The Afghan Girl

Ai generative interpretation of 'The Afghan Girl' by Steve McCurry
With all the hate and dis-information that is going around about Ai art, I am posting this. I am not claiming this art style is my own, nor am I claiming any property of the image it is interpreted from. It was just a small project that was inspired by Sam Yang's disinformation video posted on Youtube. This is not from his style and in fact it was actually quite difficult to achieve the final image. I probably took about an hour to get it to this point. I tried on many occasions to just input the prompt and recreate it from there, still, I could not after many, many failures. Finally, I just borrowed the original image from the internet and pasted it into the img2img application where I tweaked and refined it until it is in the state you see before you. It is not perfect in any sense but I am pleased with the final image and I think it's an appropriate portrait for this time in Ai Generative art's timeline. I have been drawing all my life and have found great fulfilment in just sketching anything that takes my fancy, Ai art is just another expression of appreciating those who came before me and inspired me. Those artists that really do not understand how Ai Generative artworks really need to chill out and embrace the future. Ai art is a great tool with so many advantages and benefits, you could easily use it to concept out your work and work from there. It's amazing for generating backgrounds and common scenes, it's nothing like replicating everything that you can see on the internet. If you want an exact replica then you're in for a shock and a long road of work and disappointment ahead. You could generate a thousand images and still not get that perfect image. If I had the equipment and the time I could easily touch it up in an art package. So here it is in its raw form, like it, dislike it, it makes no difference to me as the creation itself was what gave me the satisfaction. To all those Ai art haters out there that do not know how it actually works, you're no better than the internet bullies that drive people to suicide. Think of the people that love to make these images and enjoy them for what they are, and the ones that have disadvantages and disabilities deterring them from doing something that they have always wanted to make or perhaps lost their ability to draw. If you were an amazing artist and someday you got hit by a drunk driver and lost the motor skill in your drawing arm, how depressed would you feel if you could never draw again, losing something you love and then a miracle came along, a computer program that could help you make beautiful art once again but then a large group of ignorant individuals came along and rained on your parade wanting to ruin your enjoyment. How would that make you feel? You all need to get along with us, don't destroy something that gives others great pleasure. Yes, there are some people out there that create images that are offensive to the majority of us, but they're in the minority and nothing can stop them from doing so, I have seen some disturbing images online generated by these individuals, they're unpleasant so I choose not to look. If there was no Ai art, they'd probably be out there torturing small animals or hurting small children, isn't it safer to let them act out their fantasies in their own little world? In short, if you're an artist, try it out. I'm not suggesting the paid sites, I'm talking about Stable Diffusion. I am sure that once you try it, you'll find there are joys to be found. Rant over, I hope you all have a good day, play nice and be friends or else I'll have to spank you!