There’s an amazing new
#AI
trick. I used it to make my profile pic, but it works for any size project.
I just followed these two simple steps:
1. I identified an artist whose style I wanted to replicate.
2. I *paid the artist* to actually draw a portrait.
(1/X)
There’s an amazing new AI trick that delivers superior results to anything else you’ve seen and it also happens to be radically simple to use. I used it to make my new profile pic, but the same methodology can easily be scaled to work for any size project. (1/X)
To get a comic-book style image without any telltale AI glitches, I just followed three simple steps:
1. I identified an artist whose style I wanted to replicate.
2. I took some selfies.
3. I grabbed my credit card and I *paid the artist* to actually draw a portrait.
(2/X)
I should mention that this version of "AI" stands for "Actual Intelligence." Or, if you want to think of yourself as being a content creator, you can call it "Artistic Integrity."
You don’t need to download any software. Just pay the artists.
(3/X)
The use of AI generated graphics in Late Night With The Devil reminds me that when
@JordanPeele
wanted a fake MAD Magazine cover for Nope, he hired a REAL artist. Just like Quentin Tarantino did for Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. (And they used real MAD artist too!)
Paying other people for services may seem old fashioned in the age of generative AI, but it’s the only ethical option. If the artist that I commissioned for my profile picture (the wonderful
@TaraOComics
) had said that she was not interested in accepting new projects...
(4/X)
I should mention that this version of "AI" stands for "Actual Intelligence." Or, if you want to think of yourself as being a content creator, you can call it "Artistic Integrity."
You don’t need to download any software. Just pay the artists. (2/X)
...or if I hadn't been able to afford her asking price, that would not be an excuse for me to take her old work, use it, and then pay her nothing. That’s called stealing.
Consent and compensation are principles that can be scaled up for any organization. For example...
(5/X)
...if you want to start a technology company (perhaps one that publishes AI software), you have to recruit investors who will consent to giving you capital and then you will have to give them something of value in return. You can’t take a shortcut by robbing a bank.
(6/X)
Most people would never even consider robbing a bank, so why are people ethically untroubled by stealing art? Perhaps it’s because they imagine themselves as being *so close* to being artists themselves. They imagine they could draw too if they had some time to spare.
(7/X)
...so I wouldn’t have to recruit artists to collaborate with me and then wait while they work. But unfortunately for me, I respect artists. I respect their talent. I respect their time.
Pay the artists.
(10/X)
#AIArtwork
#PayTheArtists
If you want to make art, you can be an artist. If you need some help, that’s okay! Art is a collaborative... but you need willing collaborators. Otherwise you’re not an artist or even a patron of the arts — you’re more like Annie Wilkes in Misery.
Pay the artists.
(8/X)
I understand the instinct to take short cuts. I can’t draw, but I desperately wish that I could. I write graphic novels and visual satires, so my my words NEED illustrations. It would save me months of time if I used generative AI...
(9/X)
Paying other people for services may seem old fashioned in the age of
#generativeAI
, but it’s the only ethical option.
If the artist that I commissioned for my profile picture (the wonderful
@TaraOComics
) had said that she was not interested in accepting new projects... (3/X)
...or if I hadn't been able to afford her asking price, that would not be an excuse for me to take her old work, use it, and then pay her nothing. That’s called stealing.
Consent and compensation are principles that can be scaled up for any organization. For example... (4/X)
There's a lot to like about The Mitchells vs. The Machines, but the highlights are the production design and the character design. It turns out that both departments were headed by the SAME PERSON.
@LindseyDraws
is the real star of the film.
"The Militarization Of Officer Joe" was written in 2014 by Desmond Devlin and painted by Richard Williams in response the Ferguson protests. It stands on it's own, but it's even more powerful when you contrast it with the 1958 Norman Rockwell painting that it references. (2/X)
...if you want to start a technology company (perhaps one that publishes AI software), you have to recruit investors who will consent to giving you capital and then you will have to give them something of value in return. You can’t just take a shortcut by robbing a bank. (5/X)
Most people would never even consider robbing a bank, so why are people ethically untroubled by stealing art?
Perhaps it’s because they imagine themselves as being *so close* to being artists themselves. They imagine they could draw too if they had some time to spare. (6/X)
Some people argue that AI isn't really stealing because AI was just *trained* on the art. When people say that, they're letting you know that they don't value the work of teachers anymore than they value the work of artists.
