Why an Orthodox artist keeps creating when AI can do it faster

The author, who has run Creative Orthodox for ten years, reflects on why they continue making picture books, coloring books, and graphic novels about saints despite AI-generated content flooding the market and even a near-exact spoof of their own account. The reflection traces back to childhood in Cairo, where their grandfather (Gedo) brought home saint images after Liturgy and told their stories.

The author drew them reflexively, not as a creative choice but as a response. Their father loved teaching church history and theology, but that did not lead directly to bookmaking. Years later in Canada, after graduation and a period of feeling lost, daily drawing became a routine that shook something loose: story is how they come to know God and the saints.

Now a parent, they stand on their grandfather's side of the story, making books for their own children's spiritual formation. The author acknowledges their work is not the most effective, visually impressive, or comprehensive way to tell stories in the Church. They have accepted that serving their little church with their "two pennies" is good enough; if it helps anyone else, that is a blessing.

The core reason remains personal: when Gedo handed them a perfectly good image, they still drew it themselves. It had nothing to do with speed or quality and everything to do with who they are.