Will artists/painters be obsolete in the near future?

[Andy D]

With inexpensive programs like the one below, that can turn any image into a cool looking painting, once CNC machines advance and perfect different types of brush strokes ( video of a basic CNC painter in link),
it seems like someone with little-to-no artistic ability someone could pump out hundreds of original paintings a day & how would anyone know it was machine made?

https://openbuilds.com/builds/paintbot-painting-cnc.9266/

 

[Notarealsignguy]

No, most people cant tell the difference between a print and original or know the difference between watercolor and oil. The people that want original artwork wont change, the knockoffs may even work in their benefit. There are fake diamonds but people still want real ones.

 

[JetPress]

I think it will be kind of like what we are dealing with now. You'll get someone who wants a completely original business card or invitation or someone who just wants to pick something out of an already made template. An artist will have their own unique art style that I believe a generator can't fully replicate.

 

[Bobby H]

There is a giant difference between painting an image by hand versus applying a cheezy oil paint filter to a photograph.

I've seen professional landscape photographers do gallery shows where prints were output to types of canvas and either framed or just pulled and stapled over wood stretcher bars. But they weren't applying pretentious paint-like filters to their work.

Most professional painters in the fine arts scene and professional illustrators who draw and paint by hand do various things to the imagery that cannot be created in a camera, much less some $15 photo filter. They get away from photo-realism using a wide variety of approaches.

Computers are growing ever faster and more powerful. But they're still hamstrung in a bunch of areas, such as being able to understand the sorts of abstract factors that go into artistic creativity. A bunch of that has more to do with gut feeling than math. Even simple visual problems will elude computers. Photoshop has been around for over 30 years and it still can't create a proper 3D chisel effect on letters without bowling out all the corners. It takes human decision to know how to treat the corners and letter joins. That's what makes it easy to tell the difference between a sign with hand-carved prismatic letters versus something made automatic on a routing table. The notion of a computer making a piece of fine art from scratch is a whole other quantum realm.

However, there is one thing that will make artists and painters obsolete in the future. Artists and painters will be gone if no one wants to buy any of their work. If the stuff they produce has no value then they'll be out of business.

 

[JetPress]

However, there is one thing that will make artists and painters obsolete in the future. Artists and painters will be gone if no one wants to buy any of their work. If the stuff they produce has no value then they'll be out of business.

I do have some hope that artists and collectors won't let that happen. I often seen a push to buy unique art from local artists instead of buying mass produced paintings from a big chain. I'm sure if someone comes out using this program and claiming it is original art they will be eaten alive. I know a couple "artists" in my area that were called out and banned from art shows/conventions for stealing/tracing other artists.

 

[Andy D]

Just to make sure we're on the same page, you saw the CNC machine using a paint brush with real paint, right ?
If you commissioned an artist to do your portrait from a picture, if they used a CNC to paint it (assuming that the program and machine has advanced from where it is now)
using a paint brush, mimicking an artist's brush movement, don't you think it would be hard to tell it wasn't done by hand?

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

No. Painters and artists will do it no matter what because that's what they enjoy doing. My sister is an excellent canvas painter. Doesn't sell them and my house is full of good artwork.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Just to make sure we're on the same page, you saw the CNC machine using a paint brush with real paint, right ?
If you commissioned an artist to do your portrait from a picture, if they used a CNC to paint it (assuming that the program and machine has advanced from where it is now)
using a paint brush, mimicking an artist's brush movement, don't you think it would be hard to tell it wasn't done by hand?

People that buy real art do it for the prestige and/or appreciation of how it was created and knowing that they are the only one with that exact piece, flaws and all. These people will not get any self fulfilment with a machine created painting. The ones that buy pictures for decoration, will typically not spend the money on original art because they don't see the value of it. The latter will still be the ones buying a CNC painting. I don't believe it will have any effect at all on the original art market. The print makers are the ones that should be concerned as it will eat into that market.