Pay the artists. And give teachers a raise too.
(10/X)
If you want to make art, you can be an artist. If you need some help, that’s okay! Art is a collaborative... but you need willing collaborators. Otherwise you’re not an artist or even a patron of the arts — you’re more like Annie Wilkes in Misery.
Pay the artists. (7/X)
...so I wouldn’t have to recruit artists to collaborate with me and then wait while they work. But I can't do that because I respect artists. I respect their talent. I respect their time.
Pay the artists.
(9/X)
#AIArtwork
#PayTheArtists
I *understand* the instinct to take short cuts. I can’t draw, but I desperately wish that I could. I write graphic novels and visual satires, so my my words NEED illustrations. It would save me months of time if I used generative AI... (8/X)
UPDATE: This thread seems to be taking off, so thanks for reading and sharing! If you liked
@TaraOComics
's art, consider checking out one of her graphic novels. I'd recommend Fly By Night as a great place to start.
(11/X)
THREAD: When one of my MAD Magazine articles (“The Ghastlygun Tinies”) went viral, some people were surprise that MAD published a satire (as opposed to parodies & puns.) But MAD had always done that.
Here are some of my favorite examples of when MAD “pulled no punches.” (1/X)
And if you like my writing, none of my graphic novels have been published yet... but consider checking out some of my work for
@MADmagazine
like "Free Speeches On The Beaches."
(12/X)
Elon Musk isn't just allowing PragerU to push their evil
#Detrans
propaganda on Twitter because he's desperate for advertising revenue, he's also doing it because he *likes* their brand of bigotry.
And if you like my writing, none of my graphic novels have been published yet... but consider checking out some of my work for
@MADmagazine
like "Free Speeches On The Beaches" or... (12/X)
5. On top of being clever, Jaffee also had a knack for not pulling punches. His art style is so friendly and approachable that people tend to forget that his work is cutting and incisive. These two still-relevant Fold Ins are a good reminder:
The other day, somebody told me they liked my new profile picture. Then they asked me if it was AI.
They didn't even consider that it might have been drawn by a human being. Think about it -- their STARTING assumption upon seeing art was "art is all made by programs." (1/X)
Following the presidential election in 1960, MAD Magazine was one of the first magazines to report that Kennedy won. How's they do it? The issue actually had Nixon on the front cover and Kennedy on the back. Newsstands were told to turn the appropriate side face up... (3/X)
Al Jaffee is 102 today!
Here are five ways that the *legendary*
@MADmagazine
artist/writer pushed the boundaries of comedy:
1. Most obviously, there were his famously clever interactive Fold-Ins, but that's just scratching the surface of his innovations.
Understanding Comics is one of my favorite books, so it always stings a bit when the original art goes on auction because it's always water damaged. And yet these panels have a poetic quality--they're like a hazy memory of a
@scottmccloud
from days past.
#GraphicNovels
#ComicArt
@pattonoswalt
@MADmagazine
I wrote that one. Your work (especially Annihilation) has resonated with me more than I can tell you, so I'm absolutely floored that you liked the article.
This 2004 ad parody by Don Vaughan may feature George Bush, but it's not really about Bush. It's about a certain style of political attack ad. It's about the dangerous strategy of saying that your political opponent isn't merely inferior to yourself, but that they're evil. (7/X)
Al Jaffee inspired so many comedians not just because he was remarkably funny, but also because he repeatedly pushed the boundaries of HOW you could tell a joke.
His famously clever interactive Fold-Ins were just scratching the surface of his innovations. (1/X)
Since
@elonmusk
is busy finding innovative ways to be even MORE antisemitic, I'm re-sharing my MAD Magazine article about how he uses Twitter to promote hate speech against Jews (and every other marginalized group he enjoys targeting.)
Read the whole story in this thread. (1/6)
To "celebrate" Elon Musk announcing that he's starting a *new* company, enjoy this
@MADMagazine
article about how Musk is managing *this* company. It's a Dr. Seuss parody called "Free Speeches On The Beaches." Are any punches pulled? Read the thread to find out! (1/6)
#twitter
Let's take a closer look at the rebooted version of MAD (or MAD:TNG as I like to call it.) Zoom in and read this Stan Sinberg piece from issue
#6
, 2019. (9/X)
As a kid I learned to love comics by reading collections of old newspaper strips like Peanuts and Doonesbury. Diving into the collection of Nancy strips by Olivia Jaimes brought back that joyful sense of discovery. I love how she mixes traditional gags with wonderful meta-jokes.
