'AI has amplified my 20 years of experience,' believes concept artist Daniel Porto
(Image credit: Daniel Porto) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter For a while now, the conversation around AI art has been about what artists stand…
(Image credit: Daniel Porto) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter For a while now, the conversation around AI art has been about what artists stand to lose, whether that's jobs or opportunities, as years spent mastering anatomy, composition and colour theory are all reduced to a well-crafted prompt. We've heard Dave McKean say artists must "revolt against the soulless [AI] machines" and heard how Greg Rutkowski's very name became a style prompt. And yet, against this background, Brazilian visual development and concept artist Daniel Porto has sidestepped the controversy and chosen to focus on the positives AI can offer.Porto has spent 20 years creating work for global agencies including McCann, Jung von Matt, GUT and StrawberryFrog, earning six places in Lürzer's Archive's Top 200 Digital Artists Worldwide along the way. Today, he blends traditional digital art with AI to create the polished concept art and advertising imagery clients expect. For someone with decades of experience in how things used to be done, he's not afraid to see where AI can be used, but he's also clear: his experience and knowledge as an artist are why he's confident AI can be harnessed."The experience got amplified," Porto says, adding: "Everything I built over those years – the drawing, the art direction, the visual repertoire – suddenly has a much shorter path to the screen."While AI can generate many images in minutes, Porto argues it still can't replace artistic judgement. Knowing which image works, understanding why the lighting feels wrong, spotting bad anatomy, or shaping a visual into something that serves a story are skills built over decades, not downloaded overnight. I spoke to Porto about why using AI is only a small part of his workflow, why Photoshop and Blender remain essential, and why experienced artists may find AI can strengthen their craft rather than diminishing it.Read below how Daniel Porto combines AI with digital art, Blender and his years of art knowledge. Visit his portfolio site to see the results. Necromancer is a concept art that combines Blender models, traditional digital painting and AI. (Image credit: Daniel Porto)Creative Bloq: You say AI has made your 20 years of experience more valuable. Why?Daniel Porto: The experience got amplified. The distance between what I could imagine and what I could actually produce was defined by budget, team or time. AI collapsed that distance, but not as a shortcut, not as easy as “prompting”. It's about no longer depending on a huge production structure, or fighting complex processes, to experiment and bring to life whatever is on your mind. Everything I built over those years – the drawing, the art direction, the visual repertoire – suddenly has a much shorter path to the screen.Source: Creative Bloq AI — Published — Category: Image AI