 

[Reveal1]

Custom suits, hand-built guitars, commissioned art; hand-painted signs; custom vehicles; as long as there are people wealthy enough to support it, there's always a market for quality, original creations.

 

[GAC05]

This obsolescence is a little more worrying:
https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2020/08/ai-just-beat-human-f-16-pilot-dogfight-again/167872/
[HASHTAG]#JustSayNoToSkynet[/HASHTAG]

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Software just really isn't there to match what someone can do and can do on the fly. Doesn't matter if you are talking about an artist doing it the analog way or having full control within the software it turns out vastly better (at this point in time) compared to programs that rely on more automated, computer controls with little user input.

I see this day in and day out. Software that has less user input typically puts out worse quality product.

I've got one software that I have been using since the early 90s and it's been around since 1979. You could pay for 2 full Flexi licenses (all the bells and whistles) and still have change left over and it still doesn't beat what someone that knows how to use the manual tools. In some areas of lettering (the auto conversion areas mainly), I have a $700 dollar program that does better. So at times, it may not even be a function of price. Even if the artist in question is using software versus analog means, you can't beat that knowledge that comes with it. Users still have to know what to do to yoke the best out of the software itself. The downside to programs like this, is that it abstracts all that away. So if there are issues with what's going on, the users don't even know what to do (or may have the ability to do anything about it).

 

[Bobby H]

Just to make sure we're on the same page, you saw the CNC machine using a paint brush with real paint, right ?

That contraption is really no different in fundamental principal than a digital printer. All it is doing is reproducing an existing image. It isn't creating anything new from scratch. And, yes, I would be able to tell quite easily that a machine "painted" the image rather than a human being.

 

[Billct2]

I don't think so, they thought the same thing would happen when photography came along.

 

[WYLDGFI]

I have a particular client we digitally print for and they come and pickup the print before being laminated & take it back to their shop to airbrush. We laminate the final pc when done.
From my past experience in airbrushing...havent picked up my Iwata in years....there are things that just look too sterile and conforming coming from a computer. There is something still to say about a craftsman skill when painting a mural, intricate lettering, pin striping or airbrushing. I always have to give them props.

 

[James Burke]

I looked forward to a long rewarding career as a service station attendant...checking your oil, tires and squirts, filling your tank, and engaging you in a bit of small talk while you patiently waited. That all changed back in the late 70s....way before we had computers.


JB

 

[Andy D]

I have a particular client we digitally print for and they come and pickup the print before being laminated & take it back to their shop to airbrush. We laminate the final pc when done.
From my past experience in airbrushing...havent picked up my Iwata in years....there are things that just look too sterile and conforming coming from a computer. There is something still to say about a craftsman skill when painting a mural, intricate lettering, pin striping or airbrushing. I always have to give them props.

After my much beloved lab past on, my wife had a friend of a friend do a painting from a picture for me, which was very sweet & I do love it but I didn't have the heart
to tell her I'm pretty sure the person added filters to the picture, had it printed to canvas & did some hand painting over top of it to make it look like it was all done by hand...
When I get home, I will post a picture of it and see what y'all think.

 

[Billct2]

My wife does pet portraits in oil and some people think they are photos

 

[Andy D]

My wife does pet portraits in oil and some people think they are photos

I wish I had that type of talent. This painting doesn't look like a photo, it looks like a photo with a Photoshop filter or two.

 

[Billct2]

Me too, here's one she did of my last dog.

 

[Gino]

Who cares ?? People are always looking for ways to cheapen things, from Henry Ford's assembly line to grocery stores. Ya still have people building nice cars..... lamborghinis and aston martins and some people just enjoy canning their own food, even if it costs far more than going to the store and buying crap frozen around the world to your doorstep. You'll never remove natural beauty..... and as long as you have cheaters and hulksters, it just makes the real thing, that much more enjoyable........ even if it's a homemade smoothie outta your garden.