Battre l'IA (Midjourney) même quand tu dessines avec les pieds #podcast

Hi, so today, a new little podcast on how to beat artificial intelligence. You know, the one that generates images, illustrations, concept art, lots of images in five seconds, not even, and which is already replacing lots of artists in the audiovisual production chain. And so maybe you're wondering how to evolve in a world where you're going to be replaced, how to evolve in a world where there are things that do a lot better than you, and how are you going to get out of it? Do you have to change your job? Do you have to do it differently? Well, of course, you have to do it differently. So I'm going to explain to you in this podcast how you could develop yourself, precisely by your style, your singularity, and how to create an authority from what you are. You'll see, it's not really complicated and you won't need to draw better. Because I think a lot of people will say to themselves, oh shit, there's the AI that does a lot better than me, I have to draw even more, I have to draw even more, I have to draw even more. Yes, of course, you have to draw even more because you never draw enough. But in another way, and you'll see, I'll explain all that to you in this podcast. So first of all, what you need to understand is that you could never beat the AI now, because the AI has exponential growth. Obviously, you too, as an artist, you progress exponentially, but not as fast. That is, you cannot change your style overnight. Obviously, you can understand the components, the components, that is to say the drawers of style that make up a wardrobe, the elements, that's it, the elements of style. Well, there are a lot of English words, so I'm trying to find the right word. The elements that make up the visual style of an image. I made a video on that, it's Find Your Style. But hey, I'll give you a quick summary. It's that you have several different styles and you can understand what makes up a style and what is aesthetic. And the problem is that nowadays people think that aesthetics is realism. It's the details and all that. You will understand that if you look closely at the people who live by their art. Well, obviously, there are a lot of people who live by their art, by their technique, by their drawing skills, which are incredible. Like Kim Jong-gi, who else, well, a lot of artists, even concept artists. You know, those who do the backgrounds for cartoons and all that. Well, these are people who draw super, super, super well. Obviously, if you're good, why not do like them? Why try to beat the AI? But another way to do it is to do the opposite of the AI. It's mostly about simplification. You know, since I've been looking for simplification in my drawings. Well, simplification, stylization. It's a bit, it's not the same, but it's more or less the same. It's how to represent something with as little detail as possible. And you have a lot of artists who do that, like Rob Proppel, whom I like a lot. You see, it's an artist concept who worked for Naughty Dog. I think he was artistic director of Naughty Dog. So it's Naughty Dog, Uncharted 1 and 2, 3, I think. And suddenly, you see, it's a license that's super, super realistic. So, and he comes from Disney and all that. And he has a very simple style. And that's where you ask yourself the question, how can you do simple things to make it realistic? In fact, I thought it was simple things. I mean, simple in the design, that is to say, it's not really easy to draw. But it's more in the reflection, in the design, in the purification, in the purity of the form. And that's it, that's super, super hard. And every time I see an artist who has managed to find a simple form of representation, I get a little tear in my eye. I say, damn it, I've been trying to find a simplification for years. I say it with tears in my eyes. Just earlier, that's why I'm doing this podcast. Just earlier, I saw a Disney artist who published a painting of a woman. Magnificent. Magnificent, because I have a hard time simplifying. And there, I see the guy, he simplified it. But in fact, I think he has at least 40 years of experience. And he just did a little study and it brought me tears to my eyes. And I don't think the AI can do that. Because for now, at least, the AI, for it to work, it needs complex things, precisely to hide misery. And it's good too, beginners, when they draw, I have this impression there. Well, maybe they don't have the impression. But what I see is that the more they try to hide misery. And suddenly, they are in a learning process that is rather complex, which is rather laborious. And I, well, I'm 30 years old now. And in fact, I think that young people, I'm talking to young people, but maybe no one older. But me, as I have, let's say, I have an expertise now. Now, let's say, I have an expert level in a field, at least. And there, in fact, the more I understand, the less I understand things, let's say. And that's why I notice that people who are even better than me, there I see things that I didn't see when I was in my twenties, for example. And in fact, what I see, what they do above all, is that they are looking for simplicity. They are looking for how to do things simpler, with less energy, but to communicate even better, to give more style. And in fact, they have a leverage effect on their style. And there too, you have to find your own way, let's say, your own style, in your way of