UPDATE: My Top 10 AI Images of 2023 - - - - - - - - - - - #1 Moldy Bread Monster

- - - - - UPDATE - - - - -
Needed to update with the latest version of the Moldy Bread Monster. All AI generators have been updated several times since the creation of the first image -- so this is now the latest version circa January 2024. I mean, this newer guy is actually made of BREAD! The former dude was more wool-like.

Love, love, love this updated version. Much better mold.
The goofy expression has a very Adventure Time/Gravity Falls vibe.
The red veins in the eyes are simply priceless. Bravo, AI -- Bravo!

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Originally posted on 12-22-2023

NOTE: These images were not arranged in any level of greatness or priority. I’m gathering the 10 images I feel represent my best AI results in 2023. I hope you find them amusing, interesting, and inspiring too.

Behold, the slice welding Moldy Bread Monster

Meet the Moldy Bread Monster, born on the day there was a half loaf of moldy bread in our kitchen, and I REALLY wanted a sandwich! (Hate when that happens.)

The MidJourney prompt was simple, though I added the word “dancing.” The dancing wasn't quite captured, which often happened with version 4 back then. But the character's uniqueness, especially with it seeming upset about a slice of “good bread” in its left hand gave me a good laugh. (Especially since I was in a similar situation mere hours ago, complaining and holding a “bad slice’ of moldy bread.)

Runner-Up AI images of 2023

Here are a few of the AI images I generated during 2023 that I felt were interesting enough but didn't make the top 10. 

Manic Santa Claus was a popular trend during December, this one was my weirdest

Using someone else's prompt, I edited it to portray Billy Elish as a warped version of the Poison Ivy character, (mostly picked her because she used to sport green hair.) This came out much better than expected.

Red Sonja fighting a gigantic viper creature

This one came out of nowhere! I believe I simply asked for a "Vivid Colorful Santa Hat" for photos of pet costumes. I have NO IDEA why this was the image I got instead. Disturbing.

Another disturbing image, this was "a photo of Humpty Dumpty circa 1910."  

A beautiful fantasy city scene. I especially like the warm lighting in the foreground and the insanely doom-inspiring details of the towers in the distance.

My Top 10 AI Images of 2023 - - - - - - - - - - - #10 Darth Vader Worn Revisioned

There used to be a great website called Illustration Friday. Every Friday, a new word was given, and artists would submit images based on that week's word. For the week when the word was "WORN," I chose to interpret it as "damaged and shabby as a result of much use." Using this definition, I depicted Darth Vader as worn out from a long day. Many years later, I uploaded that image into Leonardo.ai, activated the 3D settings, and received this result:

In less than 20 seconds, my 2D drawing was transformed into a 3D version. The only disappointment was that the smoke trails from the lightsaber looked more like gray wood with stones. However, the Darth Vader character turned out very well, with excellent lighting, reflections, and textures.

The original sketch was digitally drawn within an hour and posted on the Illustration Friday website.

Sometime later, I hand drew the design using brush pens, Copic markers, and a white Gelly Roll pen.
This was the image uploaded into Leonardo.ai to be revised by AI technology.

Baby New Years 2024 - The Year of AI

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Every year around this time, I recreate versions of my original Baby New Year character kicking in the new year, which I created 10 years ago in 2013. It has always been very popular among visitors to this site, and it definitely gets stolen by MANY people who download other's artwork to call it their own and sell it online.

This year, something a little different: I'm using AI to create Baby New Year based on my original drawing.  

Behold, the AI-generated version of the 2024 Baby New Year

To be honest, this little guy was a combination of 4 AI images, which had to be altered, assembled, and touched up -- so it probably took me much longer to do than simply draw a new illustration. 

The first Baby New Year image from 2013, using brush pens, a Gelly Roll pen, and Copic Markers

The original concept pencil sketch in 2013

My Top 10 AI Images of 2023 - - - - - - - - - - - #9 Cthulhu According to AI

In his famed novel, Call of Cthulhu, H. P. Lovecraft describes a statue of Cthulhu as:

"A monster of vaguely anthropoid outline, but with an octopus-like head whose face was a mass of feelers, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and fore feet, and long, narrow wings behind."

