Vectorize AI

 In some cases Vectorizer AI is the right tool for enlarging images created with AI Image Creators. 

Here's an example:

I generated this troll with the use of Dreamlike AI. The dimensions of the image are: 576x704 pix, much too small for any use on print on demand stores.

I had learnt about Vectorizer AI a few days ago and also watched a video. I am always open for anything new, so I wanted to try it out.

Now step 1 is to have the background removed, together with the strange parts on the right. There are some background removing tools online, I went for clipdrop's tool.

Now step 2: upload the image to vectorizer AI. Here the result:

Now the size is 2304 x 2816 px. You probably won't notice the changes on the image much, but you will see them when you open it with a picture processing program like Photoshop or Gimp.

Vectorizer AI is free and it is still in Beta. It does not work with every image; but I will try it again!

Young Witches

Just now I am planning some new designs for my Zazzle shop. Although Halloween seems to be still far away I am thinking about creating some witch illustrations. So I went to Nightcafe Studio and inserted the following prompt, using SDXL 09:

face of a cute happy witch with a big red hat, vector style, 3 D, white background

Here's the image I got:

And then I tried the same prompt with Dreamlike AI:

You can see that there is definitely a difference in the style: Whereas the first image shows a young woman with dark hair and a red hat, the second shows a girl with red hair, a red hat, and even a red star. The eyes are considerably bigger, all in all it is a cartoonish style. 

However I think that both images can be used as designs. I will have the background removed in both images and then upload them to my Zazzle shop.

AI Art and my Zazzle Shop

 Since last November I have been creating art with the help of AI Art Generators. Since April this year I have been active again creating new products in my Zazzle shop, using AI images as designs. And for the first time since 2009, when I openend my shop on Zazzle I am really enjoying the process of working for my shop - be it the creation of new designs, the selection of products which fit the design (and the other way round) and even the process of marketing them on Twitter.

Cute Happy Bat Magnet
by ullahennig

This cute little bat was created with the use of Nightcafe Studio. I had the background of the image removed in Lunapic, and then uploaded it to Zazzle. Of course there are other products where this design would fit nicely - a mug, a button, whatever. 

A happy Mishap

 With AI sometimes nice things happen - although you did not intend them to happen this way. 

I did not think of a cute little black owl when I wrote the prompt - I was thinking of a cute black witch. So I wrote this prompt:

cute black wtch sitting on an rock, vector style, 3 D, white background

As you can see, I forgot to type an "i" . Obviously "black wtch" was interpreted as "owl" by Nightcafe Studio. 

However, I love the cute owl!

What a difference one word makes

I wanted to create an image of the interior of the great mosque in Cordoba, so I wrote the following prompt:

Interior of the mosque in Cordoba, in the style of Ivan Bilibin, Ernst Haeckel, Daniel Merriam, watercolor and ink

The image on the left is the result of this prompt (I used Nightcafe Studio). It is quite nice, but a bit too muted. So I changed my prompt to:

Colorful interior of the mosque in Cordoba, in the style of Ivan Bilibin, Ernst Haeckel, Daniel Merriam, watercolor and ink

And, as you can see on the right, the AI Generator added blue. It is more or less the same image, but it looks a lot better with the additional colour.

Both images have "in the style of..."as part of the prompt. That style does not work with all AI Generators, but I noticed that Nightcafe Studio, PicFinder and Leonardo produce very nice results with those artists.

Cute Bats

Although it is still summer (and very hot and humid here in Germany) I am already thinking of Halloween. If somebody mentions Halloween I think of witches, ghosts and - of course - bats. But I think of them as animals which are very important for our nature, not as creatures which bring evil and drink blood.

So I went to Nightcafe Studio and inserted the following prompt:
cute bat flying, vector style, 3 D, white background

And isn't he cute? 

What AI Art did with my colored pencil piece

 In my last blogpost I showed you a colored pencil piece which I did a few days ago. In a next step I wanted to find out what AI would do if I used it as a starter image. Well, here's one example:

I used Nightcafe Studio creator, and the prompt:

"Portrait of a fantasy creature in the style of Art nouveau"

I am very pleased with the output, and I feel motivated and encouraged to continue doing something with colored pencils!

Abstract Art with Colored Pencils

Colored pencils were the first medium when I started doing art on a regular basis. Of course I watched videos and learnt a lot about the do's and don't's of painting with colored pencils. However, most of the time I felt timid and overwhelmed. It all ended with the strong feeling that "colored pencils are not my medium". 

