ObscurumOpus

edit 2: Thank you guys for the form submissions. I'll do my best! edit: I did a little research which is all it takes and found that people can afford less and less now in the States due to inflation (I was only aware that it was the case for Europe before, where I live in, and thought the USA was not affected) and me making Adoptables, which is less essential, makes them sell less. I suppose what I will do now is to just try to do better. Sorry if I sounded insensitive with this post. I know everyone is trying hard. Hope you can forgive me. Original: I think I've become out of touch, even though I see what other adopt designers are doing and what's popular now compared to when I started out. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong with recent adopts. Can you help me? The work was my main source of income, and my debts are piling up while I try to create an indie game at the same time, and choosing NOT to take commissions anymore because they stress the hell out of me and take too long

I know the past year people were discussing how much of a problem image-generating AI would pose for artists (or commissioners/buyers too maybe?), so has there been an impact? I have AI art turned off on DeviantArt, but the occasional unmarked deviation confuses me. If anything, what's your opinion?