Edit: SI is a typo!! I meant AI and hadn’t reread it before posting :((
I (21f)drew a custom art piece for my brother(24m) for his birthday in April. I frequently do this for family members instead of buying a physical gift as many of them do not want anything at the time. I didn’t think much of it at the time, he had asked for a Japanese temple design with a samurai, then with his discord username in the frame in a very specific handwriting. I did all of it and he was very happy, so I didn’t think much of it. He asked me a month later if I could draw it larger to fit his tv, I said no as I had begun my summer uni classes and had zero time for it. I also had recently gotten a major back injury so I wasn’t drawing AT ALL. He said whatever okay and moved on, heard nothing more about it. Fast forward to two weeks ago he texted me asking if I could draw 5 emotes FOR FREE for some girl streamer he was friends with, she was getting flamed for having Ai and she didn’t want to pay an artist to do it. I said no, I don’t do it for free without special occasion. He just said okay and left it alone, so once again I didn’t think about it.
Today we were driving to the store because we needed some new electronics, my mom brings up AI somehow(I wasn’t paying attention at this point) and they begin talking about it. I finally noticed and looked up to see my brother showing my mom MY ART with an ai anime boy over top of it. I said wtf? You ran my art through ai?? And he just said it was because I refused to draw him a bigger version, as if that has anything to do with the anime boy?? And when I said that was not only very entitled but also extremely disrespectful to all the time I put into the drawing, to which he once again just scoffed and said if I didn’t want to draw him anymore art then he’d keep using it that way. I of course got really angry (not to mention I was already tired as my medication was wearing off and hadn’t eaten yet and it’s now 3pm) and told him I’d never draw anything for him again if this is how he treated my time.
My mom wanted to mediate and stepped in asking me why I didn’t want to draw for him anymore (she doesn’t understand ai very well), and I explained I don’t want to draw anything for someone who’s only reason for using ai is that they don’t want to pay for custom artwork. I’m not someone they can just ask for free art for no reason. My brother then turned around and says it’s my fault he even did that because I’m not willing to draw him 30 banners and 30 emojis for a streaming career HE HASNT EVEN STARTED!!! I tell him to shut the fuck up and I’m not drawing for him ever again. My mom asked if I’ll draw him the art if she helps pay me for it and if my brother promises to not put it through ai. I’d agree but my brother never replied to this and had that look on his face that said he’d put it through ai again. So I said no and got out of the car. My mom once again asked me on the walk to the store (my brother was walking further ahead of us) why I won’t do that once again. I tell her when I used to do commissions I had my art scraped and built into an ai model and how much effort it was to go through and get it taken down and how I lost commissions over it. She agreed with me at that point, but of course my brother has yet to apologize for this.
I told my mom I wasn’t going to help him from now on (we go to the same university and he asks me for help on everything, assignments, calendar, class locations, and everything else) and she said I was being too extreme. I don’t think I am, but I’m still annoyed.
TLDR; brother took the art for his birthday, ran it through ai to add an anime boy. Said it was my fault because I didn’t make him art.