Painting Movies - Days Of Heaven 11
Painting Movies - Days Of Heaven 10
Painting Movies - Days Of Heaven 9
Painting Movies - Days Of Heaven 8
Painting Movies - Days Of Heaven 7
Cover for The Economist
Back in August I contributed the cover illustration for the Economist issue of August 19th-25th, 2023. It was used in the US, Africa and Asia. Here is a link to the cover article.
Art direction by Matt Withers.
Painting Movies - Days Of Heaven 6
Painting Movies - Days Of Heaven 5
Painting Movies - Days Of Heaven 4
Painting Movies - Days Of Heaven 3
Painting Movies - Days Of Heaven 2
Painting Movies - Days Of Heaven 1
Inktober
"House Party" visualisation for a short film
These are keyframe design paintings, based on a short film script by director, author and filmmaker Robert Arnold.
I first made a set of drawings based on some of the key scenes of the script. Then I animated them and added sound. The ready animatic is like a trailer for the short film.
The keyframe designs are meant for pre-visualisation and for funding applications for the project.
Portrait of investor Carl Icahn
Portrait of investor Carl Icahn for The New York Times. "Corporate America’s Chief Critic, Carl Icahn, Gets His Comeuppance". Art direction by Zak Bickel.
The alarming situation in German children’s homes
Illustration for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung about the alarming situation in German children’s homes (here the article by Wibke Becker). Younger and younger children are in these facilities. At the same time due to lack of skilled workers, more and more unskilled and often unprepared personal has to deal with very challenging circumstances.
Art direction by Nina Hewelt.
"A Battlefield AI Company Says It’s One of the Good Guys"
Illustration an animation for WIRED UK for an article titled “A Battlefield AI Company Says It’s One of the Good Guys”.
Art direction by Ben Hinks.
World Illustration Awards
This illustration series of mine for Politico was shortlisted in this year’s World Illustration Awards.
Interview for the portfolio podcast
I met with Franziska Walther for an interview in her portfolio podcast. We talked for almost an hour about illustration, and all that comes with it.
The interview is in German and can be found here.
If this is interesting to you, here is a transcribed and automatically generated English version of the interview:
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Franziska:
Hello. Hello. Welcome Daniel. How nice that you are a guest in the portfolio podcast. I am so happy that you are here.
Daniel:
Hello.
Franziska:
Daniel , you have an impressive list of clients . For example, you worked for Apple. For Google, for the FAZ, for Der Spiegel, for the New York Times, Guardian, GQ , Harvard Business Review. And you have, I read on your site, about 1 . 000 illustration projects done independently in over 15 years . That's totally impressive. How did you manage that?
How did you position yourself so internationally?
Daniel:
It all actually started very slowly with the first customer. Once you've published something , it's practically like a snowball system. So that other people can see it too. Art directors also read other publications . And so, over a long period of time, everything actually came from one person to the next.
Franziska:
When did you start your own business ?
Daniel:
So I can tell you the whole story ... shall I tell you the whole story ?
Franziska:
Yes why not?
Daniel:
I originally studied product design but already during studies I knew it is not what I want to do. And that came together with the fact that I moved to Finland after my studies. And I had already discovered illustration for myself beforehand . Not least because that's also something you can do on your own.
And when I was here in Finland alone, with no resources, that's what interested me and what I just started with ... I just made my decision: I'm an illustrator. I made drawings for myself and put them on a website. Back then there was a blog, so a website – www.drawn.ca – unfortunately they don't exist anymore. At that time it was a very popular website in the comic and illustration area.
And at the time I wrote to them: „Hey, I'm Daniel: and I make drawings“ , the ones that I only made for myself . And then back then John Martz , who is still active in the comic field, wrote a short article about me and then a week later I had my first order.
And that's actually how it started. Meanwhile , I was still delivering newspapers here in Finland. So I worked for the newspapers on two levels, so to speak , delivering newspapers and doing illustrations for newspapers . And then it took another two years, more customers came little by little and after two or three years I was able to make a living from it. That is the story in a nutshell, although it's not even that short.
