21d • Mikes Art Corner
The Power of Pause
I’ll be honest—I’m easily delighted. 😄So when I first discovered the silly, imaginative videos you could make with tools like Sora AI and Gemini, it didn’t take much for me to start playing, experimenting, and posting a few Shorts on my YouTube channel.
Then I received a negative comment about “using AI.”
And you know what?It actually gave me something valuable: pause.
I’m a freelance illustrator, cartoonist, and caricature artist, and I want to be crystal clear about how I use AI: AI is a tool. Not the artist.
Years ago, I used Pinterest to gather visual reference.
Today, I use ChatGPT and other AI tools the same way—to help me visualize an idea that already exists in my head so I can turn it into a hand-drawn sketch and eventually a fully illustrated digital piece.
That reflection also helped me course-correct.
Instead of creating “fast-food” AI shorts just because I could, I returned to what matters most to me: my caricature work and the people behind it.
Here’s what I’m doing now—and it’s been incredibly rewarding:
• I take the reference photo my client provided• Pair it with the finished 11×17 caricature I personally created• Use Gemini to help recreate a moment where the client receives the artwork, looks at it… and laughs
I carefully set the aspect ratio and guardrails so the videos work naturally as YouTube Shorts and TikToks—no gimmicks, no shortcuts, no pretending AI merely recreated a great and awesome moment.
What I’m sharing now aren’t “AI videos.”
They’re recreations of real moments of joy—moments that already happened because of human connection, human creativity, and a hand-drawn piece of art.
And the response has been incredible.The views are great—but the feeling is even better.
Tools will keep changing.The heart behind the work doesn’t have to.
If you’re a creator navigating this same space, I’d love to hear how you’re using tools without losing your voice.
Progress doesn’t mean replacing yourself.Sometimes it just means aiming the spotlight back where it belongs.
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The Power of Pause
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