Surely, the title is an obvious statement. I’ve been seeing so many posts asking how anyone could ever prefer bad hand drawn art above AI generated images. How people who are Pro-AI say that Anti-AI artists overly praise “bad” art to try to pull others away from AI. 

I think this “over-praising” comes from a place of having gone through the journey themselves. Every artist started at the bottom. We know what it’s like to make “bad” art. Those who stuck with learning art didn’t give up when their art wasn’t what they wanted. They picked up the pencil time and time again and improved. I know people will disagree, but I think it’s important to learn the fundamentals of art, color theory, perspective, etc. while making art with any media. Just because the art isn’t to your liking right away, it’s okay to keep trying. “Bad” art means you’re learning. I will always praise someone who is trying and learning. 

I’m by no means a professional artist. I used to take art classes as a kid, had a brief Invader Zim obsession in middle school with my own OC, continued making art into high school, minored in multimedia design (along with my Computer Science major) in college and now I still make art for fun for my family and friends. 

I think it’s important to look at the journey through your art and recognize that if you’re not happy with where your art is now, to keep practicing and improving. There are tons of resources online, local art classes, classes at school, art clubs, books, whatever you can find to help you improve. I’m 27 now and starting to practice drawing again because I miss it as a form of creative expression. I work in an IT/programming role and constantly have AI shoved in my direction by my fellow tech colleagues, so I’m no stranger to AI. I wanted to share a short timeline of my own art because I dug up some old sketchbooks while moving to a new place. My art could certainly be better, but I love looking through how far I’ve grown since I started drawing. 

Art is a great hobby and skill. It can also be incredibly meditative as a creative outlet, great for mental health. To anyone who is considering learning art, I want to say this:

Don’t be afraid to be bad. It only means you’re improving.

Everyone starts out bad at art