I really appreciate this reply and I think I owe you/jstpst an apology? Your posts are always good and I think highly of your art, and your reply is making me reconsider a lot of things.

I was being really cynical and sardonic here, while also performing/perpetuating the "AI art is bad" thing. I think I made a shitty situation for sincere posting and I appreciate you for posting sincerely despite that, and calling me out(? for lack of a better phrase).

(I especially want to decry the whole "no self respecting artist" thing I said earlier. I think that was a particularly shitty thing I said to try and get a laugh?)

I've re-read through your reply a few times. This part of your reply in particular

the process gave me a nutrient that my soul has been corroding from lacking, with unsolvable chronic pain preventing me from being able to draw any more.

really struck me and my mental model of What Art Is. I've been thinking of a proper reply to this but I think I need to sleep on it. (But I want to acknowledge your post before I log off for the night to reply tomorrow)

(And if it's worth anything I think pretty highly of you as an artist and I've associated you with lovingly rendered pigeons for about 1/3 of my entire life by now. I regret having had cynically discoursed about it because I think if you had things you generated and were proud of, those would be interesting things I would want to see)

edit: i thought i posted my actual reply but i don't see it here. it was a big one but i think i will need to type it up again