learning, in your way of being inspired. Besides, I'll do a little podcast on how to manage your knowledge. And that could help you. Because I often took notes, collected images, because I wanted to do my style and all that, I collect a lot of images. But that's okay, I'll tell you more next time. So subscribe to the YouTube channel or the podcast, something like that. That way you'll have the video. Because there are a lot of things to say about that. And I think it will help you a lot in terms of learning. So you will spend a lot more time in action than in intellectual masturbation. And so, of course, you improve more compared to others who are, I don't know, looking for how to find images, how to pin images on Pinterest instead of drawing. And I'll explain everything to you. The arguments will make you want to less intellectualize things and draw more. And so, this simplification, I also invite you to look at my Instagram. Because you will see how I simplified my style. And finally, we get to reflections. You know, when you remove the complexity of a drawing, the technicality of a drawing, you leave a lot more to creativity, because you're facing design. And design is much more important. Because design brings an idea, it brings a vision, a vision, a communication to the other person. And that's what's most important. And the more you manage to find a design that communicates, the more you touch, let's say, the eye, and if you do even better, the heart of people. And that's what I like to say to my clients. I mean, I'm not crazy. In fact, I don't do things to touch people's eyes, not to make them beautiful, not to make them pretty. And then they start to blink, they don't understand what I'm talking about. I'm here to help you touch the heart of your audience. And then they really understand my interest and my desire to please them, not them first, but above all to please the people who play their game, the people who watch their movies, the people who watch their images. And that's what I sell. Finally, they're pretty happy, they're reassured, they're happy. And even when you communicate with customers, you say, Oh, well, look at this, okay, you like that, and you absolutely want that, but look at your audience. And I have this impression that they prefer this more, this more, this more. And look, in the style like that, in the style like that, I have the impression that there are more likes, and so on, you see. And you really refine things and you adapt at the same time. Obviously, since you're a designer, an artist who works for something, so you're going to serve, let's say, what I call the final customer. And not the client who pays you to spread the image. And this style, you have to simplify it, you have to understand who you're selling it to, well, who you're selling it to, who you're drawing it to, and who you're going to look at your drawings to. And you'll see that you don't need to be complex, you don't need complexity. If you also look at, for example, the drawings of Joan Soir, well, now he's very visible on Instagram at the moment because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I don't have an opinion on that, I'd rather not talk about it. But, well, he's the one who makes me think, because given his reaction, since he's Jewish, it's a lot of trouble for him in both camps. He's neutral, all of a sudden, and I have a lot of respect for his vision. But you see that, in addition, he has his own exposition at the same time. It's really bad for him, but we don't care about that, basically. But you'll see that if you look at, for example, the Rabbi's cat, all of his universe, if you look at the drawing alone, it's really ugly. I showed that to Vietnamese friends, and I said, I love it, I love his style and everything. They say, yeah, but it's really ugly. You see, but, well, let's just say that on display, it's ugly, you see, just the cat, he has a rat design, you know. But if you put the cat, plus, I think it's Esmeralda, and all of his universe, in fact, it makes something fabulous, because there's also the narration. The narration is really, really important. And so, Joan, what I like is that, since his designs are simple, he's not demanding on the drawing, he doesn't give a shit if you like it or not, but in the end, you still like it, because the story, well, his style serves his story, and in the end, you see, everything is focused on a good narration. And I think that, if you want to beat the AI, first of all, you have to create images that tell stories, in your own way, of course, because right now, well, already, when I say, for example, in the AI, I wrote the prompt, well, I want, well, it's an example, normally, the prompt is more complicated than that, but, well, for example, I say, I wrote a blog post, so I want to create an image to illustrate this blog post, I write, well, I want painters who are in a drawing studio, in a manga style, who are drawing a living model, you see, you can't, you can't illustrate that, well, you can't ask the AI, because it won't understand anything, it will put, it will put, already, the same, the same head, and people who draw on the same paper, you see, that means you have 30 hands on the same paper, with only one horse, and so, it still doesn't understand the narration. I think that, even in 10, 20, 30 years, it won't understand the narration. Why is that? It's because, you see, well, the AI, how it works, it goes on