Franziska:
I can still remember when I discovered you, I was living in Arteles, in the artist 's residence . And I still remember , my two Finnish colleagues came into the room and said: Hey, here in the local newspaper there is an article about a German illustrator who lives in Hämeenkyrö . And that's not you.
And I still remember , I went to your profile back then, to the Instagram profile, and was totally impressed by how well you are internationally positioned. And I like love your work too. At the same time, I also asked myself: How does it work? How can someone live in the Finnish forest and work for such blatantly international magazines?
Daniel:
So my career is actually connected with this departure from Germany. Well, I've practically never felt like : Only Germany is my market or only Finland is my market – definitely not because I had no connection there at all . And right from the start I actually saw myself as ... yes ... as international. So it was clear to me: I have to have a website and it has to be in English. And yes, I have I saw myself as international from the start ... although that might sound a little grander than I thought it would.
(…) out there in the world who needs exactly what I do. And all I really have to do is find these people. And the easier I make it accessible , the higher the probability that someone will find me there. And that means English language website and internet and stuff.
Franziska:
Well, it makes total sense. I believe that the mindset, i.e. how you look at your own work and how you see yourself, makes a huge difference and helps decide how you are perceived from the outside . And the way you describe it, I think it's totally understandable why it worked the way it did.
Daniel:
So I always think that everyone who tries to illustrate has their own voice or is looking for their own voice. Sometimes you also work against something or try too hard to somehow find something with the crowbar. But actually everyone already has a voice - just like we all have our own voice that we like more or less .
And I think if you translate that into the illustrations now , that means there's room for all those voices somewhere , too . So what has happily become more important lately is diversity . From this point of view it is important that as many voices as possible are expressed and I think that can also be seen as a motivation.
So you're doing something that already has an intrinsic value because your voice is needed somewhere.
Franziska:
That's a nice look at it and I agree with you there. I also believe that every voice has value. But when I observe how other creative people are doing, especially young professionals, I think that's where a lot of people are afraid to take the space because they somehow believe that there has to be someone on the outside who says : Your vote is worth something.
But is it really important to take the space for yourself and say: Yes, I have something to say?
Daniel:
Hmmm, yes, and that might also go into this area with style and positioning, which of course you can and should think about. But on the other hand, it also has something to do with accepting what you already are. Yes. Or rather, these skills also develop after a while. So you can control it better over a longer period of time . But you can definitely start now and get started. And that has value.
Franziska:
Beautiful , totally beautiful . I agree with you there, I would like to underline that twice .
Daniel:
So I still know , for example, At the beginning I suddenly got orders for business topics and they sometimes had really concrete ideas about the motive, that is relatively rare in my practice today. And then I thought like this, now I have to draw a horse or now I have to draw a washing machine, how do I draw a washing machine?
Back then I only drew things for myself that I found interesting myself and there weren't any washing machines up to that point. And now suddenly a washing machine is to be printed by me. And now? But at the same time - sure ... you can do it! You may have never have done it before, but you are allowed to do it. You now have this assignment.
Franziska:
Yes, you grow with your tasks, even when drawing. How do you do acquisition? Well, you said earlier that you got your first orders through this website , which I also read at the time. There aren't that many blogs about illustration or websites that report on illustration anymore. How are you doing acquisition today?
Daniel:
To be honest, I do relatively little. I am always constantly updating my website and my approach is that I want it to look like someone is home. There is probably often an average of one news post per month. Sometimes it's more, sometimes it's less. That's enough for me to give the impression that there's someone behind it who can be reached.
Of course , you can always think about it from the other direction. How about now if I'm the client? How would I imagine that? And I would personally be put off if someone was last active there three or four years ago. And otherwise? Yeah, well it's this fortunate position that somehow there's maybe 150 art directors out there now that I've worked with in the last ten years.
And 50 of them are still somehow active and I haven't heard from some for two years. And then they're on the next magazine , so there's actually constant work there. In between, I also had jobs where I did something for every issue of a magazine , which is a kind of basic income.
Franziska:
But that said ... from what I've heard , your network is super important. Do you mean this?
Daniel:
Yes, although network sounds like it 's very active. So I don't write them any newsletters or anything like that.
