The above title may provoke some controversial feelings within people and rightfully so.

When I express ‘Painting vs AI Art’, I don’t really mean in a competitive sense, but more to open space for me to share my philosophy and experience of being both a manual oil painter, as well as a creator whose creative life has been greatly embellished by the technological advancements through AI art software such as Midjourney or Leonardo, the two I have personally utilised.

I will also love real paintings and the process of creating them, and would never like for AI to replace human creativity, yet the creation of this Gene Keys Quest project would not have occurred without the possibilities of AI Art generation.

Countless people have remarked about the beauty of the images I have co-created with midjourney.

I’ve had visions of creating magical and inspiring books since my early 20’s. This may stem from the dreams and disappointments of my early childhood, when, due to life circumstances, I was unable to take home the captivating books that spoke to my soul from the after school book fairs. Such inner wounding often become the catalysts for our creative impulses later in life.

So, when I started to play with Midjourney to create images, a whole new world of creative vistas opened up before me. Not only to support the artistic creative process, but specifically the opportunity to fulfil the dreams of creating the visionary and mythic fantasy style artwork to illustrate a quest book.

The thing that always held me back was the resources required to pay a graphic digital artist to create all of the artwork necessary to fill a whole book.

And then, as an artist myself, I wouldn’t be in control to create the images exactly how I envision them to be.

The beauty with AI art tools, is the ability to curate, refine and edit the images until they represent the vibrational quality I am looking for.

Manual Graphic Design

I have some experience using Affinity Designer as a graphic design App. For example, I designed my logo and soul sigil for my complementary brand ‘Life Vision Quest’ in 2021, over a 3-week period. You’ll also see this hexagonal shaped sigil within this website and my Gene Keys Quest Book.

This symbol has multiple layers of significance for me. Not only does it represent the 6 Lines of the hexagram, or the 12 Lines when two programming partners are combined, but the outer ring also has an inner ring. For me this represents the ‘Ring of Secrets’ found with the 12^th Gene Key, which happens to be my Life’s Work and Brand, hence, its soulful resonance within me.

I essentially worked out how to use the Affinity Designer App to create my logo and soul sigil through a trial and error process. A typical Line 3 (hexagram) way of working!

Consequently, I have nowhere near the level of skill required to create the visionary graphic images I would ideally like to.

Refinement in the AI Art Creative Process

With that as some context, I thought I’d share aspects of my process using AI as a tool to create art that represents my own creative process and spirit, despite it being derived from an algorithmic amalgamation of millions of images online, and indeed, from other artist’s work.

Firstly, for me, the journey of creating AI art that reflects my artistic aspirations is all about the Gift of my Life’s Work, the 12^th Gift of Discrimination.

One of the key aspects of this Gift is authentic soulful expression, rather than heartless Vanity, the latter being an expression of the head, rather than that of the heart.

While this is always a process of refinement for all of us on the spiritual path, especially myself, I think its significance here is highlighted.

Being an Art Discriminator

Discrimination also offers me this sense of being an art curator. Through the process of generating thousands of images with Midjourney, and then having to personally select a hundred or so to work with that align with my artistic taste, this Gift really comes into play.

So many of the AI art images that get created or I see used are actually not very appealing to me at all. Many of them are indeed garish and vulgar.

Occasionally, I may hit the jackpot as synchronicity unfolds to produce a beautiful piece of art from the first prompt. However, more often than not, it requires a bit more refining and remixing to get the look I am seeking to create.

Every page within my Quest Book carries a specific theme, so the accompanying art was curated to complement and enhance this theme. 

The Digital and Spiritual Interface through Consciousness

While AI Art generation works using digital algorithms, utilising binary zero’s and ones, consequently appearing to be random luck of the draw, I feel at times there can also be a deeper spiritual process at play.

This is especially the case when we engage with digital software in such ways, honouring the act of creation as the divine spark manifests in physical form from the unmanifest realms. In this way, AI art generation can be done in a consciously reverent and prayerful manner.

When writing prompts for the software, I often include in words and phrases that call upon my higher consciousness to guide the process, intending for all my creations to carry the essence of my higher being within them.

For me, many of the images I include in my Gene Keys Quest Book carry the essence of Purity to reflect my Brand.

