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Looks Like I'm Obsolete...
a year ago
Today I just sat down after breakfast to start work on more comic pages and I flip through my Facebook feed and discover something that I had a feeling was going to happen ever since the year before last when a convention I had been doing art for, stopped contacting me.
It started simple. Last con year, they never contacted me after I gave them all the art they wanted, and as the con drew closer I finally ask them if I was getting a table to showcase the art. They claimed they "forgot" and therefore had no tables left and could put me on a "waitlist" to see if one would open up. Never happened. So a con I did art for several years ended up making me unable to attend. I mean who doesn't show appreciate their artists by giving them either a table or guest status?
After the con, I brought up a suggestion that instead of paying me all this money to make them art, they could just give me a table in the end. They said they'd look into it after they got stuff organized for the next con. After months of no messages, I see a post with their character in what can only be described as Genshin-style AI art. I'm unsure if it was really done by another real artist, but gut tells me I'm definitely replaced.
They found someone faster, or cheaper, or someone who could use AI to do their character. In a way, I'm devastated. I wanted to cry. I loved doing art for them but they didn't even come to me and say, "hey, we found someone else, thank you for all the work you did for us". No I just get silence. I'm very hurt that they couldn't have just told me that they didn't want to waste a table on me for art.
Doing art for local conventions in my state was something I was proud to do. I did convention art for years for Chimeracon when it was around, Shimacon for how short that con lived, character designs for San Japan when it first started, and now it was Kawacon. The character I designed for them was something I could get behind easily. I guess my art just doesn't cut it anymore. It feels like a huge kick to my pride as an artist and makes me wonder if I did something wrong. I still tear as I type this. I wished I was more successful....
It started simple. Last con year, they never contacted me after I gave them all the art they wanted, and as the con drew closer I finally ask them if I was getting a table to showcase the art. They claimed they "forgot" and therefore had no tables left and could put me on a "waitlist" to see if one would open up. Never happened. So a con I did art for several years ended up making me unable to attend. I mean who doesn't show appreciate their artists by giving them either a table or guest status?
After the con, I brought up a suggestion that instead of paying me all this money to make them art, they could just give me a table in the end. They said they'd look into it after they got stuff organized for the next con. After months of no messages, I see a post with their character in what can only be described as Genshin-style AI art. I'm unsure if it was really done by another real artist, but gut tells me I'm definitely replaced.
They found someone faster, or cheaper, or someone who could use AI to do their character. In a way, I'm devastated. I wanted to cry. I loved doing art for them but they didn't even come to me and say, "hey, we found someone else, thank you for all the work you did for us". No I just get silence. I'm very hurt that they couldn't have just told me that they didn't want to waste a table on me for art.
Doing art for local conventions in my state was something I was proud to do. I did convention art for years for Chimeracon when it was around, Shimacon for how short that con lived, character designs for San Japan when it first started, and now it was Kawacon. The character I designed for them was something I could get behind easily. I guess my art just doesn't cut it anymore. It feels like a huge kick to my pride as an artist and makes me wonder if I did something wrong. I still tear as I type this. I wished I was more successful....