Franziska:
Yes, but what you describe can easily be transferred to other things. There is simply a certain number of orders that a person who can place orders gives you . And that differs depending on the market and then the person just looks for people they know and give these orders to .
Daniel:
Yes, well, I think that, again from the art director's point of view: if I agree to something, then the most important thing is that I 'm available and that I answer the email and that I'm available and at home – that is part of the service.
So it can't happen that I don't get back in touch or something like that and that creates this security that I want to give in the job so that the next time, if it's a quick job, the AD then thinks : Yes, I have someone I can rely on.
Franziska:
Trust!! Exactly . Such is a trusting business relationship . Yes, yes, that's the invisible part of the acquisition, which is super, super important. What are the hurdles when you work with international customers? So are there other hurdles ? You also work with German magazines. Are there any things that are different?
Daniel:
Hmmm, so in general, whether German or ... I work a lot with German, Swiss, English and American customers ... and in general , what is relatively typical in this freelancer sector applies to everyone . You are a person and you work with or against an apparatus. So you make the sketches and you make the finished drawing and then at the end you write the invoice and then at the end you write the reminder ... and yes, you have to log into the system and so on and so forth.
And yes, you are a person against the apparatus, which is sometimes very frustrating because the opportunities for influence that you have as an individual are relatively small. So it starts with the payment deadlines, with the contracts , you can negotiate there or not, or then someone else who is somehow from the accounting department, who then suddenly no longer answers or then forgets, is yours to forward the invoice and such. Those are the frustrating things that come with this job .
What is still relatively common with American customers are the very, very narrow and far-reaching, far-reaching contracts , which fortunately are now – at least in my opinion – are not so common in Germany anymore or have been defused . Sometimes you still get things that make you think: Oh wow, should I sign that now? OK.
Franziska:
Well, you said it yourself earlier: You see yourself as an international illustrator, as a border crosser, so to speak, between the different borders.
Daniel:
Hmm.
Franziska:
Listening to myself when I asked you the question, I realized that I think I have a different perspective on international markets than you do, because for you as a German illustrator who lives in Finland and works for various customers in various countries is probably a lot more normal than for me , for example, who also lives in Finland, but I work there exclusively for German- speaking customers .
And here, too, it is probably the case that the perspective on one's own work and one's own offer also changes quite a bit . Also the self-image you have.
Daniel:
This is very special now, for example, but if we now talk about Finland. There are also a few larger publishers here , which own a relatively large number of magazines and newspapers . And they still have these bad contracts . Well, and if I now only had to rely on Finland , then things would look bad. Because I don't sign the contract that Helsingin Sanomat has.
The example is very specific, but with customers in different countries you can balance that. I did some work for some Finnish newspapers, but that wouldn't be nearly enough to make a living from it now.
Franziska:
Yes, I think it totally makes sense to think about that as an illustrator, where I might find other market conditions as well. In the magazine area in the English-speaking area there are simply a lot of great magazines that also offer a lot with illustrations. And as a book illustrator , the English-speaking market automatically has a certain attractiveness because the print runs are so much higher there . I also find it very self-determined to think about where I might find other conditions that are better for me .
Daniel:
Hm, if I were to think about what I would really like to do, what would this dream job be? And that would be illustrating a classic. It's pretty obvious to think: Okay, I'd like to illustrate a classic. It's very obvious to think, then I'll not only go to Suhrkamp, but also to Penguin. Because in an emergency I can also read the German translation of the book , if it's a classic, just as an example.
Or I want to illustrate an album by a band. Well then, of course, then I'll just write also to Canada and England and not only to Germany.
Franziska:
It is often recommended to work with a representative in English-speaking countries or to have an agent. How are your experiences there?
Daniel:
So I had an agency for me for about five years . I've read a lot that when you work for an agency, it doesn't automatically mean that you get a lot of work . I can confirm that , although some new customers have come across it. However, in the end it didn't make economic sense for me . I often don't see the commission that the agency takes as justified for the service that is then provided.
From my point of view, the bureaucratic effort for American customers, for example, is very low and what the agency takes on simply no longer justified this commission for me . The paperwork isn't worth the commission that goes out for an agency. I would also recommend , if you work with an agency, that you can, for example, make a contract in which all existing customers are excluded from the commission .
