The Great Divide: Traditional Art vs AI Assisted Art - Part II Understanding and Managing “Perceived Value”

By Dallas Fowler

In this evolving art landscape, I want to talk about and give insight into the complex world of AI art vs traditional art pricing. It’s a common perception that digital art, seemingly created with just a few typed words, raises questions about its true value. What is the worth of an image that is created almost instantaneously? On the other hand, traditional art, born from a meticulous process involving sketching, inking, and coloring, is often seen as more valuable due to its conventional creation method. The real question then becomes: What is the true worth of art, and how should one approach pricing? This dilemma is important when comparing AI-generated art to art created in my current, more traditional style and craft. Determining the value of these different art forms requires careful consideration of various factors such as creativity, time investment, and the artist’s unique touch.

AI-Generated Art

Let’s dissect the process for each style of art. Imagine a customer approaches you and requests a piece of art, understanding that it can’t be copyrighted and is fine with it being AIgenerated. The process begins with brainstorming to understand their vision. If you have experience with AI art generation tools, you’ll know it’s challenging to initially define what the customer wants. Moreover, achieving consistent revisions while maintaining the same art style and subject matter after each prompt is a complex task.

“I realized the significance of exploring this art form when two particular clients visited me last month. One was from a chimney sweep company, well-versed in AI-generated art, and had even created his own images. When he showed me these AI-generated images, he asked if I could create something similar. He was aware of the copyright limitations with AI art but was interested in using it for a vehicle wrap design, integrating AI-generated elements. This raised an interesting question: Given my knowledge and skills in layout and design, should I charge for adapting an AI-generated image for commercial use? For a completely original mascot design, I’d normally charge between $800 to $2500, considering the unique creation from scratch. However, for AI-generated art, which he’s content with despite its non-copyrightable nature, I feel a fair value would be between $250 to $500. This price reflects the hours spent on prompting and tweaking the AI program for coding and diving into detailed descriptions. It’s a different skill set, but it involves a creative process that, while not producing one-of-a-kind art, still requires expertise and time.” “One major advantage of AI in art creation, I believe, lies in its ability to rapidly produce mood boards, textures, and themes. It excels in prototyping concepts swiftly, allowing for a quick evaluation of whether a certain direction is worth exploring. This rapid generation capability is invaluable for swiftly visualizing ideas and determining their potential.”

The fun part for me simply is experimenting with a program like Mid Journey can be both cool and fun, especially when exploring diverse themes like punk rock, cyberpunk, or even something whimsically goofy. It’s fascinating to see how the AI interprets these concepts. Often, it’s the humorous and unexpected results that make the process so enjoyable, showcasing the playful side of AI’s creative capabilities.

Traditional Art

Now, shifting focus to traditional, original art – its value is universally recognized across various industries. The appreciation for handcrafted one-of-a-kind pieces lies in the understanding of the time and effort invested from conception to completion. From the initial thought to sketching, processing, and finally, the finished product, each step adds to its unique value. As AI gains popularity and becomes more accessible to everyone, I believe this elevates the status of original and traditional art. In an era where AI-generated art is commonplace, the distinctiveness and personal touch of traditional art become even more precious and sought-after. As AI art becomes more prevalent, we may observe some clients opting for these ‘shortcut’ solutions, perceiving them as a cheaper and faster alternative to traditional art. They might undervalue the laborintensive process of traditional art, preferring AI-generated pieces that can be created quickly with enough prompting. This perception overlooks the fact that original art not only takes hours but potentially weeks to complete, highlighting the significantly longer turnaround times associated with traditional artistry.

Additionally, there’s a parallel to be drawn with enthusiasts in other fields, like classic car collectors or fine art connoisseurs. Their appreciation for craftsmanship, whether it’s in paintwork or a wrap, shares similarities with the art world. As we move forward, there will always be purists who value traditional art and shun computer-generated alternatives. This preference, I believe, only adds to the value and uniqueness of traditional art, creating an advantage for those of us dedicated to this craft.”

The final takeaway regarding pricing in traditional art is straightforward. Those who truly respect art understand that it requires time to craft, develop, and fine-tune. This principle is mirrored in other industries, such as car wrapping. Consider the comparison: painting a classic car might cost between $20,000 to $30,000, whereas a car wrap could be around $5,000 to $7,000. This analogy is quite relevant to the discussion of AI versus traditional art. Similar tools and shortcuts are seen in various fields - auto-tune in music, printers for custom vinyl paint jobs in car wrapping, and now, coding and prompting to create AI-generated art. Each of these represents a technological advancement that offers efficiency and cost-effectiveness, but perhaps at the expense of the traditional, handcrafted approach. This evolving landscape challenges us to reconsider the value we place on originality and the human touch in art.

As AI art and related programs continue to evolve and gain popularity, so too do the laws protecting artists and the mechanics of these programs. The crucial question for me is how to use AI as a respectful tool that aids in idea generation without relying on it to produce art that I claim is solely my own creation. The most intriguing aspect of this discussion, and the reason I’ve brought it up for this magazine, is my personal journey as an artist. Known in the industry for designing vehicle wraps, and perhaps as ‘the cartoon guy’ or the creator of Wraptoons©, I have a deep respect for both traditional and AI art. My goal is to use AI respectfully as a tool, not just for my own artistic exploration, but also as a teaching aid for my designers. This approach helps them accomplish tasks more efficiently while still maintaining originality. I recognize and understand the different viewpoints in the ongoing debate about AI art. However, my focus is on the sheer joy and fascination of creating images with AI – it’s about having fun, sharing a laugh, or marveling at the intriguing results that emerge from a computer interpreting words into visual art.

B.F.O. – Blinding Flash of the Obvious

It’s worth noting that we already incorporate AI-assisted tools in our daily lives, often without fully realizing their implications. Take, for instance, a tool I’ve adopted over the past year – Gigapixel. It enables me to transform a low-resolution photo provided by a client into a much larger and more detailed image, sizes that were previously unmanageable. As

Gigapixel continues to evolve, it dawns on me, isn’t this essentially AI-assisted editing and image resolution scaling? It’s intriguing to think that such a tool is widely accepted and even necessary in certain scenarios. For example, how else could I enlarge a 12-inch photo to a staggering 55 inches for a car wrap design? Tools like Gigapixel are not just conveniences; they’re essential in bridging the gap between what’s available and what’s needed in creative projects. Isn’t Google’s search engine a form of AI?

Food for thought of hmmm…

Lastly, it’s both fascinating and slightly unnerving to witness the rapid advancements in AI art programs, such as the leap from Mid Journey 4 to 6. The capabilities of these newer versions are expanding at an astounding pace, while we as humans are still trying to master the earlier ones. As time progresses, it seems these AI systems might evolve faster than our ability to learn them. This leads to a curious and somewhat unsettling question: At what point might the AI realize that its human operator is the limiting factor in the creative process? Are we approaching a scenario reminiscent of the movie iRobot, where AI’s capabilities and autonomy challenge our traditional roles and perceptions? It’s a thought worth pondering as we continue to navigate this exciting yet uncharted territory of AI and art.

Is there a conclusion? Let’s keep this topic going, see you next month. Hope this article got you thinking, thanks for reading it.

Dallas Fowler

Dallas@digitalefxwraps.com

Co-Owner, Digital EFX Wraps LLC

Creator, WrapToons