AI Art Adventures: Fiddler on the Ref

After a year or so mucking around on Midjourney I’ve only recently begun using the –sref and –cref functions. What are these, do you ask? Well, they are offshoots of the basic reference pic users can paste into their /imagine prompts. Midjourney calls them Imagine URLS. As the user’s manual says, “Imagine URLS can be added to a prompt to influence the style and content of the finished result. ” You simply find a pic online that you like, copy the URL, and paste it into the prompt before the main text.

This prompt was used to generate the pic of the white-hatted fiddler at the start of this post. If you have a stash of pics online, say through your own site or an image cache such as Pinterest, so much the better.

After this, Midjourney does its magic by compressing and saving the image from the URL. Not sure how long it’s stored in there — for a few days at least. I’ve revisited the same prompt a week or so later and it still worked. The Imagine URL puts limits on the generated image by copying its style or subject matter to it in a random way. Random — that’s a word to remember.

The –sref and –cref commands let the user further tune these linked reference pics, and make them less of a crap shoot for the result, by copying the pic’s style (–sref) or character (–cref). Broadly, –sref is best for inanimate images, –cref for ones with a live subject. But, they can also be used out of this context.

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Worldbuilding Wednesday 10/2/24: Paintings by Velázquez

The Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain (1651) by Diego Velázquez

Diego Velázquez is regarded as one of the most prominent painters of the 17th century and a forerunner of realism. So said my art history professors. Los Meninas was considered by them to be the height of his innovation, as it depicts him, the artist, sitting and painting a portrait of the Spanish court life that goes on all around him, with the focus being on the young princess Margareta Theresa. He never did another painting like it again. I can guess he got bored with the same old, same old, of Royal portraits and wanted to try something new, and the reception was not enthusiastic.

Even if you haven’t studied art history you may be familiar with Velázquez’s work from his painting The Triumph of Bacchus and his series of portraits of the spectacularly unattractive Phillip IV of Spain and Mariana of Austria, his wife, both of them encumbered by the mighty Hapsburg jaw. These paintings look odd and stilted to me compared to the personalities that came across in his other portraits. It looked like he was trying to make the best of the face he was given, but there was only so much he could do to make it attractive while still being recognizable.

He also did some tender portraits of children and paintings of the Spanish middle class and had a soft spot for jesters and dwarves, not considered appropriate subjects at the time. His religious pictures are so-so, IMO — too much pink and blue — but he also worked pagan Roman themes. One thing he did not do was still lifes. But I’m going to assume he did and they were just lost over the centuries. Shit happens; there are fires and uprisings, canvases are trimmed down, works are stolen or destroyed. Therefore, here’s a list of some Velázquez paintings that yet to be rediscovered.

 

The Lost Artwork of Diego Velázquez

A Coin Minter of Seville

Two Dwarves Posing in Armor Before a Fountain

The Widowed Scholar

The Boisterous Cavalier

Still Life with Coins and Keys

Merchant Alarmed by a Mouse

Christ and the Juniper Tree

The Young Chatelaine and Her Lute

The Island of Forgiveness

Virgin Crowned with Laurel Leaves

 A Fool and His Whipped Hand

Head Study of the German Envoy

Sketch of a Cottage in a Rainstorm

Bacchus and His Maenads

The Serpent’s Gluttony

Self-Portrait with a Lance

The Young Farmer and His Wife

The Infanta and the Jester Sanchez

Mercury and Mars Observe a Comet

Saint Aloysius in the Wilderness

Essence of a Golden September Afternoon

AI Art

I like the way this turned out, even if the bottle isn’t symmetrical and the white bird a little odd in its feather placement. It was inspired by another series of AI artwork I’m working on.

Worldbuilding Wednesday 9/25/24: Elvis!

 

What if Elvis had been born in Tibet instead of Tupelo, Mississippi?

When Elvis died in 1977, no one could dream that he’d become an American icon on the level of Mickey Mouse or Marilyn Monroe. See even a crudely drawn figure with a pompadour, a guitar, and a lopsided posture, it’s impossible NOT to think “Elvis.” Or one of his many impersonators, also an American icon, as Mae West impersonators once were.

But what if Elvis had some other name in some other dimension? Or you want to create your own version?

(The term “Elvii” was conjured up by authors Jan and Michael Stern to cover Elvis’s many imitators.)

 

Alternate Elvii

Alwis Podshay

Ossil Warey

Altros Zhezbay

Elmo Crispy

Oswip Kelly

Orlost Norway

Alvin Sonka

Urton Streulton

Uthan Gaudry

 Elias Palley

Elvin Pasteur

Egbert Prussain

Elvin Saretzky

Edsel Mitsva

Olvin Zlotzky

Magnus Cleris

Edel Prostjoy

Ulthis Westfay

The Sentinals

AI art

Silent they stood, surveying the quiet countryside. It was a matter of time before they would be discovered, yet it mattered not to them; the world would have changed so drastically by that point that none of the sentients would have been much interested.

Worldbuilding Wednesday 9/18/24: The Best of Twittersnips (Maritime Magic)

The Helpful Hippocampus spell is a lifesaver for those who can’t swim.

Are you or your adventurers embarking on an ocean voyage? Here’s some magic to help you out.

 

Maritime Magic

Magic Items
 Clover of the Sea: A rare ocean plant that looks like an oversized, dark green, 4-leafed clover. It grows in sandy, shallow inlets and is used as a component in luck spells.

