And honestly, he kind of had a point, didn’t he? If the backgrounds are doing the heavy lifting and you’re just cleaning up the character layers, that’s a legit gray area for a gallery crowd that pays for pure handcraft. I mean, you said it yourself, you used AI to speed up the boring parts, so why act shocked when a buyer assumes the whole thing is less “yours”?

That gap around footings catches water and rusts the rebar in Columbus winters, seen it happen twice on old pours.

Hold on before you trash that hemp rope. Real talk, the old guys knew exactly what they were doing with that stuff, and honestly there's something to be said for zero stretch. Yeah a fall would've been a hard jerk, but that also meant you felt every move and learned to climb smooth and controlled instead of just yarding on gear. Modern ropes are forgiving, sure, but they can also make you lazy about your footwork and your head game, you know? Plus that manila hemp has a character and history to it that a boring nylon line just doesn't have. I'd say clean it up, hang it on the wall, and tip your hat to the dudes who trusted their lives to that thing.

Used to swear by brand names, but this changed my mind. You see it too?

Man, I feel this. Did my own ceiling a few years back and spent an entire weekend convinced I was losing my mind over a half inch gap. Turns out my house was just doing its usual "settle and groan" thing and the tiles looked like a funhouse mirror until I swapped in the heavier duty clips.