Generative Age Art

My question: How will generative AI further artists' creative exploration?

Whether it can streamline access to the creative aspects of art creation, or its potential to simplify complex processes like computer programming, aren't merely technical inquiries. It is a deeper probe into the evolving relationship between art and technology.

Considering how generative AI can further artists' creative exploration, we delve into the notion that AI is not just a tool but a collaborator that brings its own 'creativity' to the process. This notion, to date, is false. AI is not creative in itself today. It is a tool that allows for the exploration of ideas, a rapidly developing tool.

Its use can push the boundaries of what is possible in art, enabling artists to explore new aesthetic territories and conceptual depths. AI's ability to process and generate complex patterns can inspire artists to experiment with forms, structures, and narratives that were previously imaginable but perhaps too labor-intensive to pursue. It introduces a novel dimension to inspire creativity, many times through its current unpredictability of outcome. This fusion of human intuition with machine intelligence appears to be leading to a new era where the boundaries of art are continually expanding with a democratization of access to complex tools that have been out of reach but are now becoming highly available at nearly trivial cost.

Another aspect of the question is whether the Generative Age will facilitate faster access to the creative flow for artists by simplifying mundane tasks that address the practical benefits of AI in art. By automating technical or repetitive tasks, generative AI can free artists from the drudgery of certain processes, allowing them to concentrate more on the creative and conceptual aspects of their work. Those who may not have the technical skills but possess creative vision can now realize more complex, or more complete, versions of their creative visions.

In practical terms it can speed up the production process, enabling artists to execute and iterate on their ideas more quickly, thereby accelerating the creative cycle. This efficiency could lead to a proliferation of artistic work, increasing the diversity of voices and perspectives in the art world.

Traditionally, creating complex digital art or interactive experiences required substantial technical knowledge, including programming skills, sound production, animation, film, and compositing, which could be a significant barrier to entry for many artists. AI can simplify these processes and in reality marks a paradigm shift, enabling artists to focus on the conceptual and aesthetic vision of their work without being encumbered by the technical complexities.

I believe this is unlocking a new wave of innovation in digital art, where more artists are empowered to create intricate and interactive works that were previously beyond their reach.

My experience working with generative tools:

In a style-based approach for narrative cohesion in AI-assisted art narratives, the key is to establish a consistent style that threads through the entire narrative, creating a cohesive visual experience. Let's dive into how this can be effectively controlled and made repeatable.

It's crucial to define your style parameters clearly. This means having a solid grasp of the visual elements that will define your narrative’s style—color palette, texture, form, and even the mood or atmosphere. Once you've nailed down these elements, you can consistently apply them across your narrative to ensure each image feels like part of the same story.

At this stage of development it is also important to note that each tool has its own eccentricities and acceptance of, or more aptly, employment of these can be best leveraged to explore surprise outcomes and possible new directions for current or future projects. "Happy accidents," as Bob Ross would have said it.

Now, when setting up image generation, you'll want to create detailed prompts that encapsulate these style elements. For example, if your narrative has a dreamy, ethereal quality, you might specify soft, muted colors, diffuse lighting, and surreal landscapes in your prompts. This specificity helps guide the AI to produce images that align with your desired style, maintaining narrative cohesion.

But here’s the trick: while you want consistency, you don’t want every image to look the same. So, you play with variations within your style constraints. Think of it like a theme and variations in music—the theme is your style, and each image is a variation that explores different facets of that theme. This keeps the narrative visually interesting and dynamic while ensuring everything fits together seamlessly.

Repeatability is a factor that is difficult to control at the time of this writing, but in a matter of months may significantly change in consumer-based tools as it has in closed system professional tools already.

Is it possible to create a fictional character that has the same physical features throughout a series of changing images?

Yes, it's possible to generate images of a fictional character with consistent physical features across a series of changing shot styles and backgrounds. Achieving this consistency involves a combination of precise prompting, leveraging advanced features of image generation tools, and possibly using reference materials. This is not easily achievable with the low cost or free tools at this time. But, it probably will be very soon.

In summary, AI tools encourage a forward-looking perspective, inviting artists, technologists, and society at large to envision and shape a future where art and technology co-evolve, fostering a richer, more inclusive, and continually innovative artistic landscape, a renescience in Humanities.

4 in the morning

"4 in the morning" is a poetry based arts narrative inspired by both writing and underground comic book styling of the late 1950s Beat Artists. As an audio-visual presentation the imagery is an interpretation of original writing inspired by the era and concepts explored through interactions, or conversations, with generative tools. All prompting and final outcomes were driven by human intelligence toward the work's final outcome, which is my personal vision.

-Tommy O