Well, this is doing numbers… Check out my SoundCl… But no, for real- check out some of the awesome *actual* artists who were at DragonCon: @karenhallionkenney.bsky.social @brandonkenneyart.com @schweizercomics.bsky.social @catawampuspress.bsky.social @artofbianca.bsky.social @donrosa.org & more!

More! @ragonia.bsky.social @stevehorton.bsky.social @jdebbiel.bsky.social @devinellekurtz.bsky.social @robertwilsoniv.bsky.social @tracieching.bsky.social @garthft.bsky.social @jenniebreeden.thedevilspanties.com

promoting other artists 🥹

@dawnringer.bsky.social I wonder if this is the one you saw the post about or another one.

It was another one that I saw.

Hang this in The Louvre! We love to see it 👏👏👏 Thank you for standing by for what is right for artists, makers, and creators @dragoncon.org . 🙏🙏🙏

BASED as hell.

I can't wait to find out the full story of wtf happened here!

You don't have to. Read the rest of the comments.

So glad to see this and to see the little sign to let folks know! :D A shame for the shysters taking up a table from a legitmate artist/vendor but it's a good lesson for vendors and conventions moving forward.

Just had a thought, happens once every couple of years. Do me a tiny favour? When you are at cons could you kindly ask those involved that should someone be found to be selling AI slop, that they call the police? It is theft/fraud, I can’t sell high grade chocolate and in reality ship packs of mud.

They should have left the name there. There should be a clause in their contract that if they are found to be selling AI slop that they are obligated to buy back any “art” that people wish to get rid of at twice the price it was sold for. Sadly, I don’t think they are zoned for public executions.

I would hope most fans recognized the work as ai slop and chose to avoid it so their sales declined rapidly for the time they were selling. They will learn quickly that cons and fans talk to one another.

“…gans talk to one another” is a nice start. But what is needed is that something that is very easy to see and understand that is as simple as a meme. They should have left their name/company name/etc on the table so it is very public in photo form.

What do you think caused the stain?

Have to tag @lartist.bsky.social since I am sure they will understand this reply and probably be amused.

Tricky with the name thing, as I believe the guy registered under a gf/exgf's name/handle? Which, if she's not involved, what a fantastic extra layer of garbage on one's personality! Just go ruin someone else's name!

When they are handing him over to the police for theft, (which this is… they took money under false pretense) they could have gotten their name from the police report.

From what I saw, she was crowing about the massive profits they made and calling the rest of us sore losers who couldn't sell things. She was slightly indelicate about it. I was seriously hoping they'd gone red from the booth fee before getting caught ;_;

hell yeah 🎉🎉🎉‼️‼️‼️

The world is healing

A.I. "art" is not art. It's content. Plain and simple. Or slop, because that's what it is, too.

warms your cold dark heart doesn't it

"Vendor Removed" I hope they're in the shadow realm

Missed opportunity for not using #ArtByFurries, too.

HELL yes!

I’m so sick of AI. The world is full of enough BS already.

It’s called an “artist” ally, not an “AI image slop” ally.

alley?

Whoops

*alley (If only BlueSky could let me edit posts- RIP)

An "Artist Ally" is someone who supports real artists and hates AI Slop.

I like the little rip in the table. Makes it look like they got dragged out.

The police were involved.

So they didn't go willingly? Wow what chuds.

that explains that stain in the tablecloth

The police were there to make certain they went willingly.

They should have taken them out in handcuffs for multiple accounts of fraud. It’s the same (just at a lower scale) as if I sold a Jackson Pollock that’s in reality was made by a monkey throwing shite at a canvas.

How do you tell the difference?

The difference is that he was an artist. Many may not like his abstracts (I do), but he was capable of making things others would find more palatable.

I didn't say I liked it or not. From an observers point of view what would you look for in his abstract art to tell a fake from an actual work? Think Kostabi.

