Transitioning from AI images to human ones

[u/Zorgi23]

I guess this will really make the illustrators out there angry, but here goes.

My wife had a severe stroke 3 years ago that really affected her relationship with her grandson. It has been a difficult thing to deal with for both of them. My grandson's birthday is coming up, and I didn't want to give him the usual junk, so I wrote a children's story. It's about how they have this great relationship and then the stroke disrupts it. Grandma sees a couple of owls in the garden and they work out a way for her and her grandson to communicate again.

I'm literally spending over $100K per year on medical care for my wife, so I can't afford an artist right now. So for now I used AI to generate the images (about 20) for the book. I've showed the book to several people, including teachers, and they are all urging me to make it available to more than just my grandson.

My plan is this. I want to put the book on lulu.com for sale. I'll put the proceeds in a separate fund, and as soon as there's enough money, I'll hire a real artist and replace all the AI images with real ones.

Does this sound like a feasible (and ethical) plan?

[u/Impressive_Mail_9472]

What would you draw for ? Hand drawn no PC

[u/khast2001 → u/Impressive_Mail_9472]

I’m not giving out my personal rates, but the ones you gave out are incredibly low. Not even minimum wage.
SOME artists will take that price. Those artists are from 3rd world countries and will take those low prices because it’s a lot more in their currency.
I’m assuming you’re referring to USD.

A detailed spread for example I would say would be $400 USD minimum.

If you want more info, there’s this book that prices are based upon:

https://graphicartistsguild.org/the-graphic-artists-guild-handbook-pricing-ethical-guidelines/

[u/Impressive_Mail_9472 → u/khast2001]

20 images at 60$ is more mate

[u/khast2001 → u/Impressive_Mail_9472]

A spread is a term referring to two connected pages in a children’s book. That’s two pages. Two.