Using old Dia Slides

The origin of this image is an old color slide that was taken sometime in the 1970s, when slide photography was at the height of its popularity. Over the years, I accumulated a large collection of these slides and eventually selected a number of them to be digitized. Once the scanning was done, I stored the digital files on my hard drive, where they remained untouched for quite some time.This morning, I decided to experiment with them using AI image generators. I first uploaded the digitized slide to ImagePrompt.org, which generated a descriptive prompt based on the original photograph. I then copied that prompt and used it in NightCafe Studio and Deep Dream Generator to create new interpretations of the image.

Naturally, the AI-generated artwork is not an exact copy of the original slide—but that was never my intention. Instead, I wanted to see how AI would reinterpret an old photograph, and I really like the result. It has inspired me to revisit more of my vintage slides and explore how they can be transformed into entirely new works of art.

 

Inktense Pencils revisited

I've got 26 inktense pencils, some of them bought in a bos of 12 pencils, and some of them bought additionally in loose stock. I've bought them a long time ago, and after painting with my waterpencils I decided to use the inktense pencils again. This time I forced myself to sit down and do a color chart first before doing an abstract painting. I was quite glad to have this chart when I began to paint - there is such a big difference between the color you get when you apply the pencil on the paper and the color you get when you use a damp brush to wet the pencil marks!

Watercolor pencils Revisited

It is a long time since I've done anything with watercolor pencils. I've got two cardboard boxes of them, one box for red, yellow and brown pencils, and the other one for blue and green pencils.

Last Sunday I watched a video showing someone playing with pencils, and I felt so inspired that I grabbed thoses two boxes and began to draw / paint. 

It felt good to try something completely different. I used Paint On Paper made by Clairefontaine, and I loved this kind of paper. It is not as textured as "real" watercolor paper, but it still has some kind of texture to it. 

I used a deep blue marker for the background and I love how it makes the painting pop out.

I've got pencils from different brands: some Albrecht Dürer pencils, Faber-Castell, some Mondeluz and Progresso pencils from Koh-I-Noor, and one Supracolor II from Caran d'Ache (the most expensive watercolor pencil of all).

I definitely will continue to play with them!

 

Abstract art done with liquid watercolors

At the end of June we had a brutal heatwave in Germany. The temperatures in my living room went up to over 30° Celsius (about 89° Fahrenheit), and I just went into survival mode. 

Then the heat went dosed wn, and I felt like painting again. This time I used liquid watercolors. When I opened the drawer with my Ecoline bottles I noticed that I must have bought some new ones some time ago and had never used them. Well. Time to try them!

Why product mockups are so important

There are products on Zazzle with pretty mockups created by Zazzle. But there are also products which have no mockup image. One of these products are aprons. 

When I created the design for the apron AI did not yet exist, and there was only a very complicated way to create mockups using photoshop. I must admit that I had a look into that and decided it would take too much time to get anywhere near creating something reasonable.

However, with AI today, there are two ways to create nice mockups. 

• Use Dynamic mockups
• Use Chatgpt

Mockups make your product interesting for customers. Especially on such a large platform like Zazzle it is important to get the attention of potential customers, and you can do this by creating interesting mockups.

This will force you to think about your designs and your possible customers: Will gardening people love to wear this apron? 

Purple Pansy Flower Garden Apron
by ullahennig

Or will someone who obviously loves to have plants and flowers at their home love to wear it?

By the way, the upper mockup was created with Dynamic Mockups, and the one on the left with Chatgpt.

Venetian Mask - Two images, one prompt

Both images have been created with the same prompt and two different AI Art generators. The image on the left was created with the help of Nightcafe Studio, and the image on the right was created by using Deep Dream Generator. As you can see there's quite a bit of a difference between them. 

I am not sure which of the two is my favorite - there's something interesting in both of them: The serious facial expression and the way the feathers frame the face in the left image; the richly decorated mask and the smile on the face in the right image. 

Another piece of abstract art

I love trying out color combinations, and I love to experiment with adding markers to my acrylic ink paintings. In this case I used a dark blue alcohol marker for the background. 

In addition to that I tried something new: A few weeks ago I bought some Molotow Sketchers for the first time. These are water based markers. I hadn't touched them yet and decided to try applying them on some spots over the acrylic ink. It worked. 

The whole process of painting was very satisfying, relaxing and joyful. It always takes a bit of preparation - getting my table covered with newspapers, fetching the paints, the water container and the brushes - and it takes a bit of time to put everything away afterwards, but it is definitely worth it!