I'm Ashton Herring, an aspiring web developer and experienced visual artist of the Kamilaroi nation, hoping to make a unique space for myself and my art on the internet.

This website is not just a portfolio for my artwork, but also a display of my skill as a web developer- everything that you see on this website, from the custom cursors, the web graphics, and the way that the website functions was created entirely by me, built from the ground up. I'm someone who doesn't require templates, help from chatGPT or other website-making tools such as SquareSpace in order to accomplish what I want...I can simply write the code myself, as I have put in the effort into understanding how html and css actually functions.

I have been drawing since I was 13 years old, originally using a mouse and MS paint, before eventually moving on to SAI and a professional drawing tablet. My goal as a kid was to be able to illustrate and paint like how the professionals did, and although it took me many years, I can officially say that I have made it to that goal! I am always improving my art skills with each piece that I make, and my new goal is to make a full career out of my art, whether it is doing commissions, concept art for games, cover art for books...you name it, and I'm interested!

I have only recently learned html and css within the past few years, but have quickly picked up the skill and learned a lot in such a short amount of time. I love the challenge that learning to code has given me, as it has forced me to think outside the box and not give up on a task just because it's difficult. I am also rather good at picking up new skills, and given the opportunity and the time, I know that I am capable of mastering them.

As is becoming more common nowadays, there are a lot of people who write AI art prompts, which they then input into AI programs to almost instantly create whatever image they want. I want everyone seeing my website to understand that I'm not the type of person that believes AI is the way to go about creating art, especially if the artwork is meant to be meaningful.

As I have been drawing since I was 13 years old, I have obviously honed my art skills through trial, error, and great effort over the many years I've been drawing. I believe in order to be a great artist, you have to put in the effort yourself, even if it's hard, even if it's a pain in the back, even if you come across roadblocks or issues. For if we never push ourselves to do the work needed to create human-made art, we will never actually learn how to draw, or how to solve any problems or errors we encounter with our own art.

My work ethic is that you should never allow someone or something else to do the important work for you. You have to do it yourself, or your work ethic will suffer, and you will become unable to do any difficult work that is asked of you that an AI is unable to complete on its own. Using new tools that become available to us should never be discouraged, but it should also not be doing all of the work for you, or be used as a crutch to hide your lack of skill.

Visitors to my website will be happy to know that none of my artwork was created using any AI whatsoever. Just a basic art program and a drawing tablet connected to my computer, and a lot of skill, creativity and desire to create something new.

I DO NOT CONSENT TO MY DRAWINGS BEING USED TO TRAIN AI MODELS.