Raw LLM Responses

I have carpal tunnel, back problems, and an extremely hard time making money thanks to my 'gift' thank you very much... but I NEED to create. Shit, I love it when people do the 100 day drawing challenge where people who don't think they're good at art start drawing for 100 days straight and document the results. I'd even support this if someone traced art everyday they did this challenge with drawing books from an art store (I used to trace how to draw books all the time when I was little or coloring books and I learned each time!) and then at every 10 day mark, they do one freehand drawing to see what they had learned or maybe even do one freehand after tracing to prove they had learned something from it. Everyone's 'talents' were hard earned. Tracing or using a reference is a form of studying art and some people online have shamed people so badly that some people feel like it's the ultimate shame to try learning that way. AI art is going to make it especially harder for any artist to make a living now... and it's even sadder that some people only love AI 'art' because it's really a reflection of what they think of their own abilities. I'm not going to deny the toxic elitism and the zealotry that can be prevalent in the art community. Some people will even hate me for saying this but I encourage people to trace and copy other artworks because that's how people learn (just please don't repost that copying to claim as your own. Or, if you must repost what you trace or copy from, trace a coloring book or a how to draw book or free art online meant to teach you and credit the source). All of us artists would be fools if we try saying we never traced or copied from our favorites ourselves. I still do but those studies stay in my sketch book. I used to copy James' Baxter's tutorial on the Spirit DVD all the time. Artists 'steal' (I prefer the term 'study' but 'steal' is a popular term even though I feel it's harmful to refer to it as such) and barrow ideas from each other all the time whether anyone likes to say it or not. I know some people are hurt because one of their favorite artists and/or the artist's fans lashed out at them for tracing at all or interpreted an honest 'good job but please take this down. I don't want people copying my art.' as a 'screw you! You can't copy, trace, or learn from my art AT ALL!' Some people who may have meant it as innocent copy practice may have even had hundreds of people bully them in their dms. It's especially bad with children who didn't know better and didn't realize they were technically committing art theft and weren't taught that tracing was meant for studying, not as a means of making art to repost. Unfortunately, in those cases, the bullying comments far outweighed the gentler comments. I see some of this backlash as a culmination of the conflict between artists and people who want to consume and/or learn art but feel that they had gotten hurt by the community they once admired. Some people find themselves unable to make art because they're poor and don't have the time for it... like me lately because I'm working to make money to start the family I want. But for some, it's necessary to constantly work and work some more until all of their free time is chores, eating, and sleeping and so have to give up learning a skill they want to learn and instead see it as a luxury, hence why some say you have 'blue blood' if you're an artist. My husband grew up poor in California and gave me perspective on this way of thinking. He said that the stereotypical college art student or aspiring young artist often came from a rich or well-off family while most people who were trying to survive usually didn't have time for art. So now you have people that not only think you are some prodigy blessed with talent but also someone privileged and rich enough to have the time for art. So, in this person's mind, you were privileged in some way and not someone who is doing actual honest hard work. To them, that has to be the answer... because that's easier than admitting they gave up on something they loved because they were told it's 'Just a hobby' despite it clearly meaning more to them than that.... And it's extremely sad! Because, you're right! There is all sorts of unique art inside of each of us! But it's work and it all started somewhere. I remember my silly anime drawings, stupid looking horse drawings, and all the cringe in between. But I look back then vs what I am now and there's so much progress... that said, I don't have an art channel up yet and this account is just a silly one from my teen years. One day though... one day.