Why working with human creators is just better

Jesus has yet again brought his unique vision and passion to my work.

I would like to illustrate why working with other humans (aside from you know ethically and for general lifestyle pleasure and the joy of human interaction) will actually refine and improve your own art as well.

I would like to do this with a study of "Chapel by the Sea" by Jesus Santana

I commissioned three pieces to go alongside my own short story of the same name. But asked firstly that he choose the three scenes that most appealed to him, that he would be most excited to bring to life. First point! Passion! Enthusiasm, the spark of joy that exists in all creatives, I could feel that in our exchanges, that is fuel for my own fire.

He went away and read the work and got back to me, and then we work shopped a few of the ideas together. I had a few things in mind, I had a breed of sheep "Cornish Longwoll" and sent him pictures, he had descriptions of Sophie from the text but we talked through a few character models and I had a few ideas for the architectural style of the chapel. So we collaborated, I got another pass through my work with fresh and enthusiastic eyes. I made a few small changes to reflect his input to the text and also found a typo. So point two collaboration! My art was already bigger than just me, I had another voice that helped refine my own.

Then the next point, trust! He went away and made the sketches, yes I could have input, but maybe one or two rounds of changes max. It would be his vision, his work, his style. I had to have faith in another human being to share my world with. I have never been disappointed and I have always felt overjoyed at the result. He saw what I saw, and more, far more. I have disgraphia, I cannot form mental images, my world is a world of text and numbers, of word and thought, but I can only see images with my eyes, not my mind. For me it really is magic to have another human turn their mental images into pictures, this skill is one I can never have.

The last point is that he saw something in the work that I did not. I am a near Dawkinesk atheist and live in the UK, which is now really a nominally religious country. I had taken a Christian background for this story, just for aesthetics really but it was not a deep theme for me when I wrote it. When I saw this image, produced by Jesus from a much more Christian culture, it struck me. There was an inversion of all Christian mythology here, the chapel was in ruins, the sheep were strange and twisted and the good shepherd was a shepherdess now! In his first draft he had included a ray of light falling down onto the hidden wreck in the bay, an even more overt Christian symbol, the holy spirit descending. I asked for this to be removed as it clashed with the inversion of all Christian symbols, the resulting work was better still. There was no ray of light, no Christian message of divine hope, this is a Lovecraftian piece, there is no salvation, no forgiveness and no guiding light.

Working together I understood more about my own work and it deepened my understanding of the themes I had employed subconsciously. The work is richer, deeper and darker because of it.

I remain staunchly opposed to the use of AI in all forms of art. See my AI value statement here.

Jesus remains my primary collaborator for my work and I cannot recommend him enough. His main platforms are:

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/santana_drawings/ 

- Fiverr: https://www.fiverr.com/jesussantana351