Google, and it does image searches, and it compares images, so, for example, it knows that this is a guitar, and it goes to look for the guitars, so it's very factual, and it's complicated, to answer, maybe, on the unique poses, you see, if you have to do just one character who shoots with a gun, and who shoots, who shoots right, left, something like that, it understands. On the other hand, if you say that, well, it's an air, it's a, how to say, it's a troll, it's a, it's a cave troll who holds a shotgun, there, it could do it to you, but, on the other hand, if you do a cave troll who holds a shotgun, who shoots at Nazis, from the WWII, in 1945, in a steampunk style, there, it will have a little more trouble, and, on top of that, with a Zeppelin, who spits and everything, in fact, there, it won't be able to do it, and there's only one artist, one human being, who could do that, only one human being who could find good compositions to do that, maybe, later, it could do it, we never know, but I think that, if you develop your narration now, you'll be ahead on the AI, because, let's say, it's really a triangle, the style, the narration, and how you convey your universe, which will allow you to be unique, to be unique, and therefore, to be a singularity. The singularity is that you cultivate your way of being, let's say, different from the others, and how... and not really trying to do like the others, even if... What I mean is that, often, people are blocked by the fact of finding their style and all that, but, I think that, already, the AI is inspired by what we do, in our way of making an image, so, you go on the internet, or you look in your memory, and so, in your memory, what is it? Well, it's images you've seen, and also what you can do with your hands, and that's why, the more you practice, the more you develop your style, the more, in fact, for me, the more you practice, the more you draw, and, in fact, the better you draw in your brain, in your memory, images, precisely, that you've already seen, and, as you go along, as you go along, in fact, you make sketches, you make sketches, you remember your sketches, and, in the end, you develop your style from your sketches. And so, you have to draw, you have to draw a lot, but, I think you don't need, you know, when you draw, to look for performance, to look for realism, but, really, to try to cultivate, well, I've been saying your mistakes, but, the good mistakes, let's say, it's because, by making a lot of drawings, by making a lot of sketches, that there will be one drawing that you'll like, and you'll start again, and, sometimes, you'll find things, representations, often, I, you know, I often draw a single color, in blue, the blue of this pen, with this pen, and, often, I manage to find, so, it's an ink, in a way, it's an inking with a single value, and, so, I love to draw like that, it's because it puts me in front of simple things, and it makes me want to draw even more, you know, I don't need a tablet, iPad, with the Apple Pencil to draw, or a lot of colors, put the color of the watercolor, and all that, I keep it simple, basic, there's no friction to draw, I look for much simpler things, and figurative, so, I only have one value, how do I represent the leaves, how do I represent this bush, and that's what, in fact, allows you to develop your style and your singularity, because the more you draw, the more you'll find graphic elements in your style, and you'll develop it, develop it, and that's how you'll develop your singularity. There are other singularity points, too, that are interesting, it's developing your universe, your artistic universe, your narrative universe, and, why not, for example, I had a student who wanted to make her comic, so, she developed her character, a lot of characters, but her, after, it was very good, it was very good, it created something really unique in what she was doing, in addition, she had a rather naive style, but it worked very well, there was a whole, and all that, but, well, after, what I found a shame with her, is that she was afraid to show what she was doing, well, now, in fact, if you want to beat AI, you have to show the things you do, and, obviously, you can be copied by AI, but you don't care, because, as I said in the last podcast, if you get copied, it means that you're on the right track, it means that you're in the AI's trust, so you'll be in the others' trust, because there are people who typed your name, and so, as the AI gets updated, they'll look for your name, and they'll take your images, and they'll integrate them in their database, and, well, at the same time, it's bad for the artist, but we don't give a shit, well, I mean, everyone copies other people, and everyone doesn't want to admit it, and, well, I think people forget that they copied others, so that's why they say that they never copied, I copied everything on everyone, well, inspired, in quotes, the sentence, I think, the sentence, well, my Picasso's heart, I think it's, what, it's an artist, a good or a bad artist copies and a good artist steals, well, it means, it's really that, and, well, there are many ways to develop your singularity, so I tell you your universe, your graphic universe, what you tell in your stories, and there's also something that's good, that what I love, there are a lot of artists who are known for that, it's by their characters, and why not develop a little comic on Instagram, for example, a