R.S. Riekkinen ✦
@ArtVaris
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Freelance fantasy artist & illustrator inspired by stories, myths & nature | ENG & FI | varis.illustration @gmail . com ✦🌿They/Them🌿✦ | NoA/I
Finland
Joined July 2015
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Pinned Tweet
Hello, I'm Riikka from Finland and this is my art✨
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So a "fun" story: I used to license my art to a small company that manufactures diamond art kits
A few months ago this company contacted me & said they were struggling & couldn't pay my royalties anymore. I just checked their new website - their shop is now full of A/I images🫠
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This company still owes me money as well (not much, but still) since they never paid my last batch of royalties before terminating our contract.
And now I know why they were so eager to end our business relationship - they even asked if they could continue to use my art for free
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On average, I earned about 50-100 dollars per month in royalties from this licensing client. But that's still 600-1200 $ dollars per year, now lost passive income because of A/I.
Every dollar matters though & I could pay almost two months of my rent with 1200 dollars.
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And these things start to add up: licensing clients terminate contracts and stop paying royalties, private commission clients start to disappear, social media platforms burn down etc.
When multiple sources of income start to dry up all at once, it's tough.
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Since some folks asked, yes I'm aware that the US Copyright Office has previously stated that gA/I images cannot be copyrighted. The current tech is just plagiarism & theft on a massive scale
But these companies don't care about that, especially if folks keep buying their kits
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Someone just messaged me about how they found my artwork on Reddit & thanked me for the perfect art for their dnd character. Please do not do this. I don't think it's okay to just take other people's artwork, as some of my work is commissioned for clients or often very personal.
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@TheOdeity
Tbh I have doubts about the severity of their "struggles" - they were very vague about it & tried to beg me to let them use my art for free. I said no of course: no royalties, no usage rights.
It could just be that they realized they could just use A/I & not pay artists anymore
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A small time-lapse video of one of my recent Procreate sketches
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Hmm I might open a new comm slot in this style (character profile portrait ) at some point this year. Would you be interested?
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Okay, now I kind of get what some artists meant when they said that Tumblr has its own thing with tags etc.
I posted some of my portrait sketches there & some people have written almost little stories and their funny reactions in the tags and I love reading them.
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Tbh, the current situation and hostility toward artists makes me anxious to post new artwork. Some people have been threatening to steal my artwork and feed it to A/I, saying they will be glad to see me lose my job and that I deserve it for voicing my concerns and frustration.
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It's my birthday, so I'm posting my artwork to celebrate✨
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Hello
#PortfolioDay
✨
I’m Riikka, a freelance fantasy artist with a passion for characters and B&W sketches. So far I've been doing work for private clients and indie authors, but I'm open to opportunities.
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A good rule of thumb, for dnd players: If you didn't make the artwork yourself / pay someone to do it for you, always ask for permission beforehand. If the answer is no, please respect that. And if you really like a certain artist's style, consider commissioning them✨
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I just hope that not all artists and mutuals would leave Twitter. Switching platforms is always tiring on its own, but despite its many flaws, Twitter has been the only platform where I've felt like I'm part of the art community and people have been so supportive as well
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*Sees an obvious A/I generated image on the Aistation trending page*
*Check tools* Procreate and blender. Riiiight.
*Checks tags* #/NoAi, #/matte painting #/beauty, #/soul
Sure, one can just see the *beautiful soul* in those melty-ass A/I eyes 🤡
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Some process steps of a DnD character (drawn for a client)🖤
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Hello
#PortfolioDay
✨
I’m Riikka, a freelance fantasy artist with a passion for characters. So far I've been mostly doing work for private clients, but I'm open to opportunities!
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Hello
#PortfolioDay
I’m Riikka, a Finnish freelance fantasy artist with a passion for characters and b&w sketches!
