AI Update Step: 1

Ok guys sooo I promised you updates with AI break throughs so heres the first of many comprehensive reports.

I will be breaking down my philosophy and my rationale and reasons for making certain decisions going forward. I know some of you are speculative on AI and worried that I will lose what makes my work, my work. This is something I don't want to happen.
I view AI as a tool, and as an artist myself with the ability to imagine and create images without AI, I see it as only a tool not a replacement.
It is without a doubt a very powerful tool indeed.

Step 1. (True Step 1)
True step 1 was learning the interface and dicking around with models and loras and finding the right builds that play nicely with my style. I won't bore you with that because it is largely uninteresting.
What I will tell you is a found a base anime Model, and I overlay a Jab Comix Lora over that to make a bit of a hybrid style between those 2.
Some of you from the early days may know that I modelled my style off of Jab initially and remixed the way other artists drew things like eyes and noses and implemented that into my work. I didn't see this as much different

Step 1. (Fun Step 1)
Lets feed it some of my art and see what it spits out

This is a TDM Original Veronica. No AI used what so ever.
I ran it through the filter and it gave me This

Lets focus on the Likes
What I like about this generation
- Crisp Colors, smooth lines, overall soft aesthetic
- Strong Anatomy, especially in the clothes
- Beautiful simplified hair style that doesn't deviate from Veronica's Design.
- Love the shoes XD

Dislikes:
- The sweater part of her sweater dress is removed
- The face seems a bit soulless and not in line with my style at all
- The necklace is wrong
-The panty peek is really cute but it breaks the anatomy logic
- The bangle isn't correct

Typical. Some things I love, some things I hate. AI is very good at distracting you with what it does well, to hide what it doesn't do well.
Again not dissimilar to me when I was now starting out. My anatomy was pretty terrible back in those early days, but I believe I still got work because I was really good at faces and expressions. I genuinely believe that people will forgive a lot in the anatomy and design department if the faces are beautiful and engaging.

Anyhoo. So what I decided to do was to go into photoshop and literally cut and paste the things that I liked from the AI and weave it into my work. Think of it like making a Hollywood ransom note with magazine clippings.
Only once the ransom note is made, I can take a paintbrush and unify all the letters to make it look like a hand written note.
Best analogy I can come up with to describe the process for the non artists here XD
 

So you can see the result. Its a bit more polished but retains my style. I could have spent more time I think blending to make it more seamless, but for purposes of experimentation I think this is good enough for now.

Thats it for now! Stay tuned for step 2 and further progress reports!