little character, you see, it's a character that you redraw all the time, almost, well, the character, you can develop it, of course, but you draw it all the time, all the time, all the time, and in different positions, different clothes, different styles, different interactions, and that's what's funny, it's that you'll make it evolve, at the same time, it'll evolve with your style, with your skills too, because you'll draw it maybe differently, better and better, if you look at One Piece, you see, Nami, I like to say that Nami, at the beginning, in the first episodes, Nami is a secondary character of One Piece, of the manga, of the manga of... I don't remember, I don't remember, you see, at the beginning, she had a hat A, and now she has a hat D, you see, it means that the breasts are getting bigger and bigger, and, you see, the character evolves, and we're not afraid, the design evolves too, even the haircut evolves, it's better and better drawn, it's better and better drawn, even in a sexy way, ah, there, it's Oda, and by the way, Oda even, let's say, he did his little thing, in the last arc, I'm not spoiling you, in the last arc, he said he was having fun, well, so, the outfits, there was a theme, the outfits, all the girls were in bikinis, in panties, and so he said, he admitted that he had a lot of fun drawing the buttocks, and, it means that he drew the buttocks better and better, you see, so, well, you shouldn't be afraid to show the bad drawings, you're going to give, well, you're going to progress, you're going to draw better and better, as time goes by, in addition, people will see your evolution, they're going to like it, in addition, and that's where it's good, and you develop your character, different, different, how to say, different emotions of your character, and people will, well, I wouldn't say they'll get attached, but they're going to have a certain sympathy, they're going to subscribe to your Instagram account, for example, and to follow the adventure with you, why not, and maybe to want to do things like you, and that's what's good, and that's what, in the end, you're going to create an authority, an authority, it means that you're going to, in a way, create a name, create an audience that's going to follow you for the story you're telling, after, not necessarily a true story, but really people who follow you for your evolution, that is, who see that you make drawings that interest them, and why not also show them, for example, when you draw on Procreate, when you draw colors, or even film yourself, film yourself drawing, that's what I do. By the way, I have to admit that I'm one of the most expensive drawing teachers, and even when I announce my fees, people are shocked, but they want to know how to be my students, and, you see, because I created a certain form of connection, maybe I helped them at some point, I helped them at some point on one of the problems they had in their art, and they have a certain form of sympathy, of respect, and they absolutely want to learn my drawing, because they know that I'm not going to waste their time, I'm not going to put them in a bad direction, and on top of that, they agree with my direction, because everything is online, and so, even if I'm expensive, compared to, well, expensive doesn't mean anything, but compared to a normal drawing teacher, they know that with me, they're not going to waste their time, and in the end, to be more profitable, because there's a direction over there, we're going to go there together, and you're going to make it, and I know you can do it, there's a certain form of motivation behind it, and you too, you could do that by sharing your timelapse, drawing on Procreate, you know, you do a little reel, you put a little music, you put it on TikTok, and so on, and as you go along, people like to watch that, they like to learn, to see how you progress in your drawing, progress in the sense, how you do it from A to Z, but also how you progress in a way, in your skills, and people are going to love it. That's what's happening with me, so you, certainly with you too, and with the others too, and so you create a certain form of value, people are going to follow you for that, and that's great, and so, by doing that, you create a relationship, and the relationship, you see, IA can't do that. And I think that later, everything that's relational will be much more important, even if we have friends in IA at the moment, but people, it's weird, you see, people don't like that, obviously, there's always a niche of people who like that, and so, the relationship that I develop with you, you see, it's a value, and you know me better and better, compared to the others, and so, you see, every time I'm going to tell something, you're going to take more importance on a subject, for example, I tell you that simplicity is really important, with all the artistic baggage I have, you see, you're going to take a lot more importance, you see, if it's an IA that tells you that, you don't care, you see, if there's an IA that makes your sport program, or, I want to tell you, you prefer that it's an IA that makes a sport program for you, or an IA, or a person who made a sport program for 100 people. Me, I prefer an expert person who made a sport program for 100 people, than an IA who made it especially for me, because I know that the person, she thought about several parameters, a lot more parameters, and at least she lived, she