Author Gets Pushback from Illustrators After Using AI as Sketch Guide
Author Futsukaichi Tofurou, known for Modern Villainess: It’s Not Easy Building a Corporate Empire Before the Crash, shared on Twitter that he upset artists by sending AI-generated sketches during professional illustration requests.
Author Gets Pushback from Illustrators After Using AI as Sketch Guide
According to Tofurou, after talking to several illustrators, he quickly discovered that many dislike working with any sketch produced by AI. The usual reaction was something like: “If you already have that, then just use the AI image.” He tried to defend himself by saying that without AI he could only provide stick figures — and one illustrator even replied that the stick figure was actually better. He was left completely speechless.
By experimenting with AI, Tofurou realized something obvious: an illustration carries far more information than it seems, and turning an idea into an image is a skill he simply doesn’t have. That’s why AI works for him as a mental map, not as a replacement for an artist.
He also admitted he has always struggled to describe his characters. In Modern Villainess and other works, many protagonists barely have physical descriptions. And when an illustrator asks “What does the character’s face look like?”, Tofurou freezes.
In the case of Modern Villainess, for example, all he knew about the protagonist was that she was blonde. The rest? Completely thanks to the illustrator — as you can see below.
It was exactly this difficulty in visualizing his own characters that led him to use AI to reinforce basic details before sending instructions to the artist.
In another tweet, he showed an example comparing an AI-generated image (right) with the refined version created by the illustrator (left).
According to him, AI only serves to establish an initial concept, while the artist transforms it into a real illustration. He also revealed that he once tried tools like MMD and Custom Shoujo to build character models but gave up.
In the end, Tofurou said he thought using AI to establish character visuals would help illustrators, since they wouldn’t need to read 300 pages just to understand the characters before drawing them. He just didn’t expect the reactions he received.