A comment on an old project made me rethink how I use AI for art

Back in 2020, I was really into making AI art with early image models, just typing in simple prompts and seeing what came out. I posted a piece online that I thought was cool, and someone replied, 'It's neat, but it feels like you just asked for a generic fantasy landscape. Where's your hand in it?' That stuck with me. They were right. I was just a passenger. So I started feeding the AI my own sketches as a base, even bad ones, and using the output as a new layer to paint over and change. Last month, I finished a piece that started as a pencil drawing of my local park, ran it through a model, and then spent hours digitally painting on top of the result. The final thing actually feels like mine. Has anyone else moved from just prompting to a more mixed, hands-on workflow with generative art?

3 comments

3 Comments

dylanwilliams28d ago

That comment about being a passenger hit me hard too. I had the same thing happen with a portrait series last year. Just typing "cyberpunk woman" over and over. Now I always start with a photo I took or a quick 3D block out. Lets me fight with the AI over specific details, like the shape of a building or how light hits a face. It's messy but it finally feels like making something.

jade27128d ago

My friend got a similar comment and now she uses AI to fix her shaky hand sketches.

grantthomas3d ago

Starting with your own work makes all the difference! It keeps you in the driver's seat.