It's not a matter of palatable. Once upon a time an 'artist' put a crucifix in a jar of piss and called it art The thing is a lot of his paintings could not be differentiated from spilled paint - and I was curious if there was a sign of his technique that could be seen and used to prove an original

Pollock was a better technical painter than you’d probably even know if you’ve never painted

I have not. That's why I asked.

oh, no, no shade...it's a whole thing... his ability to maintain smooth textures and even thickness with that level of intense detail, no matter how thick the paint shows a mastery of the medium that few could match

also, like, a lot of his stuff included objects that were symbolic and colors that were meant to evoke specific emotions as you surrounded yourself in it... like, these things aren't generally a 3.5x3

You couldn't because the difference would be obvious to anyone spending a cool million on a piece of art.

If you've seen a Pollack in person (I have) the work is DEFINITELY not random. I'm sure an art historian could describe it better, but there is meaning in every drop. And I generally don't like modern art, but I can study a Pollack easily.

This part. The first time I saw a Pollack in person, I was like "OHHHH, now I get it!" It's a very different experience than seeing a photo. (Also true for Van Gogh's Starry Night, but oddly, not for the Mona Lisa.)

It's like a calculated insult. I know the family, and geniuses they all were in that generation. Amazing work and,oh, BTW why don't YOU get a painting into the Met or Modern? Annoying.

So, from what I gather, AI Bro: Falsified his application, in several ways. Got caught. Was told to leave. *Refused to leave*. Police were summoned to effect the trespass. And he then left.

Damn that's a story.

I nominate "dumbass who tried to hawk his stochastic parrot's plagiarism efforts at Dragoncon and failed" as the main character of the week

Ai "generative slop" which is not art.

This is happiness!!❤️

That’s nice.

love to see it

Thank you @dragoncon.org !! Hey @fanexpocanada.bsky.social take notice

Love to see it!!

NAME THEM THO

bsky.app/profile/monk...

bsky.app/profile/patl...

Though if this is authentic I'd say we don't need to spare Ms. Gerez criticism either: bsky.app/profile/pros...

Looks like her insta account is set to private now

Prudent I'm sure

people who pay for this are even more stupid that whoever this person is

I'd rather make my own drawings and I'm terrible at it

www.instagram.com/ogartofficia... And www.orianagerezart.com

lol a gallery owner? ok

Yuppoppppp

Looks like they've taken their IG private. Which, for a gallery, is an interesting choice...

lol the "Prints" section of the site is all dead links, wonder how that happened 🤔

Safely forgotten tbh

AI artists getting booted for AI art be like:

Good shit good shit good shit good shit good shit!

I want a print of this

Glad to see they got the boot! Sad they took a booth a real artist could have had and got to rip off customers for several days before it happened :/

Not enough quotes around "Art" but I'll take it.

#ButlerianJihad

wasted a table on garbage, could have had an actual artist in that booth

And might make it even harder for vendors to get a both at that con as they'll have to increase their precautions to prevent this from happening again. Based that the con gave them the boot, but everyone still loses in a way which is a shame.

Which is why I think there should be a sub clause in the contract that they are obligated to buy back any AI slop people want to get rid of. And a sub clause to that, one saying they are responsible for any court costs if people sue them to get their money back.

It ain't art, and they aren't artist.

Just saw this too! Loved it so much.

I hope some countries actually make selling AI art illegal one day. Fuck AI art and fuck everyone who prompts it, frankly.

ai content has no copyright and this cant have the ability to be sold nobody owns it, therefore anyone can have it and these ai mfs are in it for the money, if they realize they cant sell it they wont do it

you can freely sell things that are not copyrighted/out of copyright. eg. i license some things i make cc0 on purpose specifically because i'm fine with other people selling them with or without attribution

how does one sell something they dont own? cipyright protects a creator by ensuring only they get to sell it or own it something i am missing i assume

right, so something *not* copyrighted (i.e. in the public domain, or licensed equivalently in places where placing things in the public domain is impossible) has no protections about who can create copies of it. and if you *have* a copy of something tangible, *generally*, you can sell it

like if you have a paper book, you can sell it to a used book store. but you can't just make a copy of that book without further restrictions under copyright law, generally. often there are protections for making a single extra backup copy for personal use too. this is just super-high-level though

i put things out as CC0 (creativecommons.org/public-domai...) sometimes, e.g. 3D modelled assistive tools, because i care more about maximizing the number of people assisted than i do about getting attributions. i don't care if people sell 'em

