Hello there!
When I first started making Totty comics in 2023, many people assumed I was using AI to generate the poses and panels. But no... my comics are all hand drawn, featuring photos that I shoot in my tiny living room. I must confess, I do wear a thick layer of make up and I use a bit of old fashioned airbrushing to make myself look more presentable, but I strive to be as authentic as possible.
Three years ago, generative AI was pretty basic, but now that it's possible to instantly create realistic photos and videos with basic prompts, how does Totty fit into this brave new world? It's an issue I've been pondering for the last few months... Is there even a need for Totty when you can easily create a perfect pin-up model from scratch? Probably not!
For anyone working in a creative industry, AI is unavoidable now - it's integrated into almost every digital toolbox. To ignore it seems foolish, but can it be used moderately and applied with good taste? Well, I've been experimenting with various apps and filters on some of my early comics to see if there are any positives.
Most of the generative stuff seems pretty useless at this point. It's inconsistent and feels pretty souless - everything just looks the same. But I have been enjoying using various paint filters. It's now possible to make my panels look more like the 1940s painted pin-ups that inspired them. (See gallery above) These rendered images still require a lot of touching up by hand, but I like the improved lighting and the way the paint strokes integrate my photo with the backgrounds, characters and illustrated outfits.
I probably have a slightly skewed view on this, as I'm never fully satisfied with anything I create. Looking back at my earlier comics, the panels look like unfinished sketches, while these new images look like completed artwork, more in line with my original vision for Totty. It also feels a little safer posting these images on social media - if someone wants to nudify a stylised image, it doesn't feel quite so yucky!
I'm in two minds about all this and I'd love to know what you think. Is there a place for AI in my comics? What about the moral implications? Be brutally honest. (Well, not too brutal!) If you'll kindly indulge me, I'd like to continue experimenting over the next couple of weeks and open up the discussion as I begin work on some new images. Whether I end up using these paint filters or not, I'll always post the original unfiltered photo comics here on Patreon, so it may just come down to personal preference with both options available for Patrons.
Please let me know your thoughts below :)
Totty x