Soul Inspired Images

Sometimes, images are generated that I couldn’t recreate even if I tried, as I feel I received them as a gift from Grace.

A perfect example of this is the image of the Mountain Jewel of Higher Consciousness found upon the front cover of my Quest Book.

This not only reflects the exact imagery, colours, and quality I had envisioned, but it also carries far greater symbolic significance that I didn’t actually intend at a conscious level.

The Principles of Involution and Evolution

One of the key teachings within the Gene Keys is the notion of the two complementary forces of ‘Involution’ and ‘Evolution’. While we are mostly familiar with the theory of evolution, whereby organisms gradually evolve overtime from less evolved forms into more complex forms, 'Involution' is drawn from the philosophy of ‘Emanationism’ of the East, whereby the divine perfection of creation gradually 'involutes' into form from the higher realms, guiding the process evolution itself toward its eventual perfection.

The symbolic reference for this is the upward pointing triangle of evolution, represented by the Mountain, and the downward pointing triangle, representing the divine reaching down toward form.

The mountain has long been an esoteric symbol for the evolutionary spiritual journey toward higher consciousness.

The front cover image also features, what I perceive as the original monadic light buried deep within form, that gradually refines itself over aeons until it becomes an a individualised spark of the divine oneness.

This represents perfectly the esoteric power and purpose of working with the Gene Keys.

So, to emphasise; rather than random chance, I experienced the creative process of creating my book cover and other artworks for my quest book as being guided by my soul, to fulfil its role for spiritual influence and inspiration upon the earthly plane.  

Expediting the Art Creation Process

The speed of art creation is also something that, as a Human Design Manifestor, I greatly appreciate.

It enables me far greater creative control and capacity to produce work as and when I feel driven.

The process creating my Quest Book since March 2023, has been an intense time, as it would be for any creator, naturally featuring many trials and tribulations. A journey that required deep dedication, devotional discipline, and focus. Indeed, I'm actually still refining the book now. 

However, it is one I am deeply fulfilled by, despite my yearning to keep on perfecting and producing more creations in alignment with my inner visions.

Painting vs AI Art

Going back to the original title of my article about 'Painting vs AI Art'.

Many people are concerned about the loss of skill or utilisation of human creativity and imagination.

I feels those are very valid concerns to be aware of. Yet, I feel it does come down to the individual creating the art and their own personal journey as an artist.

AI art has opened the opportunities for many other creators who are not necessarily artists in their own right in the traditional sense, yet they now have tools to help them create cool looking images for their projects.

Every creator will have their own taste and style, as well as soul led inspiration, so the results will always reflect this in some way, whether on an obvious superficial level or energetically.

For me, painting will always hold a deep significance and passion within my heart. I know I have the will and devotion to create works of art that convey the essence of my inner being, no matter the length of time it takes to create them. Many of my paintings have taken well over 100-200 hours work. 

As soon as I have the resources to enable me to free up some art time, I have a whole list of painting ideas I’d like to start working on. Stay tuned in 2025 for those :-)

Painting Azkabar

Here is a video of me painting ‘Azkabar’ in 2022. Notice the creative process I undertook to produce the final result, including a complete make over of the original background featuring a bicycle toward to new temple setting and waterway.

This creative redirect was a complete surprise to me, but I'm pleased with the result, even if its not completely my favourite style of art.

The refined fine art appearance of the painting can only come from layer upon layer of oil painting to soften and harmonise the whole piece as one.

For me, the 4-month journey to paint ‘Azkabar’ features several elements of adaptation and creative redirects that AI art software can achieve far more rapidly.

Of course, the time I devote to my paintings is an aspect of my character building and commitment to refinement, including the enrichment of manually working with my hands.

Yet, now that I can produce digital art to apply in digital software like Affinity Publisher, the software I used to produce my book, I have a completely new lease of creative freedom and visionary horizons of which my imagination is only the limit.

One key goal and intention I have when creating AI art is more every image I use to carry the essence of my inner being within it, rather than just imitating another artists work. 

There are many more details regarding ethics to express about this; however, this is already quite a lengthy post. Maybe I’ll share more in time.

I hope you found this exploration interested and helpful

All the best regards

Quinn

The VIDEO below offers a peak at the artwork inside my Gene Keys Quest Book - You can learn more HERE