September 23, 2023

Roughly 5 months in the past, I held an AI artwork competitors associated to the fantasy world I’ve been building. I used to be attempting to peek round corners, as I usually do with new applied sciences.

As soon as it wrapped up, I felt an odd mixture of issues. It was one thing like one half falling in love; one half child in a sweet retailer; and two components watching metaphorical birds flying overhead, harbingers of a large forest fireplace on its method.

This submit will share some learnings, artwork winners with highlights, and extra.

There have been a handful of guidelines for submissions, however the bolded parts beneath are an important to me:

You should utilize any AI instruments or mixture of instruments that you just like, together with DALL·E 2 (@OpenAI), Midjourney (@midjourney), Stable Diffusion (@StableDiffusion), Lexica (@LexicaArt,) NightCafe Studio (@NightcafeStudio), and so on. You’re additionally allowed to do handbook touch-ups and fine-tuning. IMPORTANTYou *should* use Loom (@loom) or different tech to seize your full course of.

Alternatives can be primarily based on high quality, creativity, presentation of course of, and extra. Course of is necessary. Individuals ought to at the least have the ability to try to copy what you probably did.

All the level of the competitors was to create this weblog submit, a easy assortment of how-to tutorials that may get anybody up-skilled in a brief time frame. Even should you hate every thing about AI, right here’s why I feel it’s value spending time on this…

The AI genie is out of the bottle. The extra true consultants I converse with, the clearer that is.

Regardless of how one feels about AI—and I’ve loads of misgivings—the genie can’t be put again within the bottle. That is true for a whole lot of sectors and tens of millions of individuals, together with artists. I’ve watched members of the family work their asses off as artists, I needed to be a comic book e book penciler for 10+ years, and I’ve paid conventional artists a whole lot of hundreds of {dollars} through the years. It’s a world that’s close to and expensive to my coronary heart.

However… there isn’t a going again to the best way issues was once. Actually, there isn’t a compelling technique to stall issues for lengthy. So the query for me isn’t “How can we cease AI artwork?,” as I don’t suppose it’s doable, however somewhat one thing like:

“What can artists do to get forward of the curve?” or “How would possibly proactive artists place themselves to learn from this?” or “How can artists restrict the harm of AI and carve out, or protect, good niches for themselves?”

There are dozens of different comparable questions we may ask, however I feel the preliminary reply is similar for all of them: Study to make use of AI instruments.

To kickstart your artwork profession, and even should you plan on utilizing extra conventional strategies… study to make use of AI instruments.

To turbocharge your personal artwork by streamlining mundane duties… study to make use of AI instruments.

To study the present weaknesses and blindspots of AI instruments so you possibly can plan round them… study to make use of AI instruments.

Most high-calibre artists don’t have anything to concern, many would-be artists have loads to stay up for, and all artists have one thing to study. In the event you would spend 10 hours at a weekend course that promised to enhance the chances of a very good dwelling for the subsequent decade, I feel you must decide to spending 10 hours significantly utilizing and scrutinizing the higher AI instruments. Even should you hate every thing this represents, even when it’s an opponent you wish to defeat, that is akin to watching tape of an opponent earlier than a boxing match. Whether or not you wish to surf the tsunami, dive by means of it, or get the hell out of the best way, you might want to perceive the wave. To do this, you might want to examine it, and the earlier the higher. The very best protection is usually an early offense.

I hope you discover this submit useful, and please depart feedback with different suggestions. I’m positive I’ll get a couple of gems and a boatload of screeds, however such is the spice of the Web.

This weblog submit is a tough draft and merely a place to begin. And should you suppose the tempo of AI growth has been quick within the final six months, the subsequent 12 months are going to make your head spin. I feel the secret is all the time returning your eyes to the highway forward of you rather than the rear-view mirror.

Just some notes on construction earlier than we dive in:

We included each “Winners” and “Honorable Mentions,” however all are included as a result of they supplied distinctive worth or a singular strategy.