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Character portrait sketches for practice (again from last year)
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I find it highly ironic that some people who generate AI images now plaster their "work" with watermarks 🤡
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@Kapuchu1
Oh yeah, I definitely have my doubts about the severity of their "struggles" as well. They only started to use A/I after terminating all the contracts with artists, me included.
I suspect they just used that as an excuse since they realized they don't need to pay us anymore🫠
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I just thought these two sketch pages looked nice together🖤
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If this is how you sometimes feel when you look at art online, please remember that most of the times, everyone only shares their very best work
You don’t see their ”bad” or ”failed” art, but you see your own ”bad” art. You don’t see their struggles, but you experince your own.
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Artists, let me see your improvement over 5 years!
5 years ago, I associated polished rendering with pro art, so I tried to emulate the style the best I could. But w/o strong skills in art fundamentals, I burned out. I had to go back to the basics & unlearn a lot of bad habits.
Artists, let me see your improvement over 5 years!
I feel like I'm also getting close to the times where 5 years will make less and less of a difference, for better or worse :D
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Seeing multiple huge companies - such as Wacom - using exploitative A/I for their promo art is so depressing. This plagiarism tech needs to be regulated and cast into oblivion and fast. Please I need 2024 to be more hopeful
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If they don't answer - treat it as a no as well. Some artists might allow the usage of their art under certain terms. If you cannot afford custom art: You can try art adopting, or use sites like Artbreeder (but be mindful of the copyright & don't use copyrighted art as a base!)
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A small traditional test doodle✨
I'm feeling so rusty but I've always loved the feeling of traditional drawing
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Another reminder that A(I)dobe doesn’t deserve your support and money - they continue throwing creatives under the bus with their usage of exploitative A/I.
I don’t use Photoshop anymore, SAI2 and Procreate are my main softwares for drawing:
Text to Image is magic 🪄
Be sure to try out the new feature in the latest Photoshop (beta) 👉👈
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A small watercolor practice portrait from a few years back, I still quite like this one though. Maybe I should frame this
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Some folks trying to justify the use of unethical data-generated images: "It's a tool and won't be used to replace human artists, chill!"
Me seeing major publishers like Bloomsbury starting to use "AI" for their bestseller book covers: riiight🥴
*existential crisis intensifies*
Extremely disappointed in
@BloomsburyBooks
for using AI on the most recent cover of Sarah J Maas’ book. Using adobe stock created by an AI generator that steals from hard working artists, while also avoiding paying a real illustrator is abhorrent.
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Just putting this out there: I'm currently available for freelance work starting from January/February 2024✨
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A big shoutout to folks who support, commission, and tip artists and creatives in general 🖤
Your support means so much especially now when so many try to devalue the worth of creative labor with plagiarism tech
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Small Procreate time-lapse video of one of my sketches🌿
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Many artists are also happy to offer simpler and more affordable commission types, like black & white head portraits or sketches. You can always ask if the artist is open to this kind of commission, if they are available for work.
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I'm so sick of A/I & I will block all folks who use it as their pfp as on sight, in addition to A/I grifters.
There is so much info about how exploitative the current datasets and models are. If you support the exploitation of creatives in any way, my work is really not for you.
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I got contacted to do some book cover work, but once again, my rates were outside of their budget. But I just cannot take on work that doesn't pay very fairly & so many commercial gigs seem to be low paying. 400-1000 € for a complex, illustrated book cover just isn't sustainable
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Good
ChatGPT In Trouble: OpenAI may go bankrupt by 2024, AI bot costs company $700,000 every day.
Hahaha they have a declining user base, the bubble is starting to burst.
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This is a reminder that I will block all folks associated with exploitative gA/I on sight. If you use a gA/I image as your pfp, I will block you.
There is no ethical way to use the current gA/I models. And if you support the exploitation of creatives, my artwork is not for you.
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It is always morally correct to not pay for Adobe products✨
After all, Adobe seems to think it's fair game to exploit artists and steal from the very people who made them so successful in the first place.
