You have to admire the chutzpah of the author, who bemoans the dwindling pay for illustrators, yet illustrates their own article with a picture from a $10 subscription service. Well played!
They are literally using the image to illustrate their point.
No, they are just being hypocritical. Was their story unbelievable without their own use of low-budget artwork? If not, why then did they feel the need to also underpay artists themselves?