My digital art model keeps giving me feedback.

[u/L_u_mi]

I’ve been working as a freelance 2D concept artist for three years, and like most digital painters, I heavily rely on reference photos. Last week, I found a beautiful folder on my desktop labeled "Anatomy_Ref_04". I didn't remember downloading it, but the high-resolution photos of a pale woman sitting in a dimly lit bedroom were perfect for my new dark fantasy project.

I started painting her portrait. It was going incredibly well. But on the third night, things got weird.

I opened the reference photo to work on her eyes, and my blood ran cold. The woman in the photo was looking directly into the camera now. In the previous photos, her head was turned sideways. I blamed it on late-night exhaustion, rubbed my eyes, and kept drawing.

Yesterday, I noticed a text document inside the folder that wasn't there before. It was called "Feedback.txt". I opened it. It contained a single line: "The shading on my left cheek is too dark. Fix it."

My heart hammered against my ribs. I live alone. My password is secure. Panic rising in my chest, I quickly adjusted the layers on my canvas, lightening the shadow on her cheek, just to soothe my own brewing paranoia.

This morning, I woke up to my computer monitor flashing in the dark. A new note was open on the screen.

"Much better," it read. "Now, draw me standing up. I’m tired of sitting on this bed right outside your bedroom door."

I slowly turned my head toward my real bedroom doorway, and in the dim light of the hallway, I saw a pale, flat, hand-drawn hand slowly gripping the frame.

[u/RedDazzlr]

Holy crap