I'm restarting the 1000 Portrait Project.
I've almost completed it twice before, but lately I've been worried that I'm losing touch again. With all these AI tools around, it's easy to let the machine take over the hand.
So the rules are simple:
- Every portrait must be hand-drawn — in Photoshop or with real pencils.
- AI may assist, but it must never become the drawing hand: cwkEmber and cwkCinder are allowed as studio tools. They can help me see, prepare, compare, and study — but I still draw.
- I do the drawing. AI only helps with reference, critique, organization, or study.
- This is practice, not a masterpiece contest.
- No more than one hour per piece.
The most important thing to remember is this:
Too much AI dependency can quietly take the fun away.
And that defeats the whole point.
I draw to keep the touch alive.
I draw to practice seeing.
I draw to get happy.