As summer draws to a close, I find myself missing the ocean more than ever.

The lighting was nice today, and I was finally able to photo my wooden class charms and add them to my etsy! So let me present all 12 PHB classes + blood hunter, artificer, multiclasser, and, of course, the illustrious dungeon master. ✨ [shop link]

LUCKY PENNY color edition by Hirsh, Ota, and Hagerty (Oni, 2022)

Really love the color edition of LUCKY PENNY that came out a couple of months ago. @ananthhirsh and @aidosaur crafted an incredibly charming cast of characters with a really strong grasp of tone (and escalation thereof), complimented and complemented by @introspectres’ gorgeous colors.

Thank you so much for your kind words!

thinking about drows’ relationship with stars

While this is not Essek Criticalrole, my necromancer would love to have his identity mistaken for someone else so he could continue to commit atrocities with impunity. Thank you for serving his dark agenda.

Things my lvl 17 barbarian has collected: exp, better clothes, ill-thought-out bargains with the fae. At least they have a big heart to make up for it.

“AI art isn’t real art” boring, pedantic, relies on defining the undefinable and an ever changing goalpost of what Real Art is.

“AI art is fueled by massive art theft” correct, concrete demonstration of the harm it’s doing to actual human beings and not just the nebulous concept of Art Itself.

I felt the need to share here as well—

Say no to AI art. Please read before commenting. Fan art is cute, putting my art into a parasite machine, without my consent, and throwing up horrifying monsters back at me is not.

We are not fighting technology in this AI fight. We are fighting for ethics. How do I say this clearer? Our stuff gets stolen all the time, we get it, but it is not an excuse to normalize the current conditions of AI art.

These datasets have >>EXACT<< copies of artists’ works and these parasites just profit off the work of others with zero repercussion. No one cares how “careful” you are with your text prompts when the data can still output blatant copies of artists’ work without their permission. And people will do this unknowingly since these programs are so highly accessible now. There are even independent datasets that take from just a handful of artists, that don’t share what artists’ works they use, and create blatant copies of existing work. There’s even private medical records being leaked. Why do you think music is still hard to just fully recreate with AI in comparison? It’s because organizations like the RIAA protect music artists. Visual artists just want similar protection. So, wonderfully for us, Concept Art Association has started working towards the steps of protecting artists and making this an ethical practice. I highly suggest if you care about art, please support. Link to their gofundme here. One small step at a time will make living as an artist today less jarring. Artists will not just sit and cope while we continue to get walked on. For those who apparently do not get it, it is about CONSENT. Again, the datasets contain EXACT copies of artist work without our permission. Even if you use it “correctly” there’s still a chance it’s going to create blatant rip offs. This fight is about not letting these techbros take and take and take for profit just because they can while ignoring the possible harm and consequences of it. This is just ol’ fashioned imperialist behavior with a new hat and WE SEE IT. Thanks for reading!!! Much love!

Here’s the link again to support the gofundme.

There’s a protest going on against AI art over on artstation, so I feel like now is the time for me to make a statement on this issue! 

I wholeheartedly support the ongoing protest against AI art. Why? Because my artwork is included in the datasets used to train these image generators without my consent. I get zero compensation for the use of my art, even though these image generators cost money to use, and are a commercial product. 

Musicians are not being treated the same way. Stability has a music generator that only uses royalty free music in their dataset. Their words: “Because diffusion models are prone to memorization and overfitting, releasing a model trained on copyrighted data could potentially result in legal issues.” Why is the work of visual artists being treated differently?

Many have compared image generators to human artists seeking out inspiration. Those two are not the same. My art is literally being fed into these generators through the datasets, and spat back out of a program that has no inherent sense of what is respectful to artists. As long as my art is literally integrated into the system used to create the images, it is commercial use of my art without my consent.

Until there is an ethically sourced database that compensates artists for the use of their images, I am against AI art. I also think platforms should do everything they can to prevent scraping of their content for these databases. 

Artists, speak out against this predatory practice! Our art should not be exploited without our consent, and we deserve to be compensated when our art is exploited for commercial use. 

Realized I never posted my divine soul sorcerer aasimar! His divinity is melting him from the inside out :)

i just wanted to clarify some things

artists know the risk they are taking when they post their art online. people are inevitably going to take it apart, color edit it, flip it around or otherwise post it uncredited.

saying that an artist shouldn’t post their work if they don’t want it bastardized is probably the stupidest stance on this subject you could take. if all artists followed this line of reasoning, there would be no art on the internet. 

when an artist posts their work, they are trusting you to enjoy it respectfully. and when you betray that trust either knowingly or unknowingly, it’s like saying the artist’s time, skills and thoughts aren’t worth anything.

you are NOT entitled to an artists work just because they decided to trust you enough to share it with you.

an artist is within their right to feel upset that someone has used their work in a way they never intended it to be used. they are within their right to ask for it to stop and not happen again.

just because it’s “bound to happen” doesn’t mean it’s any less deplorable.

also, there’s a legal basis behind this, too.  if i can recall the copyright law correctly, the moment someone makes and then posts a piece of creative work under their own title, it is copyrighted to them with all rights reserved, unless they state otherwise (such as not requiring credit, or putting it under creative commons).  so stealing it and calling it your own is literally stealing and punishable by law, if the artist chooses to pursue it or you refuse to take down the stolen art.  food for thought.

From a stack of digital files to bookshelves near you, Lucky Penny is now officially out in a glorious color edition with colors tasty enough to eat!* Art by @aidosaur & written by @ananthhirsh [Bookshop Link]

(*) please do not eat this book

Look at how juicy these colors turned out!!!! 😍🍽

Hey everyone, if you want a really good slice of life/romance comic, Lucky Penny is tons of fun.

From a stack of digital files to bookshelves near you, Lucky Penny is now officially out in a glorious color edition with colors tasty enough to eat!* Art by @aidosaur & written by @ananthhirsh [Bookshop Link]

(*) please do not eat this book

Short on cash? Check your public library! If they don't carry it, they very likely have a request form on their website. Wow! Free books!

LUCKY PENNY COLOR EDITION IS OUT IN STORES!!!!

YAY Penny is BACK, with a brand new 3-page epilogue and gorgeous new colors by @introspectres! You can get it at your local store, or order it online! You can even request it at your local library! 🎉