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I'm Riikka from Finland and this is my art✨
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This. I have been living below the poverty line my whole adult life, studying full-time and trying to build my illustration career and skills on the side. I wasn't in a position to afford art courses, so I taught myself with free/affordable tutorials, online resources & art books
The pro-AI criticism of art not being accessible enough to the poor is... so bizzarre.
Thanks to the internet, art has never been as accessible before. Our timelines are brimming with paintings & illustrations - posted for free, daily.
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Private and indie clients and folks supporting creatives are the number one thing that keeps me hopeful rn.
Thank you so much for standing with creatives, valuing our work and valuing art made by another human.
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Erato✨
A Baldur's Gate 3 drow character for a wonderful private client, thank you again for supporting my work!
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More Procreate sketching - a special portrait for an art mutual✨
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@SarahMasonArt
Yeah I just thought to share this since some folks seem to think that this unethical sh*t isn't already hurting artists as we speak. Because it is.
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In Finland Valentine’s Day is called ”ystävänpäivä” and as the name implies (ystävä = a friend) the focus is on friendship and friends rather than romantic relationships.
I always liked this, so to all my online friends: hyvää ystävänpäivää! 💖
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You know the commercial illustration rates are bad when even private clients pay more fairly.
As a beginner, I used to think it would be so cool to work for the big companies in the industry, but back then I had no idea how little some of these companies paid their artists
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I know it's very likely that some folks will use my/my client's OCs. But, messaging me after they've already taken the art without asking first is not great and comes off as rude. These characters are often very personal & clients have paid for them. They are not a free resource.
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Just because art is posted online, doesn't automatically make it free to use. In many cases, the artwork is posted for viewing purposes, but not for use. There is a difference in viewing the OC art vs taking & using it as your own dnd PC without asking for permission first. 1/3
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A short time-lapse showing the drawing process of one of my Procreate sketches (OC belongs to Cedar)
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A short time-lapse showing the drawing process of one of my practice sketches
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Art vs Artist - A little summary showing some of the personal work I drew in 2023. This year was super tough but I'm glad I kept drawing. Onwards to 2024! ✨
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I deleted almost all my posts and artwork and I'm not sure if I will continue to post new artwork on Twitter anymore.
It sucks and I've been so sad about this as well. I just want to draw and share it with you folks without the constant fear of theft and exploitation
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Ty, the Elven Bladesinger ⚔️
Another sketch portrait for a private client!
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17k! That's a LOT. It's been a bit overwhelming to realize that I've gone from 15k to 17k in just a few days, mainly because of the
#artistsontwitter
.
Thank you so much for all the love and support!✨
To celebrate, artists show me one painting/drawing that you're proud of!💜🌿
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@_Orsob_
Yeah I don’t know where these people get the idea that being an artist would mean easy money. Art isn’t some romanticized career where you ”never have to work because you’re so passionate about it.” All the recent job offers I’ve received would’ve paid me below minimum wage.
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The current gA/I models are trained on stolen data & are built on exploitation.
Without this stolen data (input), there would be no “A/I” images (output) either. Tech companies have scraped & used massive amounts of copyrighted art (data), w/o consent, compensation, or credit.
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@kalaelizabeth
@BloomsburyBooks
What the heck. And it's a major publisher which makes this even more scary and disappointing to see
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Joining this protest!✊
NO to unethical AI generated images and art theft!
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@Vesperis_Art
Not zooming in too much: I try to keep my max zooming in to 33.3% and not go past that until the final details. Made me gain so much speed.
Construction: simplify/mannequinize _everything_ into the most basic & easy shapes either in your mind or on paper. Work from big to small.
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With all that’s going on related to social media and A!, I sometimes feel so lost. I have been struggling to shake off the creeping sense of hopelessness for a few weeks now. Sometimes I even feel like giving up since I’m just so tired of living in a constant survival mode
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Get them. This is so satisfying to watch, especially that bit when the case of Napster was brought up as an example
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