@ErinInTheMorn
MAD Magazine saw right through Musk:
"You're free to bully any minority…
But don’t you ever dare to make fun of ME!
For that grave offense I’ll make sure that you’re banned.
What part of ‘free speech’ do you not understand?”
Read MAD's whole Musk parody in this thread. (1/6)
Congratulations to fellow
@MADmagazine
contributor
@PiaGuerra
for becoming a Pulitzer Prize finalist today! Guerra is easily one of the best editorial cartoonists around (which is stunning when you remember that editorial cartoons aren't even her primary focus.)
This unforgettable Vietnam era piece written by Max Brandel and illustrated by Jack Thurston. (It speaks for itself, but if you stick around to the end of this NPR story, Bill Morrison sites it as an influence: ) (6/X)
...It was a brilliant stunt, but it was also a sly look at anybody whose political loyalties sway in the wind. Cover by Bob Clarke.
Jumping forward to 2002, this Star Wars parody by Arie Kaplan and Scott Sonneborn with art by Scott Bricher came out before the war began. (4/X)
After MAD Magazine ran a parody of The Shining,
Stephen King wrote a letter to the editor that was simultaneously flattering and threatening. (That didn't deter MAD from taking another stab at The Shining 37 years later.)
@CourtneyLTanner
Can her photo be removed from this article? People should read this story... but they should not be invited to visualize the victim when they think about intimate photos. They should be visualing the faces of the officers who committed the disgusting violation.
One of the benefits of using Alfred E. Neuman on every cover was that it allowed MAD to suggest in 1969 that the only difference between "Make Love Not War" and "My Country Right Or Wrong" was time. (Written by Max Brandel with art by Norman Mingo.) (8/X)
The graphic novel The Magic Fish isn't just a story about coming of age and coming out, it's also a story about WHY we tell stories.
@Trungles
absolutely "sticks the landing" on this one by uniting all of the themes in the emotional climax.
In this parody, “NRA” stands for "Nature’s Revenge Association." In 1992, the NRA still had a reputation for representing hunters, so this MAD piece by Joe Raiola, Charlie Kadau, and Peter Sun imagined what hunting would be like if the deer leveled the playing field... (5/X)
From their very first issue, MAD Magazine has always loved horror. To get ready for Halloween, here are 31 spooky MAD articles and covers:
1. In 2018, MAD revisited
@StephenKing
's classic The Shining. Art by
@GhoulishGary
. (1/31)
Al Jaffee art style is so friendly and approachable that people tend to forget that his work was also cutting and incisive, but as Nick Meglin noted Al was
@MADmagazine
's resident editorial cartoonist. This Fold-In is just one example of how he did not pull any punches... (5/X)
I believe that the cover with Gordy was by Richard Williams. The "Bounty Law" art was by
@art4mad
. You can read Tom's behind-the-scenes story about how it came together here:
@goraina
@RyanDunlavey
Absolutely!
And I'd say the exact same thing about...
- Books written for kids
- Pleasure reading"
- "Beach reading"
- "Chick Lit"
People have a nasty habit of degrading books that they don't see as educational, serious, or canonical.
AI isn't just stealing from artists' past work, it's also devaluing the *idea* of art.
I'm not a Jackson Pollock fan, but I do like that when you see one of his splatter paintings, you immediately visualize him in the act of creating it.
AI is training us to... (2/X)
It was made a real artist with real talent who really took the time to learn her craft. And she was really paid by me for her work because her work has real value.
For the record, her name is Tara O'Connor and her profile is
@TaraOComics
. (4/X)
...look at art and to just assume that a computer spit it out. AI is training us to not even be able to *imagine* that somebody would *want* to spend the time and energy to paint a painting, or write a book, or compose a song.
So no--my profile picture was NOT made by AI. (3/X)
Those are just a few of examples. If I missed one of your favorites, sharing it here.
If you're looking for other ways to celebrate your love of MAD, you can always hire
@dantelfer
. Or you can hire me. Or hire any of the Usual Gang Of Idiots. We're all great memorabilia. (10/10)
2. Jaffee's Snappy Answers To Stupid Questions was more than simple sarcasm - it was clever:
- He simultaneously USED and CRITIQUED sarcasm.