You're right in that copyright protects a creator by ensuring only they get to sell it. When copyrights expire, given up, or are not permissible, than everyone is allowed to sell the work. It makes it hard for any one person to profit from it, but you can still sell it if you find a buyer.

An example of this is physical books of classic works that are no longer under copyright. Even though Frankenstein is no longer copyrighted, people still want to buy it -- so anyone can put together an edition and try to get it into book stores. But you could print it yourself if that works for you

Open source software has long struggled with this. How do you fund a project where the output is free to copy? Typically through support contracts abnd donations. If Hollywood were to make an AI-generated movie, how do they make money? Anyone would be permitted to copy it and upload the video.

While I don't support the sale of AI images, you can sell prints and copies of public domain works, which this stuff falls under. Any publisher can print and sell a copy of Alice In Wonderland for instance.

Good

Meanwhile, @monopolyevents1.bsky.social make their own ai posters to sell at their events.

based as hell

This photo is art in and of itself 😁

Good. Hope they do they same at Rose City CC

My favourite part is that the sign is handwritten.

This is so sexy 😩

Love seeing this. @fanexpohq.bsky.social step your game up. Saw a few AI crap at your convention this year, which is an insult to actual artists.

this should happen on the internet too.

Even before AI slop I'd seen losers in Artist Alleys selling photoshopped versions of other artists' art, with dumb shit like paint splatters on them, shit sucked so bad. Hope those get the boot too.

Hope the door hit them on the way out

Every convention should take notes.

We love to see it!

Hell yeah, fuck AI

things you love: to see it

Hell yeah

Love to see it. Support your independent artists people!

❤️

i feel the artist information should still be shown, as a warning to never use em

I'll be keeping my eyes out for now on each time I go to Comic book Expos. If I do see some folks selling AI piece of Crap, there reported and gone.

I remember seeing a post somewhere on Facebook, it had said something along the lines of "No matter how bad you think your art is, remember: it will always be better than A.I."

"A.I. art" is an oxymoron.

W

god is good

G O O D

I hope all the various cons are sharing the names of sloppers who have been caught out, so they can’t find shelter in any port.

Mmm, delicious. May that couple be blacklisted and lose all their instagram followers 🙏

Name them. Shame them.

HELL YEAH!!

Same energy

Niiiiiice

@hywel72.bsky.social 👍👍

The best thing to read in 2025 :D

Good. I part of me wants to folk to name and shame so they can't do it again, but that's not productive. Hopefully the con community flags them.

Upon reading the thread: I changed my mind. Using your partner who is an actual human artist as an accomplice is disgusting behavior. Oriana Gerez should be ashamed in her complicity. Cons need to add financial penalties to this behavior, either forcing buy backs or fines on top of blacklisting.

Good Riddance.

Same energy.

On the same note, can we do away with the vendors who just 3D print the same downloaded scaled dragon eggs and flexible dragons and charge $50 for $2 in filament. That shit is getting old.

Unless they like, have approval from the original creator- I wouldn't mind buying the clanky dragons to tinker around with! Sometimes people upload free models for others to 3d print and make them.

It doesn't matter if they were free, artist alley spots are for artists selling their wares. Downloading publicly available files and printing it isn't that. If you're selling 3D prints in the AA then the models should be your creations, too.

Gatekeepers gonna gatekeep

It's a place for artists, not sellers. If you want to sell things you didn't design you're always welcome to try to apply for a vendor table.

