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Musings on Generation: Skill vs "Skill"
2 weeks ago
General
Recently, I had a minor ephiphone that I couldn't articulate til now, and will explain it through a reference to Pirates of the Caribbean.
How can we sail to an island that nobody can find, with a compass that doesn't work?
One of the criticisms leveled against generation is that it's not good because it doesn't take any skill. Anyone can just type "1girl, big booba anime waifu" into a generator, and get something out. I both agree and disagree with the skill argument.
Aye. The compass doesn't point north...
When viewed through a strictly artistic technique / knowledge lens, the criticism applies, and I agree with it; No skill is needed. Generation doesn't strictly require any knowledge of drawing elements (line, shape, form, color, value, space, texture, etc), nor does it require practice to learn. That's all baked in. That doesn't mean knowledge of said elements isn't useful. It's just not in the forefront.
So, how can I say I both disagree and agree with the skill criticism? Well...
... but we're not trying to find north, now are we?
Consider the following. When you're describing something, the way you describe what you're seeing only applies to you. It's subjective. The same description will have a different result when someone (or in this case, something) reads it. You don't know how what you said will be interpreted, or even if it was understood until you get some kind of feedback (whether it be a reply, or the output picture). If the result isn't what you want, then you can either try again, or change what you said. That second one... the ability to alter your description, your word choice, to guide who or what you're interacting with to your desired outcome, is where my point lies.
Drawing skill isn't required, communication skill is.
Consider "1girl, big booba anime waifu" from earlier. Yes... to a person, and when viewed through an artistic lens, that's low skill effortless copypasta garbage, and will yield such. However, it's not intended for you. It's not your 'north'. On the flipside, an overly verbose description may evoke a specific image to you, but is wasted if the other party doesn't understand it. This is why this aspect of generation feels weird to talk about; the perceived required skill set is completely different from one it partially requires. More simply: The skill set needed to draw a line is different than the skill set needed to tell someone how to draw the same line.
I will concede, and it's my opinion, that communication like that takes less skill than learning how to draw. However, less doesn't mean 0. Perceptual 0 isn't the same as actual 0.
That said, the only way to get an image 1:1 out of your head and on to paper... is to do it yourself by whatever means. Everything other method, regardless of how you get to the result, will be an approximation.
Regardless, I also agree that said content doesn't have a place here. Not my house, not my rules, and I'm not going to bend over backwards to convince anyone otherwise.
/endofrant.
How can we sail to an island that nobody can find, with a compass that doesn't work?
One of the criticisms leveled against generation is that it's not good because it doesn't take any skill. Anyone can just type "1girl, big booba anime waifu" into a generator, and get something out. I both agree and disagree with the skill argument.
Aye. The compass doesn't point north...
When viewed through a strictly artistic technique / knowledge lens, the criticism applies, and I agree with it; No skill is needed. Generation doesn't strictly require any knowledge of drawing elements (line, shape, form, color, value, space, texture, etc), nor does it require practice to learn. That's all baked in. That doesn't mean knowledge of said elements isn't useful. It's just not in the forefront.
So, how can I say I both disagree and agree with the skill criticism? Well...
... but we're not trying to find north, now are we?
Consider the following. When you're describing something, the way you describe what you're seeing only applies to you. It's subjective. The same description will have a different result when someone (or in this case, something) reads it. You don't know how what you said will be interpreted, or even if it was understood until you get some kind of feedback (whether it be a reply, or the output picture). If the result isn't what you want, then you can either try again, or change what you said. That second one... the ability to alter your description, your word choice, to guide who or what you're interacting with to your desired outcome, is where my point lies.
Drawing skill isn't required, communication skill is.
Consider "1girl, big booba anime waifu" from earlier. Yes... to a person, and when viewed through an artistic lens, that's low skill effortless copypasta garbage, and will yield such. However, it's not intended for you. It's not your 'north'. On the flipside, an overly verbose description may evoke a specific image to you, but is wasted if the other party doesn't understand it. This is why this aspect of generation feels weird to talk about; the perceived required skill set is completely different from one it partially requires. More simply: The skill set needed to draw a line is different than the skill set needed to tell someone how to draw the same line.
I will concede, and it's my opinion, that communication like that takes less skill than learning how to draw. However, less doesn't mean 0. Perceptual 0 isn't the same as actual 0.
That said, the only way to get an image 1:1 out of your head and on to paper... is to do it yourself by whatever means. Everything other method, regardless of how you get to the result, will be an approximation.
Regardless, I also agree that said content doesn't have a place here. Not my house, not my rules, and I'm not going to bend over backwards to convince anyone otherwise.
/endofrant.
Mapper
~mapper
