An Illustrator Learning Code...
Hello, I’m Teo, an illustrator, and in the last two months I’ve been learning ✨ programming ✨
Ever since the generative AI reproduction tools were introduced roughly half a year ago, I’ve been bouncing between feelings of terror and excitement. What is the future of my work vis-à-vis Artificial Intelligence? Who knows! But I don’t want to discuss the concerns of illustrators, or the hopes of business and tech people. There has already been plenty written on the topic. Even more is still being debated, negotiation, screamed, shrieked, snarked, mocked, and auto-generated.
After the release of GPT4, I felt antsy seeing my dreams of working full-time as an illustrator slipping into a dystopic abyss. So in the middle of March I googled “What programming language is used for coding AI.“ Undeniably, it’s a silly question to ask. Google responded that Python was the most common programming language for AI; I had previously heard that it’s also a good language for beginners to learn coding. I dug around for some course and stumbled upon Helsinki University’s Python Programming MOOC, which I have now been doing for the last two months.
What is my relationship with programming?
As a high-school student in Bulgaria, I was in a class that specialised in systems programming. The 4-year curriculum covered the basics of hardware, electronics, C++, Visual Basic, Assembly, Java, OOP, and HTML/CSS among other topics. However, I had quickly decided programming was not my cup of tea, and switched my interests to design and art. I graduated the systems programming class, but in my spare time I did art projects. I moved to the UK to do a BA in Graphic Design and forgot all about programming – since 2011 I hadn’t touched any C++, Visual Basic, Assembly, or Java…
While at university, I tinkered with basic HTML, CSS, and jQuery. I also did a little bit of Processing. After my BA studies, I got a job at IBM, where I worked as a visual designer on a Mainframe product, but I barely touched any code. After moving to Finland, I pretty much stopped following anything code-related.
So programming has frequently been in the background or around me in some vaguely adjacent manner. I have never really dedicated myself to learning any language or technology, because already at high-school I had decided that I won’t ever be good at it.
What happened?
Well, the AI revolution kicked off and, while we’re all wondering how that would end, it started bothering me that I might rapidly become professionally irrelevant. As with many peers from the creative industries, my job is a massive part of my identity, and that threat felt existential. In order to feel like I’m moving in some direction, while the waves of progress are thrashing around me, I decided to start this Python coding course. It might not add towards anything useful, but at least I could dupe myself that I was being productive.
In mid-March semi-jokingly I did the entry test for Hive Helsinki. It went poorly and I dropped on the bed telling my partner that “code has kicked my butt again“. A few hours later I received an email saying that I had (somehow) passed the test and qualified for the next round of academy application process. I decided that, well, maybe learning something new wouldn’t hurt. So while waiting for the next application stage, I picked up the Python MOOC course .
To my surprise, I… actually… got into it. The coding exercises were like solving sudoku in the evenings. Some of them were driving me nuts, but when I eventually found the solution, the dopamine rush was exhilarating. I was drawing illustrations during the day and do Python exercises in the evening.
Soon, I started checking YouTube programming videos during my lunch break which covered coding topics and explained concepts such as functions and referencing. For a moment I had actually got hooked. The prospect of losing my illustration work still terrified me, yet the opportunity to learn something entirely new was thrilling! I wanted to remember what I had been taught about Object-Oriented Programming. What was the deal with Django and Flask? Can I do something with a Raspberry-Pi? Can I make my own bot for Discord? And to code my own plugins for Photoshop and Procreate?
I also attended a few local dev events, and while I didn’t understand 80% of what was being discusses, I bookmarked names of technologies and topic to read about in my spare time. This week, I attended HelSec’s May meet-up even though I know close to nothing about cybersecurity—I have multi-factor authentication on and I’m following the Darknet Diaries podcast, but that’s about it. I was probably the only kid’s book illustrator at the event. To be honest, mostly I stood around quietly having no idea how to interact with people without feeling guilty that I’ve taken the spot of someone who actually belonged to the community.
But all I want to say is that I am trying to embrace the newbie thrill, and I’m pretty excited to be excited in a time of uncertainty.
So why all this?
I deeply empathise with peer illustrators, who are concerned about their work. In the last month or so my own freelance work has slightly slowed down. I’m still unsure if it’s just a random occurrence, a result of my portfolio quality, or the effect of the technological shift. But I’ve already talked with people who have lost projects to AI. Personally, haven’t used DALL•E, or Midjourney, or Stable Diffusion, as there are fundamental ethical implications that irk me.
However, I also don’t find it productive to doom scroll social media and block my senses to the technology’s existence. My intrinsic need is to do something, to extend my skills in some direction. I don’t know if the direction is correct, but it’s a type of motion which lessens my anxiety. I don’t aim to do a career pivot—not in the short term at least. I love my illustration practice. And my goal is not work on AI. Honestly, I’m not sure if Python is something I will stick with; I might change to studying front-end development or just embrace the darkness of COBOL, or drop the whole thing altogether. Right now I don’t have a specific endpoint in mind and I don’t even know enough to commit to one.
But I’m also pumped to step out of my comfort zone for a moment. I want to enjoy being oblivious, explore the field, and share this thrill with others. This journal is not about “best practices”, life advice, or career hacks. I want to learning out in the open in order to reflect on these new studies and hope that someone else finds this experience useful.
Recommendations
Programming:
As I mentioned, going through this MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) organised by Helsinki University has been my hobby for the last two months. The theory is explained accessibly and accompanied with plenty of interactive exercises. There’s also an active Discord community to help when one gets stuck on a problem.
How To Think Like A Programmer
A one-hour lecture by Andy Harris – a developer and an educator at Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis – that he gave in 2016 at the IndyPy conference. As someone who struggled deeply with C++ programming in high-school, this talk really helped me understand why Python clicks so much better with a newbie like me.
Illustration:
Hello Ruby by Linda Liukas. Linda is a Finnish software developer, children’s book writer and illustrator. Her book Hello Ruby introducing kids to basic principles of programming has grown to a full-fledged educational platform, and been translated in more than 20 languages. She also has a newsletter that you can follow.