So I’ve seen plenty of artwork from my illustrators that weren’t in their final form. But while illustrating my third Phillip & Bonzo book, the illustrator sent me an unfinished illustration that stood out from the rest. She had a question about what I wanted exactly in the picture, and sent me what she had done so far to see if she was doing it right. This picture stood out to me because unlike the other pictures that were clearly finished or at least finished in some stage that was ready for me to see, this particular picture was clearly not. Not only was it not colored, but it was clearly just a sketch. You could still see markings on the page to help establish where certain facial features were. The lines were dirty. Certain details weren’t added yet. It was clearly a very incomplete illustration, and it was only shown to me for clarification on how I wanted the picture. And yet, I love that picture. It’s one of my favorites.

But why? Again, it’s difficult to explain, but when I look at that picture, I don’t just see the illustration. I see a work in progress, work that takes effort, skill, dedication, and passion. The imperfect nature of the picture reminds me that there’s a person behind that picture, working hard to make a complete work of art. And she’s doing it all to fulfill a dream of mine. It’s a peek into a wonderful journey from a blank sheet of paper to a finished product. When I look at it, I am reminded of early sketches of cartoons, and their beginnings. I look at this picture, and it makes me think of Walt Disney drawing his Mickey Mouse, or it makes me think of the simple illustrations of Winnie the Pooh from early publications, and I think about their beginnings, and what a journey it was for those characters to become so popular as they are today. And now it’s my turn. It’s my turn to have such a beginning and a journey. And having this picture is a reminder to everyone of my beginning and journey.

Had I just made artificial intelligence do the work for me, I would have none of that. I’d be missing out on something special. I’m glad I chose not to use A.I. I’m glad I chose to hire an amazing illustrator who puts her heart into her work to create a true work of art. I wish that’s the way that everyone did it.

Additionally, if I use artificial intelligence for my books, they’re not really mine. Artificial intelligence created it, not me, and since a computer or machine can’t own anything, that means whatever art is created by A.I. shouldn’t belong to me; it should belong to the public. I can still use the work generated by A.I., but I shouldn’t be able to own it, and thus have exclusive rights to it. That means that any illustrations I have A.I. come up with for my children’s book should be able to be used by anyone for their books as well.

So I’ve seen plenty of artwork from my illustrators that weren’t in their final form. But while illustrating my third Phillip & Bonzo book, the illustrator sent me an unfinished illustration that stood out from the rest. She had a question about what I wanted exactly in the picture, and sent me what she had done so far to see if she was doing it right. This picture stood out to me because unlike the other pictures that were clearly finished or at least finished in some stage that was ready for me to see, this particular picture was clearly not. Not only was it not colored, but it was clearly just a sketch. You could still see markings on the page to help establish where certain facial features were. The lines were dirty. Certain details weren’t added yet. It was clearly a very incomplete illustration, and it was only shown to me for clarification on how I wanted the picture. And yet, I love that picture. It’s one of my favorites.

But why? Again, it’s difficult to explain, but when I look at that picture, I don’t just see the illustration. I see a work in progress, work that takes effort, skill, dedication, and passion. The imperfect nature of the picture reminds me that there’s a person behind that picture, working hard to make a complete work of art. And she’s doing it all to fulfill a dream of mine. It’s a peek into a wonderful journey from a blank sheet of paper to a finished product. When I look at it, I am reminded of early sketches of cartoons, and their beginnings. I look at this picture, and it makes me think of Walt Disney drawing his Mickey Mouse, or it makes me think of the simple illustrations of Winnie the Pooh from early publications, and I think about their beginnings, and what a journey it was for those characters to become so popular as they are today. And now it’s my turn. It’s my turn to have such a beginning and a journey. And having this picture is a reminder to everyone of my beginning and journey.

Had I just made artificial intelligence do the work for me, I would have none of that. I’d be missing out on something special. I’m glad I chose not to use A.I. I’m glad I chose to hire an amazing illustrator who puts her heart into her work to create a true work of art. I wish that’s the way that everyone did it.

Additionally, if I use artificial intelligence for my books, they’re not really mine. Artificial intelligence created it, not me, and since a computer or machine can’t own anything, that means whatever art is created by A.I. shouldn’t belong to me; it should belong to the public. I can still use the work generated by A.I., but I shouldn’t be able to own it, and thus have exclusive rights to it. That means that any illustrations I have A.I. come up with for my children’s book should be able to be used by anyone for their books as well.