Yeah, and that's a good thing. Artists have no lobby, we have no big institution who does it for us. So we'll do it ourselves and keep the freeloaders out and the quality of vendors high.

The idea of selling "prints" at an art dealer den is that the seller is the one who created them, 3D or not You wouldn't sell a 2D image that you didn't create yourself under the guise of creating it yourself just because you have the legal right to reproduce it

THAT'S AWESOME

I hope the entire room was chanting, "Clanker go home" while they packed his shit up and walked him out.

We were all too busy selling our human art to bother with them. Lol

... I think this is way more powerful than shaming them. Because it makes them inconsequential. They don't get to make a splash, cause a disruption, they just get to vanish into the night with a whimper.

DragonCon don't play.

Curious; how do they decide/tell if a vendor is selling AI art?

bsky.app/profile/patl...

Respect

Should have read "Removed for selling AI CRAP!!"

Oh god this is delightful

Hahahaha yesssssss lets go Human Artists!!!! ❤️

YAAAAY

I mean, yay. But also, if they had tome to remove, couldn’t they replace them? Does dragon con not have an artist alley? Or is it just corpo shills anyways?

That should be considered theft at this point. It's basically like reselling stolen items

It straight up IS the reselling of stolen items!! I love this picture

🙌🎉

based

So long as it was in the contact they agreed to, I support this.

Need one for 3D printed articulated dragons.

Not only did they get kicked out but they got a shame sign

This makes my heart so happy. I hope this person's identity gets "shared" with other cons.

Nothing left but the stain.

FAFO 😸

That’s what it’s all about

Gonna start leaving these signs on empty tables everywhere

To quote Jack Nicholson Joker: Now that’s good work.

death to the abominable intelligence

I want to give this organizer a high-five (note to AI art generators: that’s not a ‘high-six’).

No, that's just from Ford Pines.

That was such a wonderful show! Besides Gruncle Stan being a fine role model as I settle into my grouchy senior years, the whole way they handled Dipper’s crush on Wendy (and them being able to nevertheless form a friendship) was incredibly pure.

I need to watch it uninterrupted and not just "whatever I can get". It's just there's such a long list! I still have to finish Babylon 5 sometime! But yeah, someone starts talking about "people with six fingers" being a barometer for AI art and I start snickering as that thought occurs :)

Yeah I mean, my bad for forgetting probably the most famous six fingered animation character ;) but I was definitely inspired by things like the posters from the new Naked Gun reboot.

Hang it in the looooooooooooouuuvre @thelouvreof.bsky.social

Now this is art!

Apparently, the scene got upgraded. www.reddit.com/r/dragoncon/...

Nice.

the stray hair is a nice touch

They booted Brevoort?

Ppl are happy to be offended.

if you're looking for twitter, you were supposed to turn left at Albuquerque.

X marks the spot.

anytime i see a rip bozo, my faith in humanity strengthens.

Ooh, and I spy a very apropos @karenhallionkenney.bsky.social sticker on that notification!!

I still think we can improve on this, it's not bad because an algo was involved, it bad because it's botted plagiarism. Don't sell shit you made by stealing from your fellow illustrators.

unironically better than whatever that person would be able to prompt lol

Where can I get that sticker?

Nice to see him thrown out the door, but that's a booth that real human artists badly wanted to sit at. Screw this guy even harder, he cost people work they needed.

hell yea!

Hells yes

Ok now to check youtube for a video of them being removed

There's a few photos. Yes, cops were involved in the process. If you're arguing with convention staff, then you've already lost. bsky.app/profile/patl...

Yay!!! Love seeing that!

They put him in the shredder. 🥰

Wow thats.... really refreshing!!

environmental storytelling

Just needs a skeleton and a teddy bear and it’ll fit right into a fallout game.

A dead automaton would be more fitting xD

True.

Who was the vendor?

Oriana Gerez.

Could I share that photo?

Yes.

Thank you!

hell yeah

Be gone ai scammers

Love to see this

We love to see it!

