While watching videos of artists working in graphite, I often see the same beginning: a skull. As if the foundation of every portrait must begin in death. Like forensic experts, the artist builds upon the bone—layering tendon and sinew, then the delicate muscles of expression, and the softening pads of SMAS. Eventually, skin covers it all, hiding the secrets within.
We’ve done the same with dinosaurs—assembled skeletons into towering forms. But we know so little of the quality, color, or texture of their skin. There may be feathers, even when there is no flight.
Yet our graphite artists know the human model. They craft a reasonable likeness in shadow and light, in gesture and restraint.
In the same way, AI can take the bones of an idea and flesh it out with tangential thoughts—full of adjectives, nouns, and even verbs. But will it resemble the creature of the original thought? Or will it come cloaked in a rainbow of fluorescent feathers?
A Work Progressing 
I Am Pondering…
I am pondering the bones of an idea.
While watching videos of artists working in graphite, I often see the same beginning: a skull. As if the foundation of every portrait must begin in death. Like forensic experts, the artist builds upon the bone—layering tendon and sinew, then the delicate muscles of expression, and the softening pads of SMAS. Eventually, skin covers it all, hiding the secrets within.
We’ve done the same with dinosaurs—assembled skeletons into towering forms. But we know so little of the quality, color, or texture of their skin. There may be feathers, even when there is no flight.
Yet our graphite artists know the human model. They craft a reasonable likeness in shadow and light, in gesture and restraint.
In the same way, AI can take the bones of an idea and flesh it out with tangential thoughts—full of adjectives, nouns, and even verbs. But will it resemble the creature of the original thought? Or will it come cloaked in a rainbow of fluorescent feathers?
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