experimented, you see, because we see a lot of things in life, or even, especially with COVID, you see, on paper, there were experiments that were good, but in the end, when you apply that in real life, it doesn't work. And I think it will be the same for the IA, and, inevitably, what does that mean? It means that you, on your side, you have to practice, you shouldn't give up, but practice in another way. Don't bother to learn how to draw better to draw better, but learn how to draw to design better, to communicate your art better, to tell stories better, and I think that's where you'll rather, instead of making a shock in people's eyes, you'll make people's eyes blur, but make them rather feel things, make them cry, make them laugh, make them smarter, why not? That's what I do, well, at least I try, and I think that's what will allow you to beat the IA. For example, Les Fables de la Fontaine, you see, those six stories, you know, we remember the stories and we remember the universes. Les Fables de la Fontaine, he created a whole universe on that, and in my opinion, you, if you do the same thing as Mr. Fontaine, but with your drawings, well, it will mark people a lot better, and it will give content, and people will want to learn a lot more, they will learn a lot more, it creates a habit, and that's it. So, a little aside, here, I'm doing another recording for you, which is one night after the podcast you're listening to. When I talk about audience, it's what we call a lever effect on your brand, in a way, so we're going to say that, if I sum it up well, I don't have the context anymore, but when you have an audience, people who follow you, you have value, it's much easier for you to have clients, in the sense that they're going to see what you're doing, they're going to have confidence in your ability to make images that people love, and even if you want to become an illustrator and author-illustrator, for example, to make a comic book or a graphic novel, you already have an audience, and so, you don't need, for example, to have editors, you make your book, and you offer it on Amazon, and people can order it, yes, it's printed and all that, and you see, it's very practical to do that, and to make a little name for yourself, step by step, a bit like me, you see, I have a small audience, if I want to launch a coaching, a training, well, it's pretty easy, and then I have, let's say, my audience too now, it's my network, I can ask to find work for me, to help people, and as you go along, you build it like that. But especially at the beginning, when you're in a learning period, it's not bad to show what you're learning on Instagram, and even if you don't have a like, you don't care, it's just taking pictures, publish, and with your friends, and also bring your friends to chat about it, on Instagram, it's going to feed all that, even on TikTok, I don't know, but show yourself, and you'll see that you'll always have, well, you'll obviously have haters, but you'll see that the benefit you're going to have is much bigger, but really bigger, than a few haters who criticize your drawings. I don't know how to conclude that, I think that was the conclusion, and, well, anyway, so I'm summarizing a little bit of everything, so really, if you want to beat AI, I think for the years to come, it's stop trying to draw better, that's why I don't want to teach drawing anymore, in quotes, to teach drawing, to make drawing videos instead, you can find it everywhere on the internet, to learn how to draw, what I would like to teach, it's mostly to understand the style, understand the visual, and think about how to make a visual, for me, it's rather that, that drives me right now, and because, well, actually, I'm more excited for, not to teach drawing, but how I could simplify my teaching, to teach drawing, so that people learn faster. Actually, that's what excites me, it's the optimization of the process, how to make a person learn to draw much faster than to teach himself. So it's a form of selfishness, that's what excites me, and you, let's say, we don't care. And that's what we want, and that's what, I think, that will create a big difference between those who try to draw always better, because, well, they'll be picking it up, because they'll take, well, they'll put all their learning energy into learning how to draw better, for example, learning anatomy, when it's not the time yet. Anatomy, you learn it much later, when you have a more developed eye. Keep developing your eye, observe things, redraw them in a different way, in a much simpler way, or learn to simplify them, to redesign them. Design, design, design, design, that's very, very, very important, design, design, design, reformulate things. There you go, if you want to learn things well, you have to learn to reformulate. That's what I've always been told, and actually, in drawing, it's the same, when you see something, when you draw an observation, try to reformulate your observation to be able to develop your style, and by developing your style, you're going to develop your singularity, and if you share all that, well, you're going to create an audience, you're going to create value, and you're going to create a good relationship. And with that, I'll see you in the next podcast. And if you liked it, don't hesitate to comment and share your opinion, and tell me if I was clear or not clear enough, so that I can improve. And with that, I'll see you later.