Hi Subscriber,
Let's talk about authenticity for a hot minute.
That's my own faux-pearl necklace that I bought for my mother with box tops when I was nine. It sits on top of a recreated ad from the late 1960s that I printed out and captured on my phone's camera this morning at about 3am.
I plan to paint that necklace soon to go along with a story I wrote for the Memoirs Of A Lastling collection.
But I will NOT be using that particular ad in the background.
Why?
That ad was recreated using Chatgpt from a scant few cues I gave it this morning in the wee hours.
I wanted to verify that I remembered right, that the necklace I have in my hands was the exact type purchased by the Kelloggs cereal company by the thousands for a mail-in promotion back in the mid-1960s.
Indeed it is. In fact, the ad looks very much like I remembered.
I've said before that while ai can be a valuable research tool, I'm not fond of the way it's often used to replace genuine effort, such as writing a kid's term paper for him, or creating digital art as a shortcut for actual skill.
Just type in a few prompts and Voila! a fully fleshed-out story or painting appears within seconds, the details gleaned from thousands of public social media posts and published manuscripts. I've seen and read enough of them out of curiosity to recognize the smarmy cookie-cutter patterns.
NOT FOR ME!
If you've followed me on Facebook and look back at some very old posts, you'll see that I've been writing my own stuff from my own very real memories since before ai became accessible to the masses.
My style, sometimes eloquent and sometimes peppered with snarky idioms and regional vernacular, is my own. I deliberately invent words and misspell sometimes to make a point, which drives spellcheck nuts. GOOD!
So when ai asked me if I wanted it to write a short notation about the necklace's history to go along with the ad it recreated, I was half tempted to reveal that I'd already written the whole back-story and invite it to take a long walk off a short pier.
But that would be rude, even when talking to a robot.
Instead I simply said, "No thank you," and clicked away.
I will continue to write and paint my own stuff, from my own heart, using my own memories as inspiration.
And the ad? I'll use one in the painting of the necklace... IF I can find and purchase the real thing on Ebay.
Aren't we all hungry for something real?
Whatever you're doing this morning, open a window and let in a little birdsong.
Now THAT's real!
Jan
P.S. More progress on the two egg paintings next week along with
a new artwork release.
