Why it’s important to ask a simple question. Who is the artist?

While I normally like to keep my posts positive and upbeat this week I noticed a small local business selling homeware products with North East landmark artwork on. Now, I’m well aware that many artists, myself included, reproduce their own artwork onto products as a way of creating additional income streams. There’s nothing wrong with that at all. 

BUT what did give me the ick was that this particular business wasn't being transparent about who the artist is that they were working with or where that artwork was coming from.  Now ask yourself, why would you hide the name of the artist you have chosen to work with?

Reading their comments online not one person asked the question. Who is the artist? And this made me wonder if people even cared! 

So I’m writing this purely as an educational post to raise awareness of why it is really important to care about the authenticity of the artwork and why it’s important to ask the simple question. Who is the Artist?  

In a world flooded with AI art, the consumer needs to be fully informed about what it is they are actually buying and what impact that has on real living working artists like myself. Because every sale of an AI piece of art is the nail in a real artist's coffin.

So what is AI art? 

AI art is generated from 1000’s of images gathered from the internet often without knowledge or permission from the original real life artist. These images are used to train and replicate the look, style and ideas of an artist to create new AI generated artwork for free in seconds.  

Now as an artist who has actually put paint to paper, I can spot AI art a mile off. But to the undiscerning eye you could easily be fooled by it.    

Why is AI art bad for real artists?

Well here's my personal take on this. I’ve trained for 4 years at art school and taken 28 years of learning and developing my style and steadily grown my business. How on earth can I compete with artwork which is created for free in seconds on a computer by someone with no morals, no creativity or skill of their own? The competitive playing field is no longer level.  

Real art takes passion, inspiration, creativity, ideas, skills and time to make. Every painting I do I research, I visit the scene, I observe,  I walk through the landscape, I feel the emotion, I sketch in my sketchbook and snap pictures on my phone.  Ideas and compositions evolve and a finished painting is made by my own hands, my paintbrush and my own imagination. 

For artists like me who rely on the sale of original artwork and the publication of products, prints and cards and licensing,  my human efforts can quickly and easily be undercut by very cheap AI artwork and I’m pretty sad about this.  

Why you shouldn't want AI artwork in your home? 

What you display in your home says a lot about who you are and what you support. Have you heard of the term AI slop and do you want it in your home? 

My lovely customers here at the gallery are proud to display my paintings and homeware in their interiors, as a showcase of their passion for the North East and their love of supporting and buying from a real living artist based here and for those people I am eternally grateful.  

Now can you imagine finding out you’ve unknowingly purchased a piece of AI imagery?  This is where I feel transparency is important and that products made with AI art should be labeled as such, so you the consumer can make an informed choice. 

While AI might currently be the exciting new thing, buying AI artwork has so many negatives. Here are just a few more to consider.

• AI holds Zero financial value. You are not going to find an AI print on the Antiques Road Show further down the line. It’s not an investment.

• The original creator of the style and source of the artwork doesn't receive credit or money when AI copies their style.

• You are supporting theft as big and small companies exploit creators by using AI to mass produce poor quality reproductions.  

• Poor image quality, take a closer look as AI images have flaws and lack the depth you would get from a real brush stroke. 

• If a business chooses to use AI Artwork that's a commission or job lost for a real life working artist. A business could choose to work with and pay a real person for their skills instead.

• AI imagery has a massive environmental cost to the planet as data centres require fossil fuels and vast amounts of water.  Read more about that here. 

* Above you'll see an image of the original painting which I've have digitally printed onto fabric and made into a lampshade. I share pictures like this to show my customers the creative journey of each piece, that it's authentic and from my own work.  

So when you buy a piece of art, a product, a cushion, a lampshade, a greetings card, a print…..anything with an image on. It really is important to ask 

Who is the artist?