Hey there. Elijah here.
I used a lot of AI art when Midjourney first came out.
Why on earth would I do that? Two reasons:
Fast forward to today: I’m ripping AI art out of everything I previously created with it (where possible), and I want to help you do the same.
Here’s why:
“What’s the solution?” you ask.
Well, there are lots of options. Let’s take a look at them.
If you’re reading this because you have also used AI art and want to get away from it, I’m willing to bet you’d classify your own artistic attempts as bad.
That’s OK. My art is pretty bad, too. You’re in good company.
But the thing about art is that it’s not objective. So much of what art means is about how the viewer feels when they look at it. It’s about vibe. At least, that’s how I see it.
And in the indie TTRPG scene, vibe is everything.
Let’s do a little experiment. Which one of the images feels more authentic?
Spoiler alert: I drew the one on the right.
The one on the left was generated using ChatGPT, and looks cooler by about 10,000 miles.
But the one on the right looks authentic and, excuse me for saying so myself, charming.
One of the best parts about indie TTRPGs is that they’re authentic and charming. Using the super-polished generative art on the left would’ve taken so much away from the vibe of my game.
I also had fun scribbling that little mushroom dude.
And guess how many negative comments I’ve gotten about my terrible artwork?
Absolutely zero. That’s because we’re working in a cool space where self expression, authenticity, and charm are valued far above perfection & polish.
Much better than Marvel Cinematic Universe, Warcraft-Wannabe up there on the left, I think.
As another example, here’s the cover art from my most popular game. Seriously.
If you can afford it, I’ll always recommend commissioning an artist to make your art. That’s what I’m doing for Campfire, which originally used generative art.
But honestly, it’s really expensive for an indie game that’s unlikely to ever make any kind of profit, so I understand if it’s not your first choice. That being said, I would encourage you to look for opportunities to work with artists in ways that do make sense: collaborations, skill trades, or even revenue sharing (if it’s a project going to Kickstarter, maybe?) might be an option.
If you’re not sure where to find artists to work with, here are a few options and resources.
There are a few really talented and generous artists that offer an affordable Patreon subscription which gives you access to use some of their art in your games. Here are some I subscribe to personally or found while researching for this post.
The Patreon memberships are incredibly affordable and, best of all, help support someone in doing what they love to do. It doesn’t get much better than that.
I was going to gather a bunch of public domain art resources, but really this list from the NSR (New School Revolution) site is all you need.
Note that even if art is in the public domain, it’s still super cool to credit the original creator or artist.
Public domain art is a great option if you can find works that fit the vibe of your game, and/or you’re comfortable with photo manipulation.
This is probably my least favorite option, but it’s there. In fact, I’m using stock art from Canva to plunk in some placeholder pieces for Campfire. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than blank space or AI generated nonsense.
Just a word of warning: places like Canva and likely other stock imagery sites seem to be overrun with AI generated clip-art, photos, and more. Just because it’s being legally licensed to you as a user of the service doesn’t mean it wasn’t generated using AI. Keep an eye out for tell-tale signs (messed up fingers/hands on humanoids is one obvious one) and stay vigilant! When selecting placeholder art for my game, I had to sift through a lot of pieces to find ones that didn’t appear to be generated.
There are 5 different options for getting some art for your game. Now all you have to do is go make it!