Blood was shed

I heard about this from an artist I was assisting this weekend at the art show (BlondCoyote). Whoa dang!

Good

This is hilarious 😂

Might be the best pic I've seen all day.

Yeah but apparently he’d been doing it all weekend. Streisand him. Make sure he never sells at another con.

I had a simpler solution. A clause in the contract that anyone found selling AI slop is obligated to buy back all pieces people wish to get rid of at twice the price paid.

Probably not easy to enforce that. however a permanent ban from future cons - including any other cons put on by that same company elsewhere (FanExpo, etc) - might be effective.

Ya love to see it

They shoulda left up their logo for further reprecusions lol

Dang we love to see it!! Still sad for the vendors who got waitlisted while this person was peddling slop

lmao hell yes

ngl, the writing on the sign looks digital art. XD

Justice served.

I've been appreciating the comments from passerby. It's nice to know attendees recognize it's a crap situation.

Art is what makes us human. Good on them, there's literally no point to AI art.

They Know What They Did at DragonCon...

oh heck this is so amazing to see

👁️🫦👁️

@chrisbivins.bsky.social Did you & Joe see this? I can't find him on bluesky, but thought you guys might like to know since you worked so hard to get your real art ready for DragonCon!

There are pics of him being escorted out by the police.

I love this <3

Hope they also had their scam profits seized

If only #FanexpoToronto had done the same thing

The only way that could've been better is if the sign said "AI Trash" instead of "AI Art", since "AI" and "Art" are two things that don't go together.

I believe the currently accepted term is 'Clanker Slop'.

Look, every time i see people using "clanker" i still think of any sort of sexbot. A sexbot would still be doing a better service than whatever the removed person was trying to sell

can we not make robot racism a thing this is how we have an uprising

NORMALIZE THIS TERM Y'ALL

Does that make people who use it "Clanker Wankers"?

Cwankers

Why are you all so desperate to make up slurs

Because people totally unconcerned with calmly presented facts seem to get utterly fucking triggered when you dismissively call them and everything they do names. It's about meeting the cumskulls on their level.

Stolen training data, environmental costs, lack of human input or artistic vision, all it can do is regurgitate, it all looks the same and is deeply flawed, or they're just in it for a quick buck, they don't care. Call it AI slop and they act like you've just fucked their nephew in front of them.

I get the vibe, but also: “You can never really replace the human experience so it might seem as a good idea at the time but once all the dust settles, people will realize that maybe it’s not as amazing as they think it is. Nothing replaces the real human experience.” - Chris Jericho

Also "Cumskulls" why do you talk like some sort of weird right wing sex obsessed person

Did you not read the last sentence to its conclusion?

It sounds like you really just want to use slurs tbh

Yeah, I do. Gets me aroused to feel superior to people, and the AI bros are great for that.

I like to call it "AIn't Art"

I misread the sign as "A.I. Fart" (maybe because I also saw the word "smell") and I had followup questions.

It makes more sense if you put it that way.

Lmfao!! Based

This is great. Shit’s invading every area of the art world.

First pic I've seen of this sign! Love to see them removed

I’m right next to it, so it’s easy. Lol

Should you go back do me (and all) a favour. Ask the organizers to have them dragged out in handcuffs. Very simply, they committed many accounts of theft by fraud.

According to an ig story I saw, it WAS the police who made them leave, bc it's illegal to sell stuff made with ai if you dont disclose its made with ai, in the state the con is taking place. I doubt they were dragged out in handcuffs tho 😅

From what I understand, they were just made to leave. They should have been arrested for fraud.

Oh now THAT is interesting. Not a snowball's chance in Hell (not Hell Michigan) we're passing that anytime soon. But that, I like.

the bill (House Bill 478) for the law you are referring to didn't actually pass unfortunately

That's unfortunate 😔 like I said, I only read about it in a ig story so I was just parroting that information tbf

The way I heard it, he was asked to leave quietly and did not comply.

This seems much more likely yeah.

why call it DragonCon if they aren't going to drag out the con?????