Or you exclude certain countries . So let's say you use an English agency, but say all customers from Germany go directly through me. I can deal with the paperwork. I know my way around. And I guess any agency that really takes their business seriously and that puts you in touch with clients, why should they have a problem with that?
If the agency can generate new orders for you , then the commission is justified.
But I also know this from acquaintances who simply signed a general agency contract and then suddenly had to give up the percentages on their existing orders and of course that was an extremely bad deal for the illustrator.
Franziska:
Yes, but surprisingly, that's very often standard if you're not careful and don't emphasize it.
Daniel:
Yes, in that situation I would definitely recommend trying to negotiate. So it was effectively the same for me, first I excluded the German customers and then I also excluded the Finnish customers and then the Swiss customers. I was relatively successful in renegotiating.
Franziska:
It's good to know that this can also be renegotiated. You said it just now, but again, just to bring that back into focus . I believe that many creative people urgently want to have an agency, on the one hand of course not to have the bureaucratic effort, but above all simply so that they don't have to make acquisitions .
And you said earlier that it didn't work out that way for you, that is, that there weren't that many incredible orders . Have I understood that correctly?
Daniel:
Yes, that 's how I would sum it up. Orders have already come in that I might not have gotten otherwise , but there were a lot of smaller things, but not a significant number now. So not that it would have justified it that way . Of course , I can't speak for all agencies now . I'm sure there are agencies where it's different. There are sure to be positive effects from being included in this list on the website.
An agency also gives customers a certain security. You see: Okay, here I am not working together with this individual, but here there is another company in between, which also vouches in case of doubt . There are certainly these positive effects. Maybe there are also differences, because my main goal is editorial illustration, where relatively small amounts are involved .
But if you came up with a bigger advertising budget for a bigger campaign , I'm sure a big company would prefer to work with an agency in that area.
Franziska:
Honestly, I've never thought about why that is. But after what you just said, it's just so understandable. Yes, large advertising agencies often only work with representative offices and that is certainly due to the budget and the liability that the agency assumes .
Daniel:
Yes, but I could also imagine … I am now familiar with the prices in the editorial world . I hardly do any advertising jobs or only very rarely ... but if a bigger job were to come up now , then of course there is always the option of saying : Hey agency , this is now a campaign that is supposed to run in Europe and I don't know , is that a € 50,000 job or a € 80,000 job? Or a € 5,000 job ?
Then you can always go to an agency and say: Hey, would you do this job with me? And can this be negotiated afterwards ? And then you know for sure that you haven't lost too much , even though you then have to pay this commission to the agency.
Franziska:
Yes, what I really like about the perspective is that it suddenly takes place on an equal footing . It should be as you described it, because: There are two business partners who meet at eye level and one of them takes on the service that the other person might not want to carry at the moment : in liability in the event – and receive a commission for it .
I think that's totally healthy and beautiful . It happens quite often, I have the feeling that it's going to tip over like that. I think that's because of the self-image. If you go to the agency or the representative office and assume that they will ensure that I get orders now, I automatically don't put myself on an equal footing . I get into such a weird addiction and I find your perspective so much nicer .
Daniel:
As with art directors and editors you can always put yourself in the agents position. Let’s say we are now establishing an illustration agency . Who do I want to have with me? How many do I want there? If there are 50 people on this list, you can assume that there is relatively little individual support or acquisition.
Maybe I'm doing a lot of agents an injustice, but they already curate their roster so that the offer fits their ideas. But I don't think there's really a lot of active support going on there. I believe that is the case in very few cases . There are certainly meetings and get-togethers, or you're at some trade fairs, in what form they still take place, where you can offer the whole roster and there are takeaway effects as a result .
But imagining very personal support is too optimistic. In my opinion.
Franziska:
Yes, what are the top 3 or top 2 tips you would give to people who somehow want to position themselves internationally in the editorial field and who are just starting with it? What tips would you give them ?