I prompted his exact wording into Leonardo.ai and generated several dozen images following that description. All of the images generally had similar aspects, but the level of difference was totally unexpected. Next, I entered more prompts, but this time provided much more details about character placement, size/proportions, and the background/environment setting. Which produced this:

This image above instantly became my favorite image of the group. Cthulhu's size in the far distance, the foggy air, and the mysterious shielded warrior, such fantastic visuals generated in one image. 

More prompted images of Cthulhu are seen below, seen in ranges from traditional to insectoid.

My Top 10 AI Images of 2023 - - - - - - - - - - - #8 Joker Circa 1910

A nice feature of AI image generation is that you can suggest creating an image set in a specific period. For example, imagine if the Joker fought Batman around 1910. AI tends to do a better job with individual characters than with multiple people in one image. This is often because when describing several people in text, AI can lose focus on which person should receive specific details, leading to a tendency to morph two or more characters together.

[Sidenote: If you’re interested in what inspired the character Joker, check out the silent film “The Man Who Laughed”; a truly eerie depiction of a character that would influence comic book/movie culture for decades to come.]

Fabulous sepia toned image of the Joker back in 1910; the expression alone is priceless

Here are some samples of attempts to depict the two characters in a 1910 fighting scene. Note how Batman often appears more manic than his classic stoic expression. It's as if the Joker is wearing the Batman costume. 

Additionally, Batman's armor is too technically advanced to represent his costume accurately in that timeline. Apparently, it seems AI is pulling reference to the Batman’s costume mostly based on the more modern Batman films instead of the cloth based costumes in earlier times.

My Top 10 AI Images of 2023 - - - - - - - - - - - #7 Celebrity Not-Quite-Right-Look-A-Like

To me, nothing is more impressive than when an AI program successfully captures the likeness of a famous person. However, AI companies are now striving to limit this aspect of image generation due to the growing threat of Deep Fakes in multimedia. If left unchecked, this could lead to worsening political scenarios, increased legal actions from celebrities regarding the misuse of their likenesses, and a general rise in public deception, fueling falsehoods and conspiracies. This could potentially lead to complete anarchy in a world already susceptible to misinformation.

This image doesn’t quite look like Joey Heatherton, but it captures the style of her time.
The green smoky background, black dress, bobbed hair, and mystic pose makes this a fantastic image.

Most American-based AI sites, tend to not do great exact likenesses. They do permit likeness usage generally as a reference in prompts to generate similar-looking characters. But if referring to anyone famous in your prompt, the censorship restrictions are usually maximized. (This is not true from many foreign AI sites, especially those based in Japan.)

In this particular case, I referred to a lesser-known celebrity from the early '70s who I saw on TV all of the time on variety, talk, and game shows as a kid: Joey Heatherton. (Not only was she cute, sexy, and bubbly — she was the inspiration to Catherine O’Hara’s character, Lola Heatherton, one of my all-time favorite comedy shows, SCTV.)

Catherine O’Hara as the over-the-top-manic-laughing, Lola Heatherton, on SCTV in the late ’70s
Yes, that's Catherine O'Hara, known for Home Alone, Beetlejuice, Best of Show, and Schitt's Creek.

My Top 10 AI Images of 2023 - - - - - - - - - - - #6 Capt. Billy Buttons

I have a favorite character I created for a children's book named Captain Billy Buttons, who is a pirate and serves as my company mascot for my ARRRGGGHHH Ink illustrations on social media. When experimenting with AI, I typed his name into an AI art generator just to get an idea of who AI thought the name represented. The result was unexpected and insane. 

AI interpreted "Captain Billy Buttons" quite literally, covering the character with colorful, button-like pox, resembling a vibrant candy infection from a Willie Wonka candy factory. His expression is one of great surprise yet he remains at attention, as if he's bravely posing for this photograph despite his unusual appearance. 

This outcome was a delightful surprise, transforming my silly pirate name into something so whimsically bizarre. Love it!

My Top 10 AI Images of 2023 - - - - - - - - - - - #5 Mycol

Comics were a huge part of my childhood and a big reason why I became an artist. As a teen, I drifted away from them. But post-college, writers like Frank Miller with "Dark Knight," Neil Gaiman with "Sandman," and especially Alan Moore with "Watchmen," "Miracleman," "Swamp Thing," and more, pulled me back in.

