Just realized I haven't drawn a full piece by hand in over a year

I used to spend maybe 20 hours on a single digital painting, starting from a blank canvas. Now I feed a rough sketch into Stable Diffusion and tweak the results for a couple hours. The switch happened after a client needed a concept piece in two days, not two weeks. I get the work done, but it feels more like directing than creating. Has anyone else felt that shift in their own process, where the tool does the heavy lifting?

3 comments

3 Comments

beth2761mo agoMost Upvoted

Wait, you used to spend twenty hours on one painting? That's like a part-time job for a single picture. How did you even have the patience for that?

roberts.leo1mo ago

Honestly, that sounds like progress to me. You solved the client's problem and got paid. The tool is just that, a tool. If directing it gets the job done right, you're still the one making the calls. I don't see the point in grinding for weeks when a couple hours gives a good result.

daniel_gonzalez1mo ago

Totally get that feeling of just directing instead of creating. Used to believe the long grind was the only real way to make art. That client deadline changed my mind hard. Now I see getting the idea out fast IS the skill, and the AI is just a really fast brush. The old way felt pure, but this way lets you make more stuff, which is its own kind of creation.