So I’ve seen plenty of artwork from my illustrators that weren’t in their final form. But while illustrating my third Phillip & Bonzo book, the illustrator sent me an unfinished illustration that stood out from the rest. She had a question about what I wanted exactly in the picture, and sent me what she had done so far to see if she was doing it right. This picture stood out to me because unlike the other pictures that were clearly finished or at least finished in some stage that was ready for me to see, this particular picture was clearly not. Not only was it not colored, but it was clearly just a sketch. You could still see markings on the page to help establish where certain facial features were. The lines were dirty. Certain details weren’t added yet. It was clearly a very incomplete illustration, and it was only shown to me for clarification on how I wanted the picture. And yet, I love that picture. It’s one of my favorites.

But why? Again, it’s difficult to explain, but when I look at that picture, I don’t just see the illustration. I see a work in progress, work that takes effort, skill, dedication, and passion. The imperfect nature of the picture reminds me that there’s a person behind that picture, working hard to make a complete work of art. And she’s doing it all to fulfill a dream of mine. It’s a peek into a wonderful journey from a blank sheet of paper to a finished product. When I look at it, I am reminded of early sketches of cartoons, and their beginnings. I look at this picture, and it makes me think of Walt Disney drawing his Mickey Mouse, or it makes me think of the simple illustrations of Winnie the Pooh from early publications, and I think about their beginnings, and what a journey it was for those characters to become so popular as they are today. And now it’s my turn. It’s my turn to have such a beginning and a journey. And having this picture is a reminder to everyone of my beginning and journey.

Had I just made artificial intelligence do the work for me, I would have none of that. I’d be missing out on something special. I’m glad I chose not to use A.I. I’m glad I chose to hire an amazing illustrator who puts her heart into her work to create a true work of art. I wish that’s the way that everyone did it.

Additionally, if I use artificial intelligence for my books, they’re not really mine. Artificial intelligence created it, not me, and since a computer or machine can’t own anything, that means whatever art is created by A.I. shouldn’t belong to me; it should belong to the public. I can still use the work generated by A.I., but I shouldn’t be able to own it, and thus have exclusive rights to it. That means that any illustrations I have A.I. come up with for my children’s book should be able to be used by anyone for their books as well.

So I’ve seen plenty of artwork from my illustrators that weren’t in their final form. But while illustrating my third Phillip & Bonzo book, the illustrator sent me an unfinished illustration that stood out from the rest. She had a question about what I wanted exactly in the picture, and sent me what she had done so far to see if she was doing it right. This picture stood out to me because unlike the other pictures that were clearly finished or at least finished in some stage that was ready for me to see, this particular picture was clearly not. Not only was it not colored, but it was clearly just a sketch. You could still see markings on the page to help establish where certain facial features were. The lines were dirty. Certain details weren’t added yet. It was clearly a very incomplete illustration, and it was only shown to me for clarification on how I wanted the picture. And yet, I love that picture. It’s one of my favorites.

But why? Again, it’s difficult to explain, but when I look at that picture, I don’t just see the illustration. I see a work in progress, work that takes effort, skill, dedication, and passion. The imperfect nature of the picture reminds me that there’s a person behind that picture, working hard to make a complete work of art. And she’s doing it all to fulfill a dream of mine. It’s a peek into a wonderful journey from a blank sheet of paper to a finished product. When I look at it, I am reminded of early sketches of cartoons, and their beginnings. I look at this picture, and it makes me think of Walt Disney drawing his Mickey Mouse, or it makes me think of the simple illustrations of Winnie the Pooh from early publications, and I think about their beginnings, and what a journey it was for those characters to become so popular as they are today. And now it’s my turn. It’s my turn to have such a beginning and a journey. And having this picture is a reminder to everyone of my beginning and journey.

Had I just made artificial intelligence do the work for me, I would have none of that. I’d be missing out on something special. I’m glad I chose not to use A.I. I’m glad I chose to hire an amazing illustrator who puts her heart into her work to create a true work of art. I wish that’s the way that everyone did it.

Additionally, if I use artificial intelligence for my books, they’re not really mine. Artificial intelligence created it, not me, and since a computer or machine can’t own anything, that means whatever art is created by A.I. shouldn’t belong to me; it should belong to the public. I can still use the work generated by A.I., but I shouldn’t be able to own it, and thus have exclusive rights to it. That means that any illustrations I have A.I. come up with for my children’s book should be able to be used by anyone for their books as well.