I closely weighed the incorporation of character traits. As I point out once more beneath, it’s simple to make *one thing* fairly with AI, however to make a really *particular factor* with parameters and traits is far more durable. For that motive, I tended to reward rougher artwork with higher trait matching vs. polished artwork that used fewer traits.

Some tweets are not reside, and we’ve indicated that with a remark.

Particular Honorable Point out

I’m placing the below Twitter thread by @JPEGHODL first, because the thread itself represents a wonderful Midjourney 101 tutorial for individuals who haven’t used Discord a lot. That is positioned right here upfront, as lots of the submissions use Midjourney:


Winners

Tim’s feedback on the beneath: This fella’s how-to blog post is implausible. Extremely advocate.
Unique tweet by @ironclawai: https://twitter.com/ironclawai/status/1604528121360826373
Weblog submit with all course of movies: https://ironclaw.me/2022/12/18/cockpunch-ai-characters-contest/


Tim’s feedback on the beneath: Love this one. In the event you broaden the Loom and watch and pause fastidiously, you possibly can see the iterative course of and likewise how disobedient AI is with some descriptors/prompts.
Unique tweet by @Roof_boy_6ix: https://twitter.com/Roof_boy_6ix/status/1604672157744877568
Course of video: https://www.loom.com/share/3b395c838e8e4e098e7a2c633aa88f24


Tim’s feedback on the beneath: Matches the beneath character properly. Good touch-ups on the finish, plus use of Photopea.com.
Unique tweet by @FPOkenny: https://twitter.com/FPOkenny/status/1605265213808599040
Course of video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA-Xsk-WkbM


Tim’s feedback on the beneath: Nice showcase of Midjourney + DALL·E for eradicating options vs. inpainting, plus reveals some widespread limitations (e.g., fingers), although these limitations have been improved lately. Good matching.
Unique tweet by @nat_sharpe_: https://twitter.com/nat_sharpe_/status/1605267590670082048
Video course of: https://www.loom.com/share/c91e8b09c0c54fb3bedcd1804996db26


Tim’s feedback on the beneath: This course of video is superb. I like the AI + bodily artwork chops, particularly beginning with completely no expertise with AI.
Unique tweet by @shizudelphia: https://twitter.com/shizudelphia/status/1605316934631051264
Course of video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H3hurVusN4


Tim’s feedback on the beneath: Wonderful at incorporating the precise character components! His devoted inclusion of traits is kind of probably one of the best of the bunch. That was one of many greatest challenges for everybody who competed. Making one thing fairly with AI is simple, however getting it to make one thing with well-defined traits is far more durable.
Unique tweet by @PSHoudini: https://twitter.com/PSHoudini/status/1604796676182532096
Course of video: https://www.loom.com/share/8558d7597d3e414f8c69e0afb5810182


Tim’s feedback on the beneath: Nice clarification of Midjourney and high quality tuning with Photoshop. I believe that, increasingly, each artists and writers will use AI to brainstorm tough drafts or beginning factors for heavy handbook sharpening.
Unique tweet by @blockheim: https://twitter.com/blockheim/status/1605044205906165760
Video course of: https://www.loom.com/share/1c6fe71de9b040dc97a8b46090d61941


Tim’s feedback on the beneath: Enjoyable use of traits and integrated lore (e.g., Dakus), and the method video can also be properly performed.
Unique tweet by @WriterInVerse: https://twitter.com/WriterInVerse/status/1605387722033893378
Course of video: https://www.loom.com/share/3d5bfe11e4634c889c5ea5546dc7a18c?t=6


Tim’s feedback on the beneath: Thematically robust, speedy iteration, nice narration.
Unique tweet by @FLitz: https://twitter.com/FLitz/status/1605380881039773696
Course of video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQv5Xr2qJVA


