This is obviously written by a very bitter and petty ex friend with needless tangents but the parts about AI use and the expectation of free labor from his fans feels pretty indefensible.
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Sadly I just struggled with consolidating my words and tend to go on tangents. It's not about being bitter and petty, nor should it be the primary focus. I'm just speaking on my experiences and for those felt like they couldn't speak up.
You are not bitter or petty, and trying to consolidate years of microagressions and exploitative behavior into the few things you have receipts for is difficult. Manipulative people who want to project a certain image are difficult to pin down, so it's easy to gaslight anyone speaking up.
That was a totally out of pocket and unnecessarily rude thing for RJ to say. The document isn't a great work of literature or an ALA-compliant scientific paper, but it gets the job done.
i think that describing the other things is important in understanding his motivations into using ai in the first place (not excusing it bc wow he gives me the ick esp with the racism). it sucks that you went through all that tho, and i hope things have been going better for you
You did your best to address everything in the state you were in. Really sucks to see one person I looked up to take this shift and another speak so critically about someone they don't know.
Shame since Ross seemed so kind and welcoming when I meet him in person. :/
I'm reading this document and I don't think you come off as bad as RJ is describing you. My partner grew up with an abusive narcissist mother and Ross's behavior is ringing bells.
TBH it IS hard to pinpoint this kind of passive-aggressive nonsense so you have to provide as much context as possible. Over-explaining is also often a trauma response caused by chronic gaslighting. That "dismiss your idea but then take it as his own" part sent me. Covert narcs loooove that shit
you did fine with this, and everything you brought up is important for us as potential customers to know. especially the racial remarks, i don’t wanna support anyone like that. i’m sorry you had to deal with that.
Yeah, I think anybody has the right and opportunity to just refuse to work for free. However just expecting somebody to do so and repeatedly denying them payment speaks of a very shitty personality. Also AI again? Fantastic, plz add to the trash pile that suffocates our community.
I find it so sad when artists make hundreds of thousands from their fans and then won’t pay other artists for work… what happened to your soul on the way up there?
I'm just so confused and a little annoyed as to why he would need to use ai for his work. he's already put in so much work, why start taking...less than ethical shortcuts after all this time.
he was just supposed to be one of the good ones. don't know your heroes, I guess.
There is a scale:
Passion <---> Content Generation (+/= Making Money)
The more you lean on one the less you usually have of the other. Which do you think Ross wants more being mostly a businessman/youtuber now and how would he achieve that? ai.. lots of creators (artist) are doing this now
It doesn't have to do with the skill level it has to do with the motivations and desired goal. He may not need it but he's jumping on the bandwagon to see what he can get out of it. I would assume it's to try and take advantage of it for more potential income and hedging his bets on that working out
Tbh, I never liked his vibes, so I only saw a few of his early videos and never interacted with his works. So I'm surprised people let him slide with the whole n/ft thing.
Geez, more drama with him? I stopped following him after his promotion of using any photos you wanted as reference from IG & Pinterest, stealing from a lot of photographers, and then promoted unhealthy art habits as the "only way" to "get good". The AI is honestly not surprising, just disappointing.
tbh the guy always came off as a grifting douchebag. surprised no one else came forward to talk about him before :/ the type of video editing he had and the generic "sakimichan+corpo 'anime' concept art" style have always made him seem insincere, it's no wonder he'd be happy to trick people with AI.
I can see the parallels making sense, but a lot would need additional confirmation. The ex friend could be bitter but that doesn't necessarily mean the events and points aren't true. At this stage should be taken with a grain of salt. The AI and free labour do seem the most supported issues.
Honestly tho, it's not surprising at all. I was suspicious of his come back because I know he is an incredibly good artist but his new style was screaming AI to me.
I thought "Maybe it looks like AI because the system was trained on his work" but reading this was actually a bummer.
Yeah this guy was patient zero for me being frustrated by art YouTubers. Generally when the videos become the product, the actual art craft takes a huge hit.
They used to do some cool work wayyyy back in the day, but I think their popularity may have stunted their growth, and they began relying heavily on what was 'trending'. Very unfortunate
I wish I could disagree, but I can’t. It genuinely bummed me out and I started to get frustrated that all his videos, if they had any educational info at all, were 1-2 super short “lessons” between the super quick montages.
I really enjoyed his old work, but that wore on me fast
no, the remarks rossdraws made towards the person making these allegations. he called his Black employee that he was also unwilling to pay the “diversity hire”….that’s whack
like this is very racially charged and shouldn’t be glossed over
Ross inspires everyone; after how he treated Milo, and not informing everyone he’s using AI for his upcoming book is very scummy, grift, and disappointing.
WE ARE IN THE SAME BOAT WE ROSSDRAWS FANS ARE IN SO MUCH PAIN RIGHT NOW- I have also been an admirer of his works & his OCS + story and I even overlooked the NFTS incident and shit, but this is just the final straw,,,
YEAH…..I didn’t even know about the NFT stuff until someone brought it up awhile ago, but i overlooked it too. And it sucks cause i love his oc, Nina, and the world he made for her.😔
I actually saw the NFT thing happen when it did happen back when I had IG when I was younger 😭 , and I also overlooked it- AND YEAH THIS SUCKS BECAUSE HE HAS AMAZING OCS LIKE NINA, I even have the NINA artbook still, but we got to wake up & face the truth because this is just,,,Yeah.
This is up there with one of the most heartbreaking switch ups in the art community. The nft I can look over cause when he did it, it was still early in people jumping into it and crypto. But “ as someone who’s looked up to him since high school….this it hurts.
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Shame since Ross seemed so kind and welcoming when I meet him in person. :/
No fuckin way
he was just supposed to be one of the good ones. don't know your heroes, I guess.
Passion <---> Content Generation (+/= Making Money)
The more you lean on one the less you usually have of the other. Which do you think Ross wants more being mostly a businessman/youtuber now and how would he achieve that? ai.. lots of creators (artist) are doing this now
Not the least bit surprised he’s only gotten worse since then.
So tired of this.
Yeah the pettiness is obvious but holy shit. Bummer
I thought "Maybe it looks like AI because the system was trained on his work" but reading this was actually a bummer.
Well, at least I still have Drawfee... at least they make art a fun experience.
It's unfortunate to see a talented artist turn to unethical shortcuts and apparently be not such a great person.
I'd choose a middle ground if I could.
That yeah, he probably didn't do everything super great, but also has a lot of pressure. There are many accusations the guy deals with too.
I'm developing a position of belief that it may not be AI when I see that style.
Unless it is incredibly blatant I just don't know, and I'd rather give people the benefit of the doubt.
I really enjoyed his old work, but that wore on me fast
like this is very racially charged and shouldn’t be glossed over
So it sucks to see him spiraling into the whole toxic art influencer/business throughout the years, from one oopsie to another.
Ross inspires everyone; after how he treated Milo, and not informing everyone he’s using AI for his upcoming book is very scummy, grift, and disappointing.
GOD DAMN IT MAN….