AI Powered Images

Recently AnArt4Life Interwebs Wizard Matt Cameron took one of my paintings and used an AI program¹ to generate a different image. You can check out this experiment from Matt by clicking here.

For many years we have been able to alter images by using the effects option available on various computer generated image manipulation programs. I took a painting of mine titled Lavender Fields the Storm ....

...and using the Effects function on the program PhotoPad by NCH Software ² Below are shown some of the different styles of manipulated images created of the painting above.

Are you thinking Why would you do that to a perfectly good painting? From my perspective as an artist, but also someone very interested in the rapid expansions across the breadth of the digitalised world, I like to see what can be done. I don't necessarily like the end product or want it on my wall - but I must say that the largest of the images above created using the cartoon effect I quite like.

Not content with playing around with the effects option, I decided to have a go at using AI (following Matt's example) to generate an image using Illusion Diffusion HQ by Huggingface ¹ - the same program as used by Matt in yesterday's post.

I again used the image of my painting Lavender Fields the Storm and the prompt to the AI program was to make an image which looks as if a storm is coming and the wind is blowing. You can see the AI program's image on the right below.

To produce an iage showing the effect of a storm and wind blowing was certainly achieved. And if you compare the two images (my painting and the AI image) you can see that the basic composition in terms of the configuration of the shapes has been followed. The gum tree is there, the clouds in roughly the same shapes, the fields ... and AI has recognised that there is a building in the lower right corner and has included it.

Very clever is what I have to say. And don't foget - you can also have your say below in the Comments box.

I went on to spend a whole heap of time playing around with the AI images and I must say - it was a lot of fun. Here are some more of my attempts where I began to realise how important it was to be explicit in the verbal prompt I gave.

If you just ask for a red image that is exactly what you will get!

I then asked AI to use my Magpie Garden painting (above left) to make me a magpie garden in shades of green and as you can see below that is exactly what I got - and note the magpie in the left foreground is similar to mine. And once more you can see that the program used dominant configuration features.

Next I tried a haunted house based on a sketch I had done of an old house...

Again note that the Ai program is following the basic composition of the original image and turning these shapres into shapes which match the prompt - in this case a haunted house.

Bendigo Secrets (below) was turned into a party scene!!!!

I just love the way the program made sense of the shapes in this painting and manipulated them into the party scene especially the balloons for the heads of the people and the use of the streamers to form the various shapes.

My painting Cool Relief became somewhat confronting when I gave the prompt for it to be manipulated by the AI program to show a dry outback scene...

A wet day prompt for Lavender Fields the Storm brought this response...

I concluded this little experiment by creating an AI image with the prompt: please create an image showing an elderly woman walking a black greyhound in a red coat along a country road.

You have to put in an input illusion for the program to work and so I uploaded my painting of Gold Dust as it had a road running through the middle...

And this is the end result!!!!

I haven't stopped laughing!! Especially at the dog walking backwards!! Did the program decipher my prompt as backwards greyhound not black greyhound?

Where to next? This posts has given me the perfect segue to revisit some earlier posts the AnArt4Life blog team have written on the relationship between Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths (STEAM) - starting soon!! But first we are going to have the day off - exhausted from all this manipulation!!

All laughing aside, AI is here to stay. I will be very interested to see you comments.

^Credit

^{1. The images on this page have been generated using Illusion Diffusion HQ by Huggingface where you can "Generate stunning high quality illusion artwork with Stable Diffusion". A space by AP Follow me on Twitter with big contributions from multimodalart. This project works by using Monster Labs QR Control Net. Given a prompt and your pattern, we use a QR code conditioned controlnet to create a stunning illusion! Credit to: MrUgleh for discovering the workflow :) With the website URL of: https://huggingface.co/spaces/AP123/IllusionDiffusion}

^{2. https://www.nchsoftware.com/}