Alan Moore's run on "Swamp Thing" is a standout in my opinion. He took a character I loved and flipped its whole history in just one issue. It was groundbreaking. It felt like Moore was shaking me, saying, "Think you know Swamp Thing? Think again!" 

A character I dreamt up decades ago, finally appears as I envisioned
Mycology: the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi

Back then, I often contemplated the stories I would create if I were a comic book writer. Reflecting on Swamp Thing, Moore's distinctive twist opened up new avenues of creativity. This led to the conception of characters who could seamlessly integrate into that universe. Among them was Mycol – akin to Swamp Thing, but with a twist. While Swamp Thing represented the "Green" of plant life, Mycol personified the "Gray" of the fungal domain, a completely different realm. Spoiler: Mycol is the offspring of Swamp Thing and Abigail Arcane, unknowingly conceived through the sinister machinations of Anton Arcane.

This story lingered in my mind, yet it remained largely unexplored until the advent of AI image generation decades later. I am quite fond of how the Mycol image materialized. It closely aligns with my vision for the character, though it still lacks some additional fungal elements that I envision within him.

My Top 10 AI Images of 2023 - - - - - - - - - - - #4 The Hanged Man challenge

AI excels in numerous areas, but it also has its limitations. These limitations can be quite frustrating, particularly when you consider how AI can effortlessly generate incredibly detailed images within seconds. Yet, we still encounter peculiar errors and anomalies. As of this writing, some of the most common challenges include: generating coherent text messages, depicting realistic human hands, simulating archery skills, and my personal favorite, recreating "The Hanged Man" card from a traditional tarot card set.

This might be my favorite image of my Top 10. Quite a hauntingly beautiful image.
I added details of him being infected by a fungus - more on that later . . .

I stumbled upon this AI limitation in a Reddit group chat. A user was expressing their frustration with attempting to create a tarot card set using AI-generated images but faced a significant obstacle – they couldn't get AI to depict "The Hanged Man." Many of us in the group, including myself, attempted to generate the image, but no one came close to the traditional depiction of the card. (Which typically features a man hanging upside-down by a rope tied to one of his legs, the other leg bent horizontally, with the other end of the rope secured to a tree branch above.)

An example of the classic Hanged Man tarot card

Some argue this happens because the AI is censored from showing a hanging person. Others said, AI doesn't quite understand what "upside-down" means and still needs to learn about terms of placement, locations, directions, and alignment. I agree with the latter. Often you can not direct AI where you want things to be placed in a text prompt, it's very hit-or-miss.

My first attempt at The Hanged Man (left) and the flipped version (right)
The gravity-defying skull chains, lowered branches and bottom light source ruin the hanging aspect.
Even though he has two left hands, I liked this image enough to use as a reference for the top image.

Certain individuals believed that a potential solution to the problem was to create an image of a hanging man and then flip it upside-down to achieve the desired effect. However, this approach proved to be ineffective. This is primarily due to the presence of elements like the ground, trees, and tree branches in the background of this particular tarot card. Additionally, AI algorithms incorporate factors such as gravity's impact on clothing and the positioning of upper lighting sources in their image generation process. Consequently, when you flip an AI-generated image, it often still appears as if you simply flipped the original AI image. 

My Top 10 AI Images of 2023 - - - - - - - - - - - #3 Red (Not So Little & Still with a Hood)

For years I have been developing a character for a children's book, directly linked to Little Red Riding Hood, a character deeply embedded in fairy tale lore and possibly the most iconic in its history. This story, familiar to many, has undergone numerous revisions and transformations through the ages.

Reimagining fairy tale characters isn't a novel concept. However, I often ponder about the lives of these famous characters beyond the "happily ever after." What happens after their story?

The Lovecraftian arcane world of a more mature Red Riding Hood

I envisioned the Red Hood child evolving from her iconic tale to become adept at protecting herself against any creatures that might speak, threaten, or disguise themselves as innocent grandmothers. In a Lovecraftian world filled with various mystical threats to humanity, I could see "Red" mastering the mystic arts, equipping herself to face and overcome these challenges.

The image above was generated only due to the new "Outpainting" feature in MidJourney at the time. "Outpainting" allows the user to expand outside or beyond the edges of an image and build up an image with greater details and background. 