Daniel:
Well I would think from the wish: what is the job you want to do ? And then step 2 would be really purposeful to try to get that job. You do this by specifically finding out the people who are in a position to give you this job. Address them in a targeted manner and then tailor your offer to them. That would be the first tip.
What we had before is trusting that voice. You know you have that voice and you either work against that voice, which can be legitimate, or you kind of work with that voice, or one way or another. But accepting that the voice won't go away is important. So that's what you do. But your voice is something that is needed in a certain context. You just have to find those people who need it.
And the third? Yes. yes, the third We had talked about it before . I could bring in rant about social media. But in my opinion, the understanding of time that we pretend to ourselves via Instagram or other social media channels is not real. Well, there are certainly areas where it is important to be present and available every day , but that's not even the case in this relatively fast editorial business – in my opinion.
These are time intervals that we don't necessarily have to subject ourselves to . Because I don't make any money from Instagram. Well, some ADs follow me and you stay in the back of their minds maybe, but I don't earn any money with it directly and that's why I shouldn't necessarily put too much effort into it. Yes, and that's why it's still relatively old school - a website that's accessible and where it looks like someone is home still works for me .
And I think what might interest me more in the medium term is having more direct or long-term contact with people, which is ultimately worth a lot more than this digital feedback, which is relatively difficult to convert into really tangible results .
Franziska:
Yes, the real human contact, what do you mean: how do you want to do it? So what are the channels, so to speak , with which you can then intensify your personal contacts and relationships ?
Daniel:
Well, that's very personal , but that means being available, local . And maybe that can also be transferred . So I don't have to post thousands of photos of myself, but I'm available , local, in real life .
Franziska:
A real human.
Daniel:
I'll be there at three when that's arranged.
And I also keep in touch with people in Germany with whom I do projects that only have to do with illustration in a broader sense. So where I can also do things that are not necessarily my core competence. For example, I recently gave courses and I also animate things for friends . These projects are still commercial projects, although they are friends, but in the end you make yourself available and committed.
Because in these jobs that you do for an American company, well, I'm an email address. This email address answers reliably , but it is something different than what we are doing here or what we are doing there in East Saxony .
Franziska:
Yes / Yes. What I find really nice is that when you look at acquisitions from this perspective, you can see that it's also about simple human relationships and a network like that, which might even be mutual side is that you just spend time together and keep in touch and exchange ideas. Something often grows out of it that you can't plan at all.
So what is completely different from this proactive cold calling, where you have a specific goal and say very strategically: I want to have an order there now. But if you also include these unplannable networks in the acquisition, so to speak, you can be sure in a certain way that something will emerge from it that you may not be able to plan, but which will definitely be cool .
Daniel:
So there are people who you take along and people that take you along.
Franziska:
Yes, exactly.
Daniel:
Yes. In editorial, someone takes you from one publication to the next . Yes. Hm. My work is relatively focused in the editorial area, but I'm also interested in many other things and I would think, for example: Find the people who are in a similar position and are just starting out. So if you want to do concept design and you live in a bigger city , there might be some indie developers in your city and they're just starting out and they might need you right now. Of course , you can send your portfolio to the market leaders , but you can also start with the people who are in a similar position to you and who might need you a lot more right now. It is of course paid less, but it is a first step in this area.
Franziska:
Yes, I think that's a really nice tip . I believe that for many creative people there are far more potential clients in their immediate vicinity than they often think. And what I really like about it is that you can grow together. Yes, and that's something, you invest in human exchange, so to speak, and at some point you also benefit from it. But it's not quite as predictable and I think that's totally fine.
Daniel:
Yes, yes, which of course is correct: You have to be sure about what you want to do and that it's your own interests. So not that you find yourself there again after a while and realize: Okay, now I have my foot in the door , but it's not exactly what I want to do. Of course, there are also learning effects, but you have to know what your objective is with such a cooperation.
Franziska:
Yes, exactly. I think something positive often results when you get involved with things that are just in front of you. You just need open eyes to be able to see them . But maybe it's going too far. But what I really wanted to ask you … I have two more questions. First of all, I would say you, because I'm quite sure that some people here are listening and thinking: Wow, a job at the New York Times ... that's really the dream job of all.
