written by Maurice Cardinal *RiC
*This RiC, REAL intelligence Certified article
was created by a human who breathes and bleeds.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE is the best thing that has happened to TRADITIONAL ART 🤔… lately.
The resurgence of traditional art like paintings and photography is driven by art lovers and collectors seeking handmade physical art created by living humans.
Humans want sentient art, and are willing to pay premium prices now that Ai is churning out machine-based art faster than the bromance between Musk and Trump went from heavy petting to sleeping in the DOGE house.
Even though digital art visibility peaked during the chaotic NFT era in late 2021, it is still growing and evergreen. Digital has been well established for decades, but now that artificial intelligence has ramped up, collectors are questioning again where value in art really lies. Whether digital or traditional, some art collectors want to be assured that a human mind and hands created the piece hanging on their wall or displayed on a pedestal.
Creative intellectualism is returning as small galleries are again introducing us to sentient art that brings order to the chaos of heart, mind, and soul.
The reality is that traditional art will never go back to where it was, at least not in the near future. Artists now realize they have to open their minds and embrace new ideas and concepts that are often out of their comfort zones.
It’s also positive news for art supply houses who report sales are up in Q1 2025, and with projected growth of 6.5% for the next five years. After a dip in 2024, artists are now back, stocking up on brushes, paints and all tactile supplies!
Ai rebirthed in traditional artists an element that has been missing for a while – intellectual resonance.
Digital art challenged artists relentlessly, and bled over to traditional art forms when artists began to borrow ideas they saw developing through the mathematical chicanery of ones, zeros, and now Ai automation.
It’s easy today to see Ai influence in every form of art including painting, photography, sculpture, writing, videos, music, and more.
Ai might not be able to create an organic sentient experience for fastidious traditional collectors, at least not yet, but it is inspiring artists to move out of comfort zones to experience physical art that now truly knows no boundaries.
And that’s a good thing, right?
I live in a big city and last week saw a small acrylic painting leaning up against a garbage bin begging to be taken home and hung on a wall.
I almost let it stay there thinking someone would grab it quickly. It’s primitive, and painted by someone with developing technical skills, but it had unconscious thought imbued throughout, and also a BEE!
It was the bee, one of the most profound statements of life on our planet that enticed me to rescue the abandoned art.
I suspected there was a resurgence of human-created art earlier this year when I visited my local Opus Art Supplies shop, and the checkout line was longer than I’d ever seen. It was uplifting, and cool because I was in a conga line with other artists who were buzzing about their projects. It was so busy and chaotic, the harried clerk accidently charged me for an item I didn’t purchase, and I had to go back the next day for a refund, which they did without question.
I also noticed recently that traditional-style paintings at Stock Home Design, an upscale gift shop in my neighborhood, don’t last too long in their windows.
Almost overnight the shop on West Broadway in Vancouver became a popular space to view exceptional local artists who create paintings, photographs and whimsical sculptures.
Stock Home is now my go-to for refined and casual art gifts, including wooden posters distress-painted with John Lennon quotes. My Mom loves them!
Stock Home recognized that even though traditional storefront art galleries have all but disappeared, there is still insatiable thirst for REAL ART created by REAL LOCAL ARTISTS who breathe and bleed love, envy, and all of our emotions in between and beyond.
Three days after my dumpster find, I was riding my bike along the ocean at English Bay in Vancouver and came upon a talented local artist, Monte Christofferson who was displaying a dozen or so incredible pieces on a grassy knoll overlooking the ocean. We chatted a bit and connected deeply about authenticity in art today, or more accurately the often lack thereof.
Monte asked which of his paintings moved me the most and I pointed to a piece that had a craggy mountain peak jutting up into a wispy sky.
He picked it up to discuss and handed it to me for a closer view, and when I handed it back he said “No, please take it. It’s a gift.”
I was floored. Would HAL do that 😉 ?
Monte was moved by our discussion of real verses artificial creations and felt compelled to place something in my hands I would really cherish, and he was right. I do.
Not sure where to hang it yet, but for now it looks great on my teal Nancy chair.
Three days later I’m riding my bike again, but this time along Kits Beach. I saw portrait artist, Pelé Gouda setting up to do street plein air commissions of beach bums, and their faces too. I said hello and complimented one of the charcoal pieces in his folder. He said it was of his fiancé, Holly, a gorgeous woman. Pelé asked if I had time to sit for him while he warmed up his charco-chops. I said sure, and he said he insisted on doing it for free. At the time I didn’t put it together that is was my third free piece of art in one week. He didn’t know I co-own International Artist Day until he finished the sketch, so it was a very nice gesture from a generous soul.
While he sketched I sat back and watched all the beautiful people floating by on the beach. Pelé was fast, and animated and funny, but really introspective as he captured my likeness.
A few days later when I showed it to my pre-teen granddaughter (W’s a naturally talented and prolific mixed-media artist), she said “WOW, he captured you perfectly!”
I rolled my eyes because I was hoping that magically Pelé would make me look happier haha. I was told years ago that my resting face scares children, so as hard as I tried in the blazing sun to look pleasant, I still have a worried look furrowed into my brow, but that’s on me. I work too much.
Pelé nailed my character in about fifteen minutes, which is pretty intuitive.
You can’t get an organic experience like that from Ai and a computer.
In the course of one week, I ended up with three free and inspiring pieces for my home. While I’m on a roll I’m going buy a lottery ticket to see if my streak has legs.
Would I cherish these pieces if they were created by HAL – the Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer from the science fiction series 2001: A Space Odyssey? I would because art is art, but not nearly as much as my three new trad pieces. I’m a romantic, who, like everyone else, craves human touch.
Welcome back sentient art.
You scared me for a moment mf.
Don’t ever do that again.
If you have questions, please reach out…
P.S. If you create art in the traditional manner with your mind and hands, it’s imperative that from this day forward you make it clear to viewers and prospects that you are a HUMAN, and not an Ai app. If you don’t tell them, who will? RiC means REAL intelligence CERTIFIED