This was the original Leonardo.ai image before using the outpainting feature to expand the image 

Before doing the top image, I wanted to experiment with training a "model" in Leonardo.ai for the AI to better understand what my "Little" Red Riding Hood" character should look like. NOTE: A "model" can be anything: an animal, wooden chair, forest, tall building, etc. . . (not just fashion styling pretty ladies.) 

My modernized version of the famed Little Red Riding Hood
This is one of the images I created to represent the look of the character

To train a "model", one collects and uploads images that closely resemble the subject, ensuring the photos are of similar size. After completing the training phase, this model can be loaded into the AI system, which will then have a general understanding of the character's appearance.

Little Red Riding Hood, no longer little and now masters the mystic arts.
In my story draft, the iconic "Wolf" was in fact the leader/father of a pack of demons.

My Top 10 AI Images of 2023 - - - - - - - - - - - #2 Willie Wonka Kaboom

I've been working on this kid's book draft for years now; directly inspired by Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", and the original classic movie with Gene Wilder as the titular character. I tried making some Wonka images. The final result was way cooler than I thought it'd be. 

Yes, the candy parts are a bit vague, but the whole 'candy explosion' was great. I do wish I could've thrown in some floating Wonka bars, but AI's still iffy with logos and fonts and placement of items.

Something has gone terribly wrong with Wonka’s candy factory.

At first, the images generated weren’t looking like the Gene Wilder Wonka I wanted. Many weren’t truly Wilder-like at all. These images were mimicking Wilder’s features, with nothing relative to the character. Anyone who uses AI knows, it takes time, patience, and a bit o’ luck to get the images you hope to generate. So I had to learn how to keep building up details, eliminating what wasn’t working and adding to the description what was missing.

Here are a few of the original terrible results . . . 

1st attempt was so bad and dreary - especially in grayscale. (What’s the blue container in front for???)

This one was so manic; Wonka looks as though he could kill, (or maybe he already hid the body?)

Again with the grayscale, feeling like a depression era image, with a heavier Gene Wilder

My first AI Image (Precursor to My Top 10 AI 2023 list)

It's been less than a year since I began exploring AI-generated imagery. My journey started when I joined MidJourney on February 16. For my initial attempt, I asked my wife for an actor and character combo; she suggested Ryan Gosling as Mr. Rochester from "Jane Eyre." The result was my first MidJourney creation.

My first generated image with MidJourney

A half-minute later, several images following the prompt description appeared. Everything I knew about creating and sourcing inspiration was about to change. In the following weeks, Midjourney would upgrade to version 5.0, drastically altering the level of image detail. I absorbed as much information about AI I could find, and started seeing ways to use it as a major tool for my work as a Product Designer. 

Eventually, I added Leonardo.ai and ChatGPT to my roster a month later, along with many other free AI services. and tools. Improvements, methods and tools were popping up every week. 

But enough history, let’s begin the 2023 list . . . head to the next post!

Santa Design 2023 (AKA Is Adobe Fresco good?)

Merry Christmas! . . . and a Happy New Year!

Santa character for 2023

Every year, I draw a Santa (or a few). This is my personal annual challenge: to draw Santa differently each year, never repeating the drawings from any previous year.

This year, I created a Santa for the first time using Fresco, Adobe's competitor to Procreate on the iPad. Like Procreate, Fresco boasts an ideal interface and excellent control over drawing lines with a stylus like Apple's Magic Pencil, or on a Wacom screen. Note: Unlike Procreate, which is currently only available on iPad, most Adobe products, including Fresco, are available on all platforms, including Windows.

I would almost say my line control feels even better with Fresco. Depending on the smoothness settings, Procreate can sometimes alter a line's path, especially near the end of a brush stroke when lifting off the tablet.

The best thing about Fresco, to me, is that you can paint and draw in Vector mode. This means you can freely resize your drawing to any size without losing detail or bitmap blocking; all lines stay smooth. It's well worth a look, especially for any t-shirt designers or poster printers out there. I may find myself weaning off Procreate due to this excellent program... (Check here next year to see which program I use for 2024's Santa!)

