Space Pirates: New Concept Art Charts a Grittier Future

Quick note on how I’m using AI—and why an art background counts more than ever. The zone is flooded with mediocre AI art. Anybody can make their fantasy dreams come true in under a minute and practically free. That doesn’t make their dream any good.

I come into this with decades in the industry: drawing classes, art history, design work, production pipelines. Learning anatomy, composition, value, color theory. Studying painters. Shipping real projects. That foundation is still doing most of the heavy lifting.

I have been drawing all of my life, worked in the game and video industry in L.A., and have a career in design. AI is now an essential part of my concept workflow. Not as a replacement for fundamentals, butt as a productivity tool.

All the tools are still used, Photoshop, texture references, paintovers, lighting passes, composition. That hasn’t changed. What has changed is speed. I can ideate faster, push detail earlier, test characters from multiple angles, and rough out environments before committing to final layouts.

For these space pirate concepts, AI helped me iterate on body silhouettes, armor variations, and base renders quickly.

But AI didn’t make any important creative calls. These are the very concepts I set out to create before picking up my drawing pen.

AI is an amazing tool for artists, perhaps one of the most powerful tool to ever come around. Don’t shy away from it, marginalize those that know how to use it. Embrace it start building worlds.