Read my attempt to put this new technology into context on my blog here.
These images were created by Dream AI and altered by me, to varying extents. I am using Procreate, a state-of-the-art digital painting program on an iPad to make corrections. The AI platform is in its infancy, so it often produces obvious gaffs. Sometimes I spend hours rebuilding hands or faces. But in other instances, the initial image is virtually flawless. Some of these images are unprocessed - I will eventually fix the "mistakes", but I didn't want to wait to share them.
I am offering these images as prints on paper, wood panel or canvas.
George Washington on Horseback taking a Selfie
Marin and Sonoma Coast Reimagined
The style in this section reminds me of both silk screen and linoleum block printing. I love the bold color and appreciate the areas left fairly flat. I was born and raised in Marin and have lived half my life in Sonoma County, so these scenes feel familiar but they don't exist irl.
Musicians and Dancers
I think in musical terms when painting. I aspire to craft an interesting melodic line. I experiment with color harmonies. I seek to establish a compelling rhythm to keep the eye engaged. These pieces are more about how much joy music brings to my life and the fact that I admire musicians - with an affectionate nod to Van Gogh and Vermeer.
Gardens of Antiquity
These pictures evoke a bit of nostalgia in me for places I have traveled and places I have not.
Young People and Pets
I am amazed at how much presence and emotional resonance some of these images have. The first is one of my favorite AI images. I like the interplay between the pairs of boys. The baby mountaineers are a result of the program misinterpreting my prompt, but still, the results are cool.
Marsh Grasses and Wetlands
Some of the grass paintings look like they would be challenging to create with actual paint, especially if you wanted them to feel unlabored and fresh. That's part of what's addicting about making AI art. You can make things easily that might otherwise be rather daunting. Is it art? I honestly don't know how to answer that. I just focus on the pleasure of the pure experience of gazing at something beautiful without labels or judgements.
Elegant Women
It's pretty easy to spot the Vermeer- and Modigliani-inspired images. Other favorite sources include John Singer Sargent, Velasquez and Andrew Wyeth. The AI program tends to want to produce conventionally pretty women. I kept adding adjectives like boring, average, normal, etc to get faces that felt more real and relatable. As you can see, it didn't always work. The three women in bed reading a newspaper were inspired by a fabulous painting I encountered at the De Young Open.
Landscapes
Some of these are based on paintings of mine, others on photos. Many are just made using prompts. You can probably spot some scenes that are multiple interpretations of the same source photo. The program has an influence scale that you can set from 100% to 0%. You can regenerate with ever smaller amounts of influence to see how the results progressively diverge from the source image.
Birds
I think of these as imaginary creatures that could exist in an alternate world. Birders are good at discerning the subtle traits that identify a species, but it would be cruel to ask them to do so here.
The AI program seems to have some gaps in its education about bird anatomy or taxonomy. These are similar to some real birds, but all are invented. I had to do a lot of work fixing beaks, feet, eyes. One bird (the second in the sequence) had about two thirds of its neck feathers flowing in the opposite direction than they should have been. Fixing these things has given me an opportunity to pick up a lot of digital painting skills.
The AI program seems to have some gaps in its education about bird anatomy or taxonomy. These are similar to some real birds, but all are invented. I had to do a lot of work fixing beaks, feet, eyes. One bird (the second in the sequence) had about two thirds of its neck feathers flowing in the opposite direction than they should have been. Fixing these things has given me an opportunity to pick up a lot of digital painting skills.
Intriguing Men
I love these men, and the diversity of racial types feels good to me. But I really love the setting that each figure is placed in. The elderly gentleman is the result of my prompt which asked for a man painted by Lucien Freud. So it gave me a painting of the artist, not by him. But I think the resulting images are fascinating and beautiful, so I kept them.
Still Life and Interiors
The Cezanne pieces are pretty obvious. The tall ceramic vases included Degas in the prompt. The poppies are Georgia O'Keefe- inspired. The three teacups are all from the same source image. It's cool to see how AI reinvents new floral patterns on the cups and the fabric with each iteration.
Working People
Joaquín Sorolla's stupendous paintings of scenes from fishing villages are very inspiring to me. I've always thought it would be an interesting project to do a series of paintings of people at work. Until I get around to it, this series at least gives a sense of what I would be striving for.
Cyclists
These are all derived from the same filter as the first series of the Marin/Sonoma coast - same arresting color schemes, same flat unfussy masses and shapes. It's not how I've ever painted, but it does delight me.
