It has been some time since I last published an AI Art article. If you have been following this series, I apologize for the long delay between that article and this one. In the meantime, I have been practicing real art with different media and have been sharing some of my work on Instagram. Some of my recent work has been with watercolors, the most recent of which was “The Eye of the Storm”. It prompted the idea behind this article.
As I’ve written previously, AI art has helped me regain my enthusiasm for art in general. It has led me to explore and study different art schools, artists, and media. This knowledge is helping me become a versatile artist as I experiment with charcoal, color pencils, oil pastels, watercolors, and more.
I can’t help but reminisce now about my early experience with art classes in school. For some unknown reason, watercolor was the only medium we were asked to use. I did not develop any particular love for it because mixing colors and shading seemed beyond my grasp. Without any instructions on the concept of the color wheel or of common techniques, I was lost at sea. I have dreaded this medium ever since and only this recent study of AI art rejuvenated my interest.
As dread transformed into curiosity, I discovered that watercolor art has a somewhat cool and carefree feel to it. Lines need not be sharp, contrasts need not be pronounced. There is a harmony in washed out colors where every area of the art piece blends seamlessly into the next. Of course, this isn’t necessarily true for every watercolor painting or for art made by every watercolor artist. But as someone who generally likes to color strictly within the lines, taking the sketched line a little less seriously was a liberating experience. I think there’s a life lesson in there somewhere.
Let’s leave life lessons aside and let’s get to the images. All 5 images below link to the posted images on NightCafe. You can find more information about the AI art model used and other configurations there. You can also view my other AI art creations on my NightCafe profile page.
Meadow
Composition: “a field of lavender, hibiscus, daisies, lilies and roses (1.4)”
Modifier: “dreamcore watercolor in the style of Irving Pen, perfect composition, masterpiece (1)”
This image has all the hallmarks of a watercolor, at least as I recognize them. Washed out colors, color variety, soft shades, and a somewhat ephemeral nature. Looking at this image however, I can’t help but think about how to recreate it for real. Should I paint the background green and then paint the flowers? Or should I paint the flowers first and then paint the background around it? I’m sure experienced artists know what to do, but for a novice, thinking like this is what leads to progress.
Beacon
Composition: “a spellbinding autumnal illustration of a tree on a cliff’s edge overlooking a verdant valley under a clear blue sky shedding its leaves to prepare for its long wintry slumber”
Modifier: “watercolor in the style of Bhupen Khakhar with disciplined outlines that creates a distinct sense of light and shadow”
Autumn is upon us so I thought it should inspire one of these images. A piece of art that doesn’t tell a story is inert. It’s something that I’ve become conscious of as my experiments with AI art progressed. Many people accuse AI art of being lifeless and they are often justified because a lot of it is unfocused. I don’t think it is necessarily the fault of the algorithm. Good AI art models are trained enough to be able to draw almost anything. The challenge is in telling them what to draw. If the prompter cannot imagine it, the AI is definitely not going to create it. Hoping otherwise is akin to gambling and I suppose that tendency is something that may be exploited by some AI platforms in the short term.
It’s why I consider experimenting with AI as a good way to practice imagining new scenarios, new ways of thinking, pushing boundaries. Doing so yourself may show just how much of your imagination is influenced by pop culture.
Bhupen Khakhar has a sort of rustic art style and it seemed fitting for an almost storybook illustration like this. I also wanted to go against my prevailing notion of watercolor art by specifically prompting for disciplined outlines. I like the result.
Mountain Biking
Composition: “a cyclist speeds down a winding mountain road, he seems oddly relaxed and welcomes the rush of air on his skin”
Modifier: “watercolor in the style of Bernie Wrightson with a tense suspenseful tone”
The cyclist is clearly not going downhill. I made multiple attempts with this prompt and in many cases, it showed the cyclist going uphill! Sometimes, the algorithm does the opposite of what I intend. I wonder whether it is under certain guardrails to compose the image in certain ways. The more straightforward answer is that I probably need to experiment with other words. The image also doesn’t seem tense or suspenseful to me. Bernie Wrightson’s works are known to be dark but the algorithm doesn’t seem to have picked up on that here.
Yearning
Composition: “a solitary figure in elegant clothing stands before a canoe waiting on the beach”
Modifier: “watercolor in the style of Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, a somber composition, moody, pensive”
Having traveled extensively myself, I am all too aware of the impulse to do so. But sometimes we can’t and have to find a way to suppress that wanderlust. Conveying that, and perhaps a bit more, was the intention behind this image.
This image can’t be accused of looking too realistic for a watercolor illustration. One need only look at life-like paintings made by many artists today using any number of media. But the image does have certain tells that give it away as being made by AI. These AI art models often struggle with shadows, just as they do with fingers. I think any human artist competent enough to make a near life-like image like this would have ensured the accuracy of the lady’s shadow. But what if a shadow like that was to be made intentionally …?
Adventure
Composition: “diving into the pristine blue ocean waters opens a window into a mysterious world of underwater life, light and shadow dance among the reefs and the oceanbed where strange creatures thrive”
Modifier: “watercolor illustration that softly blends colors blurs lines into a smooth gradient, in the style of Don Blanding, adventurous composition”
Revised Prompt: “Watercolor illustration. Wide-angle shot. A diver swims towards a vibrant reef, schools of exotic fish dart past, seaweed sways in the ocean currents. Low-angle shot. Soft blended colors, blurred lines. A smooth gradient of turquoise and azure hues. Glow of sunlight filters through the waves. Best quality, captivating, dreamy, ethereal, stunning, Don Blanding’s style, soft focus, impressionist, expressive brushstrokes, pastel colors, vibrant sea life, elegant composition, intricate details.”
As I said in my description of the “Mountain Biking” image, using different words in the prompt may help fine tune results and bring them closer to what you intended. The art world has its own vocabulary and that knowledge helps in describing an imagined scene. Research, experimentation, and exploration are means to acquire that knowledge. However, it seems that some AI art models have circumvented that requirement too and now offer to revise prompts to match what it thinks you intended. If artists complained that AI was taking away their livelihood, AI is now coming for prompt engineers too!
I have mixed feelings about automatic prompt revisions. It is an optional feature in the AI art model that I used for this image. I used it to investigate just how much the prompt changes. In some ways, I find it useful as a means to add to my art vocabulary. But I think it also risks overriding the imagination of the prompter. I believe the best way forward is to use it intentionally by studying the revised prompt, how much it changed from the original, and the resultant image. I do notice one thing in particular though: prompts can read like a stream of consciousness and the AI art models don’t seem to particularly care.
Thank you for reading! I hope you liked this study on AI watercolor illustrations. To read other articles like this, please visit the journal page.