About the Art
An honest note about where these pictures come from... all of it, straight.
I want to tell you something most people in my position would rather you never thought about.
A lot of the artwork you see across these stories is made with the help of AI.
I could have said nothing. You probably wouldn't have asked. But that is not how I want to build anything with you... so here is the whole truth, as plain as I can put it.
Pens. Ink. Paper.
Late nights hunched over a board until the panel was finally right.
I built an entire world with my own two hands... characters, maps, covers, thousands and thousands of drawings.
I've drawn since I was two years old, watching Sesame Street, immortalizing Big Bird in crayon. By 1986 I was making a living wage as a freelancer at age 16. The last time I counted, I'd clocked in at roughly 50,000 hours of 'dedicated' drawing time, and over 120,450 'casual' drawing hours in my lifetime. In that span, I've received 5 Stars from 900+ clients, worked for famous personalities like Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs) & his mom, Peggy, New York Publishers, won awards, and accolades.
But my first and GREATEST love has always been the creation of a the fictional world called WANTED HERO. It started as comic books, grew into novels, short stories, games, music, podcasts and more...filled with thousands of drawings.
That work is MINE.
Every line of it.
During my career as an artist, I was in a car accident, which changed my life forever. The accident damaged both my spine and my hands. Over time, I struggled to draw, having to deal with bone fragments, carpal tunnel, arthritis, nerve damage, and multiple breaks in my fingers and hands. Between 2007 and 2011, I couldn't draw at all.
I'd like you to think about that for a moment.
You've been drawing all your life and it's something as important to you, personally, as breathing. You've also practiced and developed your skills to be able to earn a living at what you love to do most of all.
Now imagine, literally overnight, having that talent stripped from you.
...because that's exactly what happened to me..
Gratefully, I was able to start drawing again in 2012. In 2026, my skill once more, started slowing down. Pain in my hands, fingers not responsive, and old age / health issues continue to weigh in.
I'm not ready to stop making the pictures this fictional world needs. I have many, MANY more books and games to make, which need artwork and I don't want someone else making that for me. So I found another way in.
I'm not going to dress it up, because this isn't complicated.
I'm taking my own drawings... my real ones, the ones these hands made... and training AI on those.
...and nothing else.
MY characters. MY line work. MY style. MY sources.
The machine does not learn from strangers on the internet. It learns from ME. From 40 years of my own work.
Then I use it to make new pictures in the style I spent a lifetime building.
I did not draw all these new images. I am not going to stand here and tell you I did.
That would be dishonest.
What I am telling you is that everything the tool learned, IT LEARNED FROM MY OWN HAND. The sources are MINE. The style is MINE. The world is MINE. The prompts are MINE. No other artist lost their job or is out of work, because I AM THE ARTIST.
However, the credit I am claiming is for the years of work underneath it. Not for the final rendering. That part is the machine, working off of me.
It's not perfect. It's not exactly my style.
But I would rather tell you all this honestly and lose a reader or two than pretend, and keep you.
Because this whole thing... every story, every chapter, every picture... only works if you trust me. And trust doesn't survive on the stuff you get caught hiding.
I have spent my life trying to say one thing to readers: You are MORE than you THINK you are! I'm not going to undercut that by being less than honest about how the art gets made. Yes, I am still drawing. Yes, I still post my artwork and add to my exhaustive list of accomplishments...but when I can't draw? When my fingers just...wont?
I'll use AI as the next best thing for my projects, using the artwork I DID create as its reference.
So now you know.
All of it.
Thanks for caring enough to wonder.
...Jaime
Art drawn by Jaime Buckley
A lot of the artwork you see across these stories is made with the help of AI.
I could have said nothing. You probably wouldn't have asked. But that is not how I want to build anything with you... so here is the whole truth, as plain as I can put it.
I have drawn my whole life.
Art drawn by Jaime Buckley
Late nights hunched over a board until the panel was finally right.
I built an entire world with my own two hands... characters, maps, covers, thousands and thousands of drawings.
I've drawn since I was two years old, watching Sesame Street, immortalizing Big Bird in crayon. By 1986 I was making a living wage as a freelancer at age 16. The last time I counted, I'd clocked in at roughly 50,000 hours of 'dedicated' drawing time, and over 120,450 'casual' drawing hours in my lifetime. In that span, I've received 5 Stars from 900+ clients, worked for famous personalities like Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs) & his mom, Peggy, New York Publishers, won awards, and accolades.
But my first and GREATEST love has always been the creation of a the fictional world called WANTED HERO. It started as comic books, grew into novels, short stories, games, music, podcasts and more...filled with thousands of drawings.
That work is MINE.
Every line of it.
Then my hands changed.
Art drawn by Jaime Buckley
I'd like you to think about that for a moment.
You've been drawing all your life and it's something as important to you, personally, as breathing. You've also practiced and developed your skills to be able to earn a living at what you love to do most of all.
Art drawn by Jaime Buckley
...because that's exactly what happened to me..
Gratefully, I was able to start drawing again in 2012. In 2026, my skill once more, started slowing down. Pain in my hands, fingers not responsive, and old age / health issues continue to weigh in.
I'm not ready to stop making the pictures this fictional world needs. I have many, MANY more books and games to make, which need artwork and I don't want someone else making that for me. So I found another way in.
So here is exactly what I do now.
I'm not going to dress it up, because this isn't complicated.
I'm taking my own drawings... my real ones, the ones these hands made... and training AI on those.
...and nothing else.
MY characters. MY line work. MY style. MY sources.
The machine does not learn from strangers on the internet. It learns from ME. From 40 years of my own work.
Then I use it to make new pictures in the style I spent a lifetime building.
Cover created by Jaime Buckley using AI
Here is the honest line in the sand, and I want to be careful with it.
I did not draw all these new images. I am not going to stand here and tell you I did.
That would be dishonest.
What I am telling you is that everything the tool learned, IT LEARNED FROM MY OWN HAND. The sources are MINE. The style is MINE. The world is MINE. The prompts are MINE. No other artist lost their job or is out of work, because I AM THE ARTIST.
However, the credit I am claiming is for the years of work underneath it. Not for the final rendering. That part is the machine, working off of me.
It's not perfect. It's not exactly my style.
But I would rather tell you all this honestly and lose a reader or two than pretend, and keep you.
Why I'm telling you any of this.
Because this whole thing... every story, every chapter, every picture... only works if you trust me. And trust doesn't survive on the stuff you get caught hiding.
I have spent my life trying to say one thing to readers: You are MORE than you THINK you are! I'm not going to undercut that by being less than honest about how the art gets made. Yes, I am still drawing. Yes, I still post my artwork and add to my exhaustive list of accomplishments...but when I can't draw? When my fingers just...wont?
I'll use AI as the next best thing for my projects, using the artwork I DID create as its reference.
So now you know.
All of it.
Thanks for caring enough to wonder.
...Jaime
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