Posted By Dan Greenfield on Feb 20, 2025 | 5 comments

13 INCREDIBLE PORTRAITS: Digital illustrator and sculptor Paul Harding shows what actual talent looks like…

Fuck AI “art.”

Seriously.

It’s not just disingenuous, it’s outright theft. And it’s certainly not “art.” There is no talent involved whatsoever. You don’t need me to tell you that, but there you have it.

Digital artistry is another thing entirely. While I personally prefer pen and ink — I’m old-fashioned like that — there’s no doubting the ability of those who are able to realize their vision with technological tools.

Paul Harding is a great example. We’ve featured Paul in the past, and I’ve long been impressed by his work sculpting collectibles and action figures, like Diamond Select’s Batman ’66 Shakespeare bust bank.

I’m also a big fan of his run of “Marvel in the ’70s” portraits that he began years ago and that still pop up from time to time.

“These portraits were pretty polarizing because people weren’t used to seeing such specific, three-dimensional takes on their favorite characters,” Paul told me. “Since 2020, AI has muddied the art world so people now think these are fake. They were done before anyone knew what AI was, though. They were just fun, quick little exercises in portraiture. That’s what the takeaway should be.”

His work is so compelling that artists who use analog techniques have been known to copy his images. (Without credit, unfortunately.) On the flip side, a number of these have also evolved into Hasbro Marvel Legends figures (a regular Harding gig).

Anyway, I don’t generally go negative here, but I’ve long wanted to show off a gallery of Paul’s Marvel illustrations and in a world besieged by AI nonsense, I wanted to do so in the proper context.

So dig these 13 MARVEL IN THE ’70s PORTRAITS:

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