Was that the same for you? What was your dream job in the editorial department? And have you perhaps already reached it? And what has changed since then ?
Daniel:
course it's great to work for these magazines and of course it also pays off , what we talked about, that there is confidence in your reputation . If I can write down this impressive list. This is of course a positive effect.
And yes , so it is ... I'm scared to say, but my first client was the New Yorker.
Franziska:
Woah ... wow ... hahaha ... great!
Daniel:
It was a three by three centimeter vignette illustration . And of course that was already … . ok ... all right. Well, as I said, I also delivered newspapers on the side. Still, that's cool, of course .
Franziska:
That's definitely cool.
Daniel:
As I said, it took another two years before I could make a living from it. So to put that in perspective.
Franziska:
Yes, which is why I'm asking: I don't know about you, but it's the case with me that I quite often observe that I have goals like this .. and I also think it's really important, having goals ... and it's also really cool to celebrate yourself when you get your job at the New Yorker.
But in the end you are still the same person with the same problems and the same fears and worries that you had before. And the sky doesn't open up and suddenly everything is different.
Daniel:
No, definitely … well , yes, in the area of illustration I can't really identify with it, but if I think of music now or something, then I would think so. Ok, now you kind of have an album, now you 're famous , but that's kind of crap, you don't want that at all.
So yes, of course, after that nothing is different at all. Hmm, maybe it sounds too cold , but then you published this drawing in the magazine: what should be different afterwards? So if it 's of course something you've been working towards for a long time, then of course it's something that you should definitely celebrate for yourself in some way.
And yes, of course there is this financial pressure all the time ... can you live on it? And how can you make a living from it? Or what compromises do you have to make? This weighs heavily, of course , especially at the beginning. On the other hand, as far as possible, you probably shouldn't to take on or transfer an external schedule or time pressure onto oneself or to be carried on one's shoulders. A lot of things just happen much slower than you think.
You then write this email now and you would like to have the answer or the order next week. But that might be in eight months ... or sixteen months. And yes, what are you doing until then?
Franziska:
Yes, yes, it's the same thing with goals and visions. I think it's really good to have them because they set the direction. But at the same time it is also important to let go and not have any expectations. Because expectations, in turn, create a very strange pressure and also generate frustration relatively quickly, because what you describe is so true.
Things just often take longer than you should have . And that also applies to acquisition . The internet always promises us these instant hits. But they are not normal. It's just normal that it takes a little while.
Daniel:
Yes, and we, we always only see the successes that are then published in this way. I do it myself too. But the lead time for such a project is not visible at all . So what I'm publishing now I worked on three months ago, or the whole project was somehow pushed two years ago if it's something longer- term . And this Instagram story cannot show how many hours went into it . You won't get your endorphins back from that .
So that's why you have to do something in the real world.
Franziska:
Yes, very good plan. It's a good lead - in to my last question. Real world versus digital world: How do you deal with these new developments with AI? So, as an illustrator and as a creative entrepreneur, how do you deal with this technical development?
Daniel:
So in my own practice I have a policy that I don't want to use it just because I'm not interested. But what I am also aware of is that the borders will disappear . Well, now there's Photoshop, where you can just have it done in landscape format, and of course you've gotten to the point where you say at some point: Do you want to work on it for three more hours now or do you have it generated now … well, in my opinion, the boundaries will soften there.
But for me … I described it to someone like this: If someone has a prompt that says “ Frog in the spaceship from the 1950s and what do I know ” , then I think: Yes , lets go ! I want to do that ! So, let's see what and where we get out of it. I have zero interest in putting that into this program because I've been doing it every day for over ten years and I have my own ways and methods for doing it .
Maybe something interesting will come out of it, also in terms of composition or something interesting for me, but I want to do it and not let the computer do it.
So my interest in it is relatively low. Yes, and then of course you could ask again: will that take away jobs at some point? There is perhaps my fatalistic answer: Many of us have acquired these skills to create images on a high level. If at some point there is no longer any room for that, then perhaps it will be the ship with which we, as dinosaurs, go down.
But at the same time, I think a lot of the skills we've learned along the way are still super valuable in other areas.