- Each set up was followed by THREE punch lines.
- He invited readers to PARTICIPATE by leaving a space for them to write their own joke.
I stayed up way too late reading the new graphic novel adaptation of Slaughterhouse Five... and I regret nothing!
It renders all of the story's wild/experimental flourishes with absolute clarity and it beautifully twists comic book conventions to enhance the characterizations.
Al Jaffee was an absolute legend. I was lucky enough to meet him once and he was a funny and gracious raconteur full of stories about *everybody* in the comics industry from Rube Goldberg to Stan Lee. His endlessly clever work inspired generations. Thanks for raising the bar, Al.
@shannonrwatts
This is all horrifying, but the word "algebra" stands out to me because it drives home the fact that so many students and teachers thought that today was just another normal day.
The best *booth* at PAX Unplugged was also one of the smallest ones.
@Buttonshy
makes games that are tiny enough to fit in a wallet, so they made their booth as small and simple as possible. Even the signage was charmingly minimalistic.
#tabletopgames
#branding
If you're looking forward to the Tetris movie, then you should check out
@boxbrown
's Tetris: The Games People Play. It's a strange-but-true case study about international negotiations that went wildly (and entertainingly) off the rails.
@davidgreene
@doctorow
@MADmagazine
It’s in issue 30 of MAD Magazine—the one with Elon Musk/Westworld on the cover. It’s available at comic shops or digitally.
This is a clever campaign: Ikea used their furniture to recreate iconic TV living rooms. The Simpsons is sublime, but I'm also fond of the Stranger Things tribute. CC:
@AllieGoertz
I was lucky enough to meet the legendary Al Jaffee in his studio. He had tons of stories to tell (including one about working with Stan Lee.)
In this pic we're looking at his art from "Me And My Big Mouth," which he had originally illustrated for
@MADmagazine
's March 1969 issue.
@JustineBateman
Photographers picked up cameras and took photos of horses and mountains. They didn't just take snapshots of Botticelli's The Birth Of Venus and then declare themselves to be painters.
3. Al Jaffee also wrote articles about new product designs that seemed ALMOST plausible. In fact, some of them were so close to being plausible that they actually later became real life inventions!
MAD Magazine *predicted* that
@elonmusk
would offer the option to HIDE your Twitter Blue check marks! It's all in the new Sr. Seuss parody Free Speeches On The Beaches.
"All trolls wanting check marks are hereby approved!
Soon 'Elites' will pay me to have theirs removed!"
@Iron_Spike
STUDENT: May I copy another student's work?
TEACHER: Of course not! That's called "plagiarism."
STUDENT: Okay, but what if I copy ALL of the other students at the same time?
TEACHER: That would be even worse.
AI FANS: Hey! Stop letting the smart kids monopolize intelligence!
I don't think I'm alone in saying that I used to *dream* about coming up with even one feature that was as clever as Jaffee's work.
Jaffee leaves behind not just a wonderful body of work, but also a lasting impact on so many creators who grew up studying his every word and line.
Are you having trouble pretending to be happy? Have you tried Crisis Avoidance Therapy Sessions (CATS)? That usually helps for a few minutes.
Read about this and other tricks in "How To Pretend To Be Happy" (written by me and illustrated by
@gemmacorrell
for
@newyorkerhumor
!)
Paul Coker Jr.'s character designs felt like the result of a secret collaboration between Charles Schulz and Jules Feiffer. His always charming art was simultaneously wild and warm, silly and sophisticated. He was truly one of the greatest of
@MADmagazine
's Usual Gang Of Idiots.
4. In a gimmick that really played with the magazine format, he created an illustration where you had to hold the inside back cover up to the light to reveal the hidden image (which was created by the comic on the back cover.)
Can we talk about commercial art for a second?
In response to my tweet about Late Night With The Devil, somebody suggested that using AI generated images in that film was okay because producers were just "shitting out a fake poster."
But posters aren't shit. They're art. (1/X)
I was just nominated for an Eisner Award for The Ghastlygun Tinies! Congratulations to
@swellzombie
,
@caseybboyd
, Suzy Hutchinson, and everybody at
@MADmagazine
for their amazing work! (1/2)