EnglishEspañolPortuguês (Brasil)
Open the app

Launching4 min read

Using AI tools in your art, honestly

Where AI tools can help your art, where they replace it, how to tell collectors what you used, and how to keep the collection yours.

KURV teamAlso in Español, Português (Brasil)

A Max Cat card on an easel with a paintbrush on the floor in front, and a small terminal window standing to the side like a helper.
On this page13 sections

AI image tools are everywhere, and creators launching collections have to decide where they fit, if anywhere. There’s no single right answer, but there is a clear honest one: say what you used. Here’s how to think it through.

A spectrum, not a switch

AI use in art runs from “barely” to “entirely”:

  1. None. Every line drawn by you.
  2. Chores. Renaming files, writing metadata, resizing exports.
  3. Ideas. Generating rough references or mood boards you then draw from yourself.
  4. Assists. Cleanup, color suggestions, background fills inside your own drawings.
  5. Generated art, edited by you.
  6. Generated art, used as-is.

Chores (2) barely touch the art. From 4 onward, collectors usually want to know.

Why honesty matters here

Collectors are often buying the artist as much as the image. If they believe every trait was hand-drawn and later learn it wasn’t, they feel misled, and the collection’s reputation takes the hit. Saying it upfront lets each collector decide with the facts.

How to say it

Put one clear line in your collection’s description and launch post:

  • “Every trait hand-drawn. No AI.”
  • “Hand-drawn traits. AI used to help rename files and draft metadata.”
  • “Backgrounds generated with AI, then repainted by hand. Characters hand-drawn.”
  • “Generated with AI and curated by me.”

Specific beats vague. “Some AI” tells people nothing.

Rights and licenses

AI tools have their own terms. Before using generated images in a collection:

  1. Read the tool’s terms on commercial use.
  2. Avoid prompting another artist’s name or style to copy it.
  3. Don’t feed someone else’s art into a tool and sell the result.
  4. Keep your prompts and files, so you can show how things were made.

Art licensing basics for NFT creators and Avoiding copycat art go further.

A worked example

Ana draws all her frog traits by hand. She asks an AI tool to suggest twenty names for her hat traits and uses six of them. She also uses an agent to turn her trait list into a clean metadata.json. Her description says: “Every frog and trait hand-drawn. AI helped with trait names and metadata.” Nobody is surprised later.

Leo’s collection uses AI-generated backgrounds that he paints over. He writes “Backgrounds started as AI images and were repainted by hand; cats are hand-drawn.” One commenter says they prefer fully hand-made work. Leo answers politely, and the commenter knows exactly what’s on offer.

Keeping it yours

Whatever tools you use, the collection should still be recognizably yours:

  • Your idea, stated in one sentence.
  • Your choices: which traits, which colors, which pieces made the cut.
  • Your hand somewhere visible, even if it’s only the characters.

Max Cat, for comparison, is hand-drawn: every trait across his seven layers was drawn by hand.

Deciding, step by step

  1. List every place AI touched the work.
  2. Place each one on the spectrum.
  3. Check tool terms for anything past “chores”.
  4. Write one specific line about it.
  5. Put that line in the description and the launch post.

Answering the question when it comes

Sooner or later someone will ask, “Is this AI?” Have an answer ready that matches your description word for word. If you used none, say so plainly. If you used some, say where. Don’t get defensive and don’t over-explain; a short, consistent answer is the most convincing one. If you can, show process: a sketch, a timelapse, a layer file. Proof of process does more than any promise.

When a tool changes mid-project

Sometimes you start fully by hand and end up using a tool for cleanup near the end, or the other way round. Update your note before you publish so it matches the final collection, not the plan you started with. The note should describe what collectors are actually getting.

Mixing hand-drawn and AI pieces

If only some pieces or traits involved AI, consider saying which ones, for example in a trait name or the description. Collectors who care can then choose the pieces they want. Hiding a mix inside a collection described as hand-drawn is the fastest way to lose trust.

Common mistakes

  • Saying nothing and hoping nobody asks.
  • Being vague: “AI-assisted” could mean anything.
  • Copying a living artist’s style with prompts.
  • Ignoring tool terms.
  • Calling layered generated art “hand-drawn”.

FAQ

Does KURV allow AI art? Follow KURV’s terms and the tool’s terms, and be honest with collectors about what you used.

Do I have to mention AI used for file chores? It’s optional, but some creators do for full transparency.

Is hand-drawn art worth more? “Every price, return and buyer is up to the market.” Collectors decide.

Can I change my AI note after launch? Get it right before you publish.

Where to go next

Keep reading