Why would I want to start Collecting Art - Real vs. Fake

Artwork should be created by human hands. It doesn't matter what tools you use – if you don't understand the concept or the ideas behind it, some digital device can't create for you. Creation is a purely human and divine act.

This second part in my series about Collecting art will cover AI generated art and how to avoid it.

This is Part Two in a series of articles I'm going to cover three main topics:

Why would I want to start “collecting” artwork?

Where can I find quality artwork?

Who should I be collecting?

This is part two in the subject of WHY. Why should I collect REAL artwork and ignore fake's and copies.

The case against AI art is something I feel STRONGLY about.

In this world of fake art and generative AI theft, be aware of what you're purchasing. With the latest iterations of these softwares, it's becoming harder and harder to pick out what's fake and what's real. The term "generative AI" is only fancy marketing to make it seem more futuristic. The actual terminology is LLMs (Large Language Models). It's a model built off of the hard work of real artists and writers - rearranged and regurgitated to sound as "human" as possible.

Your Assignment This Weekend: Decide whether you value hand made items.

It’s getting harder to tell what’s real. The safest way to avoid being scammed is to buy directly from the artist—but even that isn’t foolproof. There are growing reports of people selling AI images as their own work at fairs and markets. Some even steal photos of real artwork, use software to remove watermarks, and then sell copies. Temu is known for this, and Etsy has had its share of problems too.

So how can you trust what you’re buying? If something feels off, try a reverse image search or ask an artist friend for their opinion. By far the best safeguard is a real connection with an artist. Meet with them and see the work in person. It's always better to buy from someone you’ve had a real interaction with. When you do, you can feel the difference—and that makes every future purchase simpler and safer.

How does this help me when collecting art?

Making a personal connection with an artist and seeing their process can help insure that the artwork you're buying is real - not generated or stolen from someone else. Ask them for process pictures or time-lapse video of the piece. Ask to see the origin sketch or reference photos.

The more we place value on REAL artwork and REAL artists, the better your investment will pay off in the long run. It's not fare that you should pay for stolen artwork or support someone's scam.

For an example - below are three process shots of my artwork, "An Early Autumn."

Want to read more? I have the FULL GUIDE available to download! Click here to get my guide to Create a

Private Art Collection, One Masterpiece At A Time.

 Stay tuned for the next installment in this series about "How to collect art" and if you haven't already - subscribe to my email list for alerts when new artwork drops and you'll get first access to new pieces!

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