Local gallery owner told me my work 'looks like an AI prompt'

I was at a small gallery in Portland last Saturday showing my landscape paintings. The owner walked past my booth and said my mountains looked 'too smooth, like something from Midjourney.' I use a pallete knife and heavy paint layers, so that stung. Is anyone else getting this kind of reaction from people who think manual art can't look clean? How do you handle it without sounding defensive?

2 comments

2 Comments

bailey.jennifer23h ago

Tbh did they actually look at your work up close?

jenny19812h ago

Oh man, that's such a good point and it stings because it's probably true. So many times people just glance at something and think it's good enough without really seeing the details. It's like they see the big picture but miss all the little things that actually make it work or not. Really makes you wonder if they even cared enough to give a proper look.