Or is there an area at some point where there is oversaturation , where it has a certain premium status that someone still made it by hand . Or does it have an impact on how things look that we somehow find a distinctly different aesthetic in our handmade things that aren't reproducible like that ... it's all in flux ... it's all softening and there are no binary answers to it.
Franziska:
So true. Yes, I think the focus on one's own expertise and skills is simply very helpful. It's changing at such a rapid pace that the answer can't be simple. But it can't simply mean: Now you have to learn prompts or learn prompts in order to be able to continue working as an illustrator . I don't think that's how it works.
Focusing on one's own competencies is the only principle we can do . Maybe even think about what you can do with it. So you just said that you are not at all interested in integrating that into your work process.
Are there a few areas that are not the concept, but maybe just hard work , where you would say : Okay, if it all went faster all of a sudden , that would be cool . Because : I have that. I have a few works that I don't think are cool at all. I have to stop. But if I could somehow do it faster that I wouldn't have to sit there for two hours scrubbing everything ... I often make structures like this, I just have to scrub them ... if it could just go faster , that would be cool.
Daniel:
Theoretically , I could imagine that, but given the current state of the technology, I see it more as if I might have something generated and that's 70 % good and then I'll do another 30 % rework, which is even more unsatisfactory than this time-consuming manual work. And so, it's not interesting at the moment, but yeah, for me it's just such a completely different way of making pictures.
That's not to say ... it 's not a judgement, but it feels very different for me to generate images like this than what I do. Although perhaps the results are similar .
I also have such a positive spin on these things. I did a workshop with teenagers, so a cure for digital drawing on iPads, and next door was an AI workshop where the kids generated faces and then somehow projected them onto their own faces.
And we had a basic digital drawing class, like " design your spaceship, your costume , your ... yes, your character " ... and the kids could choose to do AI or digital drawing. Some have also done both.
There was no competition and not a single child came to the digital drawing course and asked: why are we drawing now? Can’t we just generate it?
That's not up for debate at all . So doing these drawings yourself and finding out: Oh, I can draw faster here, I can experiment with colors more easily than or at least faster than in the analogue field. Oh, there are layers here and I can insert a photo here or I can correct something here. These are all things that have such a strong attraction that we, who work with these things on a daily basis, are perhaps no longer aware of.
And yes, it wasn't even up for debate that someone says: You can generate all of that.
Franziska:
Yes, drawing is just fun sometimes . Drawing is fun . But it's not just fun . That's what's so exciting ... Drawing also generates knowledge while you 're drawing or drawing something, and you're also exploring in a certain way in this process.
When I start making an illustration, what I have in my head is often different than what comes out in the end. Because the process also has an influence on the result. So I can't say at the beginning: I want a frog in a spaceship with a striped costume . I might say that at the beginning, but in the end I just want a frog in a ship with a big rainbow , because the process is super important to crawl into the topic.
Things change and I think that's really beautiful and that's just something ... that doesn't exist in this form when generating images . Maybe different.
Daniel:
Yes, they are such different worlds. That says nothing about the legitimacy of the stuff and I also understand the appeal of AI because people who haven't engaged at all with this path that many of us are on can now suddenly generate their ideas . This is of course a super impressive tool ... and I see that attraction ... but what does it mean to me , someone who just needs to sit down and has found another way to do it.
And I've been observing myself for ten years, how the things I do develop and how people understand each other better and how things change . It might be some navel-gazing or self-observation. But it's actually enough for me to see how I develop myself .
Yes, if you think about it , 2019 is the last year ... so the golden age of human-generated content on the internet. Because that hasn't been watered down by AI yet. And would the next generation developers be happy just feeding this AI machine with AI-generated images ? I don't think so, won‘t there be generation loss. And as technological and as mechanical as that sounds now, but that shows the value of man-made work. This is needed to feed this machine .
Everything we've done over the last few years is worth its weight in gold, so to speak.
Franziska:
Yes , that's it, yes. We'll see where that leads . At a terrific speed.
Thank you very much Daniel for being here today and for sharing your knowledge with us. Thank you . And that we actually saw each other here. crazy . _ Thank you very much .
Daniel:
Thank you.