I should nuance,

For a person who already actively uses comfyui, knows how the different nodes work,

Makes complex flows with them,

Making their own checkpoints is not a big step up.

I have not gotten to this level myself yet, i am still learning how to properly using different and custom nodes, and yes

In the mean time yes, i experiment with public models that use stolen artwork. But i am not posting any of the results, its pure personal use practice.

I have already seen some stuff about making your own models/checkpoints, if i ever get happy enough with my skills to post it as art then having my own feels like a must. The main reason i haven’t is cause it does take a lot of time to prepare the training data.

People that don’t use their models while calling themselves artist are cheating themselves most of all.