And resting on AI even just for “inspiration” or “reference” purposes really microwaves that problem to the next level, people who hustle so hard that they haven’t had experiences aren’t even just recycling up other people’s experiences anymore, they’re getting a computer to automate the process.

March 28, 2026 - 09:14 UTC

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💯💯
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Going out and taking some reference photos is such an enormously fulfilling experience. I used to work in this hydro dam when I was 17, obviously it was an extremely foundational experience for me. Actually *being in* this place was worth 1000x to my brain than what looking at the photos now is
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Right! I love that, the photos are referencing an experience and feeling so much bigger. Little thumbnails marking a slice of time and space.
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Not everyone has a grungy hydro dam to crawl around in and that’s fine, but if you just go out in the world with an eye like “what looks cool? What is an interesting place other people might not have seen? How can I show people why it interests me? How can I make them feel like I do?” It does a lot
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and damn I can tell this place was an important experience because I can look at this and say "this got turned into pipeburn years down the line"
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(looks at these) (looks at Pipeburn) ohhhhhhh yeah okay this tracks.
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man adding these to my color and light studies pile for later
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I legit thought these were Resident Evil backgrounds for a second 😂
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And considering how many of these Gen-AIs are trained, there's the actual risk of plagiarism...
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