Huh. My opinion of Georgia has just gone up by a significant percentage. :)

Think of all the movie stuff in Georgia (like, all of the MCU has that Georgia Peach logo at the end of the credits). They have a lot of businesses pushing to guard copyright.

There is a video on threads of the guy taking down his stuff. I thought I recognized your booth!

Delicious

Hell yeah DragonCon

Oh heck yes!!! This gives me life.

Get wrecked lol

@larkistin89.bsky.social not all heroes wear capes. Awesome image!

Love to see it

I really don't get why anyone likes AI art. Its soulless and depressing. Then I recall your cover of the Star Trek comic. The image of Captain Kirk it has depth and feeling. That's what art should be. Samuel T Cogley would have something to say about it.

You love to see it.

How in the hell does one think they're going to put up a booth with AI at *DRAGONCON* of all places???

Allegedly the grifter's girlfriend is an artist, and they used her ticket to set up the booth. Some people in the comments found her Instagram.

Update: Their girlfriend helped them set up, so they're complicit in this shit. Really damn gross.

Lmao! Earned!

More of this please!

Awesome.

Lmao

Oh well done.

Luckinly the inventor of dragons never copyrighted them so all the humans can copy the desing with their flesh

love posts like this, although i still hate seeing people trying to sneak this crap in. still love seeing them not getting away with it

Amazing!

Which artist?

The name on the booth was Oriana Gerez.

Looks like he applied under his gf’s name bsky.app/profile/patl...

She's on Insta as ogartofficial and has been DM'ing insults to people who named her as the ejected artist apparently (on Karen Hallion's stories right now)

I see she's proceeded to the private insta level of meltdown.

Oh my godddd

Walter Keane just wasting his reincarnation I guess

that's a damn shame. i just looked up some of her art and she's pretty talented. dudes out there ruining his gf's reputation

Grifters gonna grift. I don’t mind if someone use GenAI instead of stock photo, as the result is what user wants, not what they could find but not exactly what they wanted. But selling “AI art” is plain wrong. Especially fraudulently like that.

That’s what model figurines are for

No AI for reference either. That shit sucks and is bad for the environment and still contributes to the plagiarism machine

Funny it comes from an account marked for AI avatar or banner lmao

Right?? lol

no one by that description was at that table lol

Unleash the analog AI.

Let’s go!

a decision EVERYONE should support. AI is theft. AI is killing communities. AI is NOT an oracle. Stop using it. Stop liking it.

damn

Based

owned bitch

…and nothing of value was lost.

Be gone, foul AI pest!

HELLL FUCKING YEA

What's hilarious is seeing pro ai people on reddit right now claiming this picture isn't real, they're in denial right now.

NO. Really?!

They're over analyzing it claiming it's fake due to the angle. There's plenty of more idiotic comments as well.

Jesus Christ. The COPE is thick.

Anyone with any sense gets down voted too by the pro crowd. It's such a mess.

“It can’t be real! It must be AI!” Something like that? It’s not so fun getting caught after cheating to get in. Now something may be done to double check that an applicant actually made what’s in their portfolio.

Like seeing the sunrise with that first cool breeze of fresh air. Perfection

Based convention

I feel bad for possible vendors who couldn't get a table slot, because of this garbage. Hopefully there were none.

I prefer human artists! 😍✨

One small step for a person One giant leap for human kind

Ayyyyee! Love to see it.

Brimley approves of this removal

#ArtByHumans!

I hoped they were marched out with a bell ringing and yelling "SHAME!"

You love to see it.

Should've added a few fake blood stains and maybe some burns on the tabletop just to make the removal seem that much more visceral.

Yea. “Fake” blood. Also have left a “fake” body tied to a pole and beaten. I have a dislike of AI slop, but I LOATH thieves. Make no mistakes, they are thieves. They took peoples money under the belief that it was real art. I’m being nice here, I honestly believe thieves should lose body parts.

Wow, so civilized