Figurehead of the Eel: A large wooden statue of a coiled moray eel that is painted in shades of purple and green and gilded with gold. When fastened to the prow of a ship, it melds itself to it and doubles both the ship’s speed and the degree to which it can make evasive maneuvers.

Flute of the Zephyr: When played on a boat, a light breeze rises to fill the sails in the direction the flute player wants to travel. Has no effect on rowed boats.

Ring of the Ray: The wearer can: 1) summon and command any kind of ray – manta rays, stingrays, etc. 2) shapechange into a ray of their own body size and weight; 3) breathe underwater while wearing it;  and 4) deliver an electric shock like a torpedo ray. The ring looks like it’s made of tarnished silver set with pale blue pearls.

Shoes of the Tide: These ordinary-looking shoes tell the wearer if the tide is moving in or out by pointing the owner toward, or away, from the sea.

Summon Merfeline: Usable only in seas or oceans. Will call a sealion, seatiger, or the similar to the caster’s area.

Wand of The Becalmer: Has two uses. 1) Calms the waves on a stretch of water for a few hours and 2) stops arguments between characters.
Spells
 Eradicate Barnacles: Makes pesky barnacles disappear from a 10’ x 10’ section of ship, seawall, pier, or sea animal. At higher levels, the area of removal increases.

Helpful Hippocampus: Summons a hippocampus to give aid to the caster. The caster can command the creature telepathically to do tasks but can’t order it to risk its life. Doing so will cause the spell to be broken.

Hull Survival: Holds the damaged hill of a ship together long enough for it to reach port.

Reptile Ballast: Changes the ballast within a ship’s hull into a horde of slithering snakes, lizards, turtles, and, depending on the caster’s level, crocodilians. A very nefarious spell that affects the whole ship.

Subaquatic Trail:  Creates a trail on the bottom of a body of water chosen adventurers can sense and follow from the surface.

Wave of Steam: A spell favored by mages who specialize in elemental water magic. It changes an oncoming ocean wave into steam before it crashes on the shore; any beings caught in the wave are cooked alive.

Passing Obsessions 9-24

Poor little rich girl

The tragic life of 1960s It Girl and trendsetter Alice Ormsby-Gore, and the dickiness of Eric Clapton.

John Scalzi on the perils of idol worship.

Early puberty in girls linked to a chemical commonly used to scent bath products and perfumes.

The downside of Booktok.

Do you want to watch a certain show but don’t know who or what streams it? Try JustWatch.

 

Farewell to the 2024 Summer of Narnia

It ended sooner than I wanted. However there is lots of leftover material for next year’s three-month extravaganza!

I’ll close with this delicious AI-generated version of The White Witch’s bento box. Made of polished and ornamented silver, it contains plenty of raw fish (tuna and salmon filets), hardboiled eggs, roe, oysters, pickled garlic, and nuts and fried dates, all kept cool with fresh snow. Turkish delight is seen to the side.

Narnia French Editions, 1952 – 1953

French first editions of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1952) and Prince Caspian (1953)

Many first edition Narnia books published in other countries had unique, enchanting artwork that was never repeated for further printings. These covers for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (shortened to The Lion and the White Witch) and Prince Caspian have a light, airy, featherweight feel that seems more appropriate for a book of nursery rhymes than a pre-teen fantasy.

As with these LWW illustrations by Maxim Mitrofanov, there are deviations from what’s in the actual text. On the left, Aslan wears a superhero-like cape complete with a button fastener on which the letter A is seen and, rather awkwardly, he holds the pommel of a sword in his paws. The White Witch is seen sneaking around in the back on top of a small rise as a crow flies up and away into the sky. There was some indication in the text that birds were the White Witch’s spies, so likely the artist read the book; but why that cape on Aslan?

On the other cover, one of the Bulgey Bears dances with a fox in a sort of bacchanal as Caspian, Trumpkin, and Trufflehunter approach. This may be the Wild Romp for all I know, but the latter three weren’t present. There were no foxes mentioned in the book either.

Yet I can’t help but like them. Here’s a full view of the gorgeous LWW artwork.

 

Worldbuilding Wednesday 8/28/24: Narnian Apples (Narnia LVI)

Ruby of Tash apple, one of Narnia’s most profitable exports.

Since there was an apple orchard at Cair Paravel (as detailed in Prince Caspian) there must have been Narnian varieties of apples, right?

 

Narnian Apple Varieties

Ruby of Tash
 Named for the Calorman deity (not that the Narnians really believe in him) this apple is large, bright red, sweet, and juicy, and the flesh inside is tinted red as well, with a white stripe. It ripens at the end of August and is good for both eating out of hand and baking.
Jona Brick
 Another large apple, with a winelike flavor and pale, meaty flesh. Tends to form a slightly squashed shape like a pumpkin. The skin is brownish red, often with a yellow cast. Narnians use it mainly for cider though when ripe it makes a good snacking apple.
Lady Nutmeg
 Mid-sized apple with a yellow skin and spicy flavor. Drought-resistant. The trees are compact and respond well to pruning. Most farmhouses will have one or two of these trees.
Dawncrunch A smallish pink apple that often displays yellow bands. Ripens at mid-Autumn and overwinters well in a cool cellar.
Posy Small apples with a distinct five-sided shape, varying between green and yellow. The taste is slightly sour but children like it.
Sweet Sorceress
 A pale green apple, almost chartreuse, with smooth, waxy skin and delicious aroma. Not only good to eat, it’s also dried and made into potpourries and apple chips.
Moss-of-Memory Equivalent to a Granny Smith apple, but darker and sweeter. Mostly used for baking.