Dynamic and Explosive AI Character Developing

- - - - UPDATE - - - - (Posted on: Tuesday, October 25, 2023)

I meant to show the explosive level of creating a character with powers.
I truly lucked out on this image; so powerful and filled with emotion. I do feel like this image used some reference to Jean Grey of the X-men, the outfit and long red hair seem to echo that character throughout the image. For those interested, here is the prompt and settings use:

Using Leonardo.ai • Dimensions:744px x 1320px • Resonance:15 • Contrast Boost:0.5 • PhotoReal:On • Alchemy:On • Preset:Cinematic • Raw:On • Field of Depth:Low • Seed:963356160

Prompt: A Photograph capturing a woman's explosive fury in a comic book style. Show her intense anger radiating from her body as energy bolts crackle around her, her eyes ablaze with fiery rage. Use dynamic lines, bold colors, and exaggerated facial expressions to convey the intensity of her wrath.

- - - - UPDATE - - - - (Posted on: Tuesday, October 24, 2023)
Finally, after several attempts, I was able to generate the image I wanted. The image depicts a female character with deadly psionic daggers, glowing green eyes, and short red hair. She wields her daggers with precision and skill. Creating an image can be a time-consuming and challenging process, but with patience and perseverance, you can achieve your desired outcome.
Below are some tips that may help you in your creative journey:
• Set a clear goal: Before you start creating, it’s important to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve. This will help you stay focused and motivated throughout the process.
• Experiment with different techniques: Don’t be afraid to try new things! Experimenting with different techniques can help you discover new ways of creating and lead to unexpected results.
• Take breaks: Creating can be mentally exhausting, so it’s important to take breaks when you need them. This will help you stay refreshed and avoid burnout.
• Stay positive: Creating can be frustrating at times, but it’s important to stay positive and keep pushing forward. Remember that every mistake is an opportunity to learn and grow.

- - - - Original Post - - - - (Posted on: Monday, October 23, 2023)
My favorite genre of video games is strategy, which includes card games, puzzles, and role-playing games. Recently, I have been playing some role-playing games that let me customize my character with my own image or artwork. I always choose the rogue or ranger class in RPGs, but this time I decided to try something different: a Soul Blade rogue. This is a character who creates psionic blades with their mind, similar to Psylocke from the X-Men comics. To make a realistic profile image for my character, I used an AI tool that can generate graphic art. My character is a female half-elf with short red hair in a pixie cut and glowing green eyes. Her eyes match the color of her psionic blades. She wears leather armor and has sigils and fae symbols tattooed on her arms.

This image was detailed, but it did not match my specifications. AI often overlooked some aspects of the prompt, and some times it requires more resources to generate a closer approximation. In other words, "Ya gotta spend more to get more". Negatives: The character’s hair was too long, there was no indication of half-elf ancestry, and nothing glowed in the image.

This one looked better, had more of the details I was asking for, but still felt static. Pretty much a posed portrait style - I wanted more dynamic action in the image. Hair was shorte and redder. Blade glows, eyes not so much. No tats due to long sleeve. Back to the AI drawing board.

This image is lively and fun, but a bit too cartoonish; and like so many female characters generated using AI, big breasted. Her eyes are attractive, but they are green instead of the color I wanted. The sword is also red and fiery, not purple and glowing. This is a common problem with AI; it overuses the colors that are specified in the prompt. If I ask for green eyes, it also added green clothing and a green shaded background. I mentioned red hair, it made the sword a fiery red (not to mention the left hand's glove too.) It might be very hard to get the exact colors I want from the AI – but I won’t give up.

I wanted a more rogue-like outfit, so I asked for a hooded cape and got this. I’m happy with this look, even though it’s not exactly what I had in mind. It suits my character well. This image has taken me off the main goal, but I am liking this different look for a rogue character, (not a Soulblade, but still a Rogue.) I'm going to request several more images, get better views of the character’s face for the game's dialogues.

This second image zooms in closer, but the character in not identical to the previous image. No mark on the face, different hood, and of course different weapon. These are details AI cannot duplicate... yet. These are differences, but they are very minor. This image looks great to me. But the key difference is the change of camera's angle; by adding the phrase "from above" this gives the image a more dramatic visual than the typical eye level approach.

The last image is a zoomed-in close-up on her face. Love the lighting and eye focus. I'm saving these three Rogue images, transferring them to the game's default portraits folder in the game so these will be available if I want to play a standard Rogue character. I'll be sure to go back to generating the Soulblade character I envisioned, and will update if I succeed.
Hazzah!