Honorable Mentions

Tim’s notes on the beneath: It is a good demo of fast Midjourney use, in addition to use of variations and upscaling choices. Most honorable mentions are honorable mentions as a result of fewer traits have been integrated. Nonetheless, this finish product actually ended up eye-catching.
Unique tweet by @Shakkas_Art: https://twitter.com/Shakkas_Art/status/1605029397710667776?s=20&t=mZHz0kVbGrVT4NMVPR7ACw
Course of video: https://www.loom.com/share/2832c4abc7ad4ff0bc5de81959d2d031


Tim’s notes: Good course of submit, which I admire, as I typically digest issues higher by way of textual content. That is typically simpler than freeze-framing the movies.
Unique tweet by @BMAotC: https://twitter.com/BMAotC/status/1605157342550573057
Course of weblog submit: https://medium.com/@BMAotC/the-ai-art-competition-beginneth-8d8d7cf70531


Unique tweet by @gojeanyn: https://twitter.com/gojeanyn/status/1605397341875277824
Course of video: https://www.loom.com/share/1a87f89388104fc791a483cb07f2df10


Tim’s notes on the beneath: The handbook addition of the nostril/earring is nice.
Unique tweet by @moonordust007: https://twitter.com/moonordust007/status/1605375068624019456


Tim’s notes: Wonderful course of video and reveals the refinement of prompts, batching variations, then the ending in Photoshop. I’m a sucker for Japanophilia.
Unique tweet by @FLitz: https://twitter.com/FLitz/status/1605394944075567104
Course of video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgHbP9XfDBQ


Going Off-Menu

Tim’s feedback on the beneath: This one merely made me and Kevin Rose giggle, so I’m together with it for enjoyable.
Unique tweet by @PiratePorter_: https://twitter.com/PiratePorter_/status/1604349855878459393
Course of video: https://www.loom.com/share/998d7fc1d65940cc88d57eda258703c3


Tim notes on the beneath: That is intelligent. In the event you make it arduous to see the attributes, you possibly can dodge one problem. I’ve seen some comedian e book artists do that with very darkish kinds that use quite a lot of black fills (e.g., shadows).
Unique tweet by @Whisky_McTavish: https://twitter.com/Whisky_McTavish/status/1604187262253948929 [Note: This tweet is no longer available.]


Unique tweet by @marluco: https://twitter.com/marluco/status/1605336280543375361?s=20&t=2XzfqZNP6tX-i1ut5Zt0Ng
Course of video: https://www.loom.com/share/fee0cced51744de48bb66986d19027eb


Unique tweet by @Shakkas_Art: https://twitter.com/Shakkas_Art/status/1605036430019133440?s=20&t=GY4IKGAVA5NqcoYIDD1K4A
Course of video: https://www.loom.com/share/8874d9bc0bd94a09b548275b63e399f


Tim’s feedback on the beneath: Everybody loves a very good steampunk samurai…
Unique tweet by @flamesbria02: https://twitter.com/flamesbria02/status/1605162558683746306
Course of video: https://www.loom.com/share/27959b7fe1ff42828bae5e43fa301949


Tim’s feedback on the beneath: This one is superb for together with detailed gauntlets, which gave the impression to be one of many hardest components of the task.
Unique tweet by @FromInfinityTV: https://twitter.com/FromInfinityTV/status/1604899487088246784
Course of video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-G1cZLMM1Y


Tim’s feedback on the beneath: Nice combo of AI and handbook tweaking. Too quick to copy, nevertheless it was nonetheless value together with.
Unique tweet by @Singularifica: https://twitter.com/Singularifica/status/1605090514167943168 [Editor note: This tweet is no longer available.]
Course of video: https://www.loom.com/share/ec460d28935b4ac3a93389958332db4e


Tim’s feedback on the beneath: Humorous “boomerang” story; nice “let me go off menu” experiments. Cityscapes, coliseums, and so on.
Unique tweet by @DanSchoonmaker: https://twitter.com/DanSchoonmaker/status/1605331136783204355
Course of weblog submit: https://www.schoon.me/blog/cockpunch-ai-art


Screenshot of prompts by @shmichael_eth: https://twitter.com/shmichael_eth/status/1604612837036490752/photo/2


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