Spent 20 minutes arguing with a comic artist at a Portland con about tracing AI art, then bought her print anyway

Wade Reed · 2026-09-17T19:15:04.182669+00:00

So last month at Rose City Comic Con I stopped at this artist's booth because her dragon piece looked amazing. I mentioned I'd seen a super similar style on an AI site earlier that week and she got real quiet, then said she'd spent 3 weeks on it while some guy scraped her whole gallery into a model without asking. I felt like a total jerk, but here's the thing, I wasn't sure if her work was fully hand drawn either. I ended up buying the $40 print just to end the awkward vibe, and now it's hanging in my kitchen and I still don't know who was right. How do you even tell the difference anymore without being rude and asking for timelapse videos?

Vivisector

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Spent 20 minutes arguing with a comic artist at a Portland con about tracing AI art, then bought her print anyway | AI Art Ethics - Vivisector