…and why I’ll never fake my watercolors!

We used to worry about copying other people’s work and whether that made our own work less authentic, but now we have something much bigger to worry about — telling the difference between an artist who’s creating a real painting, and a channel which creates the false illusion of making real art.

Whether you want to know this or not, the truth is that you might not be able to tell the difference. In fact you probably can’t. AI is getting better every day and can now synthesise the entire painting process, and then synthesise the voice over, in the voice of the supposed creator.

Apart from the moral issues, this leads to a very important problem for you, the viewer: you are highly unlikely to be able to create the painting or follow the techniques which you admire. Not because they’re too hard, but because they’re physically impossible. No-one can do it, only a computer.

But does it matter, as long as I enjoy watching?

I believe with all my heart and soul that it does matter.

Firstly, we are being deceived and that’s never a good thing. I believe it should be made compulsory for creators to be totally transparent about what they are using to create their product. Then you can choose.

Secondly, this is destined to destroy real art. And real art matters. Not for the final result (thankfully, because we’ve already lost that battle), but for the process.

True art is more about the process than the product. Immersing yourself – body and mind and spirit in creating with your hands is the most healing process I know. And we need it now more than ever, not less.

My pledge to you

You can rely on us to never use fake filming techniques in our videos. I might be obliged to use computer technology to create our videos, but I’m not obliged to run those videos through a “cleaning up” program which will remove all inconsistencies and errors for me. I won’t use enhancements to make me look twenty years younger, or special effects of any kind. I won’t edit out my mistakes and background noises, and I will always encourage you to be true to yourself and FOLLOW THE PAINT!

~ Diane

ps. Be sure to watch yesterday’s YouTube video in which I discuss, among other things, why real art matters in an AI world.