AI nail art and the five skills you need to master when using DALL-E 2
Prompt: A Renaissance painting of an Asian woman doing a Powerpoint presentation, by Caravaggio
Disclaimer: I am not an expert on any of the topics I shall discuss below, I am just curious and I like to experiment + learn. I’m using this platform to log my thoughts, ideas and whatever else comes to mind. Please take what I write with a pinch of salt, and always do your own research. I am not a very good writer either, so be prepared to be reading a lot of fluff.
Anything I write that might be wrong, please do correct me but be polite about it, thank you!
Date: Sunday 03/07/22
Go back to the blog: Maria tries to understand
The five skills you need to develop when using DALL-E 2 are the following:
-
A good grasp of grammar and syntax
-
A varied, rich vocabulary
-
A strong knowledge of artistic and cultural references / art history
-
Curating skills, not in the sense of image-retouching, but being able to pick and choose from the litter and knowing how to use the AI editing tool on DALL-E
- Finally, a good idea. A strong, creative, unique, imaginative visual thought you want to translate into AI.
A good grasp of grammar and syntax
I wanted to generate nail art the other day. I wanted to have nail art with skyscrapers coming out of the nails and gems everywhere.
My poor sense of grammar and syntax was picked up by DALL-E, who had no idea what I was asking for. So instead of giving me nails with skyscrapers coming out of it, it gave me nails with skyscrapers behind it as a back drop.
It also gave me nails in the SHAPE of skyscrapers lol!
Prompts:
- Photograph of long acrylic nails art with skyscrapers on the nails- Photograph of tiny skyscrapers and gems on acrylic nails
- Photograph of long acrylic nails art with skyscrapers on the nails- Photograph of tiny skyscrapers and gems on acrylic nails
A varied, rich vocabulary
For two reasons:
-
In case the current word you are using is not generating what you want and you need a synonym
- In case you’re trying to generate a very specific object or item that has unique attributes, having a varied vocabulary to refer to ‘skyscrapers’ in different ways can be quite useful for variety of outcomes!
Prompts:
- Medieval tapestry of acrylic nails with tiny skyscrapers and gems
- Medieval tapestry of acrylic nails with tiny skyscrapers and gems
A strong knowledge of artistic and cultural references / art history
It really helps to know the difference between Renaissance and Flemish as they are completely different styles, and since you’re limited in the amount of prompts you can actually generate, planning ahead by knowing the exact style that you want helps.
Since a lot of my own work involves representing modern acts through old historical painting styles, I used my personal knowledge of cultural references in modern history (apology videos on YouTube, TikTok dances) and refered to Art History encyclopedia to find the exact aesthetic that I wanted to translate the work into.
Prompt: A painting of acrylic marble nail art, by Jan Van Eyck
Curating skills, not in the sense of image-retouching, but being able to pick and choose from the litter and knowing how to use the AI editing tool on DALL-E
Each prompt generates up to six images. Not all of them will be interesting to you, or represents your prompt well. Although the outcomes often look ‘cool’, as an artist and a designer, you should avoid cluttering your portfolio with every single ‘cool’ looking pic, and I invite you to use your editing skills to pick and choose from what looks best, or what you think is most interesting. Don’t forget to use DALL-E’s AI editing brush which allows you to build on an image, or even correct parts of it.
Soon, the idea that an AI image is cool because it represents something in a realistic manner will fade away as people get used to seeing the work. So work on your curating skills, only pick the ones you believe the world should see, the ones you genuinely believe hold some kind of substance, or interest.
DALL-E’s AI editing brush tool
Finally, a good idea. A strong, creative, unique, imaginative visual thought you want to translate into AI.
Due to this, DALL-E has pushed artists to focus on one of the core purposes of being a creative, the ability to create original or beautiful thoughts, ideas, visuals. You literally have a tool that can create absolutely anything you want, in any style or perspective you can think of. It’s time for you to tap into the essence of your imagination and your inner sense of beauty.
Prompt: a stressed-out office worker in front of a laptop, ukiyo-e style, granted this isn’t the most original but I like it!