Time went by, I tried some other mediums, and I learnt to do art my way. I didn't stop watching Videos, but in many cases I stopped watching them and tried to do things my way. 

Now a few days ago I felt like trying out my colored pencils. I have two very small sketchbooks, and the small size of the paper sheets encouraged me to try out things I had in my mind. So the painting on the left was born. I first blended the strokes with odorless mineral spirit, but then I changed that to - (gasp!) baby oil. Yes, I know, baby oil is an absolute no-go for colored pencil artists. because you do not know what the effects the baby oil has on the pigments in the long run. Well, it is just a little doodle in my sketchbook, so what the heck!

A notebook for your summer recipes

 

You have got loads of recipes for delicious summer cocktails - on sticky notes, on some scrap paper, all over the place. You spend a lot of time looking for the one recipe which you've tried once and loved so much. 

Why not using this notebook from Zazzle with its happy lemon and oranges design? You've got salad recipes? Or recipes of delicious smoothies?  Of course you can change the label easily - the color and the text. 

Lemon and Oranges Spiral Photo Notebook
by ullahennig

Red Asters

 Yesterday I noticed something strange. On Nightcafe Studio I was asking for red asters in the style of Alphonse Mucha. Here is the exact prompt:

beautiful red aster in the style of Alphonse Mucha, intricate, decorative, highdefinition

The outcome however was this:

As you can see, the AI Generator decided to create the portrait of a woman with red asters. Obviously, it is the name of "Alphonse Mucha" which causes this. 

However if you go on Google and search for Mucha's artworks you will see that almost all his artworks have to do with women (portraits, full body paintings). 

Now I was curious to see what the following prompt would create:

beautiful red asters in the style of art nouveau, intricate, decorative, highdefinition

Alphonse Mucha was a representative of the Art Nouveau period. 

As you can see, I was successful in removing the woman from the image by just mentioning "art nouveau". 

So we can learn two things:

1. If you use the name of an artist in your prompt, go to google and look up his works in order to have an impression of what consequences the mentioning of this artist could have on your image.

2. Sometimes ii is better to go for the style in general (Art nouveau, impressionism and such) and not mention any artist at all.

Mark Brandenburg Greeting Card

 

Many people who come to Berlin are surprised about how green this city is. But often enough they do not leave the big city and take a trip into the beautiful region around Berlin, the federal state called "Mark Brandenburg". The photo on the greeting card below has been taken there, There are many lakes, little towns, manors and old churches.

The text on the greeting card is only a placeholder - you can replace it with any text you want to or even leave the card without any text.

Get well soon | Forest landscape photo note card
by ullahennig

Photopea and AI Art

 I have been using Gimp to post process my AI Art images. Yesterday however I watched a video about Photopea and had to try it.

Photopea is the free online version of Photoshop. The menues are a bit different from Gimp, but I always enjoy learning something new. After having played around with things like sharpen and contrast I decided to go for something more challenging: Combining two elements in one image. I uploaded two images to photopea: an abstract one which I wanted to use as background and the silhouette portrait of a woman with the background removed in Lunapic.

Here is the result.

Now a bit of information about the steps it takes:

1. Go to the image you want to copy as a layer into the other image. Go to "Layers" and click on "Duplicate layer into..."; you will be able to select the image you want it copied into.

2. Go to the other image - the one you had the silhouette / object / person whatever copied into - and you will see that it has got 2 Layers now.

3. Now you can manipulate each layer on its own - as you can see I used the smudge tool on the image which served as the background layer.

4. You can export the image with the two layers as psd File - if you are a Gimp user you will be able to open that file in Gimp. You can also export the image as png and jpg file, among many other formats.

Chinese Dragons

Chinese dragon rendered with Stablecog

In contrast to their Western counterparts Chinese dragons are considered benevolent creatures. They are bringers of good fortune and symbols of imperial power, wisdom and prosperity.

They are are depicted as long, serpentine creatures with scaled bodies. They lack wings.

Historically, the Chinese dragon has been closely associated with the emperor and the imperial family. It was a symbol of the emperor's divine right to rule, and dragon motifs were commonly found in palaces, temples, and imperial regalia.

Chinese dragon rendered with
Open Art AI

The Chinese dragon is closely connected to the Chinese emperor. The dragon was the symbol of the emperor's divine right to rule.

In digital painting focussing on fantasy dragons play a significant role. With AI Art one could think that it is easy to render these powerful beings - however I needed several renders before I was satisfied with the result.