freehand with a brush pen on reams of A4 copier paper, I am getting better at it. The time is right to not work for anyone but myself in a way that excites me. Brian Thompson (Drawn Alive) expounds the benefits of working with a particular tool and not overthinking what you are trying to draw. I think there is a skill to doing that but it is a skill that can be learnt. I have used Pilot Parallel Pens in the past and find them empowering but also limiting in that there are now a few artists that have adopted them, and the work does look similar. The black ink brush pen allows for lots of exploration and variety in mark making and is unpredictable and vague and precise and frightening all in equal parts.

Chuffin' Billy sketch

A vampire and his cat

Parallel Pen and brush exercise

Parallel Pen exercise - just draw without thinking!