If you ignore the clickbait title and skip the first two and a half minutes of seizure inducing “teaser” montage, this video ends up being the best discussion I’ve seen in a long time about the history of information technology and it’s effect on Democracy. Highly recommended.
I’m posting this AI art I created today, because I’m thinking about the children in Springfield Ohio who are afraid to go to school because of bomb threats. We need less lying made-up culture-war nonsense, and more discussion about the future.
#Art I made with #Midjourney #AI
The Hitler wannabe guy at 5:15 in this Rachael Maddow clip posted an attack video in 2020 disparaging the Hasidic Jewish community in northern NJ. He called them “a plague of locusts.” I live in NY right on the NJ boarder. Many from this Jewish community live in my town. They are literally my next door neighbors and have been for years. This kind of crap has to stop. Candidates for President should be condemning these bigots, not hosting them at their golf club. All it would take is a mention of my town in a national debate and what’s happening in Springfield Ohio will happen right here. …Or maybe in your town. Bomb threats in schools, people afraid to go grocery shopping or to a restaurant… or worse. None of this is acceptable and it’s not who we are as Americans.
#Art I made with #Midjourney #AI
After my first experience making a puzzle I decided to update the artwork before printing another test puzzle. I always thought the sky was a little plain in this piece especially since the sky reflected in the chrome sphere has a planet and clouds. The plain blue at the top was also more difficult to piece together as a puzzle. To give it some detail I decided to put a grid across the entire sky. I think thematically this new grid shows that the image reflected in the sphere is actually a future dream. The actual metaverse environment isn’t built yet.
I actually went all the way back into DAZ Studio to place the grid in 3D space and re-render the entire scene from the beginning. I also took the chance to re-adjust the camera slightly to give more room around the edge of the frame for print bleed. Final color correction is also slightly different. If you’re re-doing it anyway, why not fix the things that bug you?
I also took the opportunity to fix another problem that I previously didn’t know how to fix and which has driven me insane since I first rendered the image. In the original you’ll notice that the left armpit of her “space samurai” outfit is screwed up.
That’s because the clothing mesh is getting confused between the arm and the torso which are colliding. I was able to grab the clothing mesh with a DAZ Studio plugin and pull it back toward the torso. I actually had to stretch it quite a ways into the center of the character like a rubber band to get this small area to look better.
These changes were relatively small but I think they make a big difference. Can’t wait to see this new version printed out.
Created in DAZ Studio 4.22
Rendered with Iray
Color Correction in Capture One
Looking back at some of my earliest AI renders and scrounging thru the thousands of rejected varriations, I’ve been finding several interesting pieces. This was a test image created when Midjourney was developing a “remaster” feature two years ago. It’s a variation on the second image I ever created, re-rendered using a later Midjourney model… maybe version 3 or 4, I’m not sure. Of course that newer version is now old and instead of seeing the improvement in the technology I’m looking at this render with new eyes and seeing it for what it is. I love the texture and contrast of the whole thing so I fixed up the composition and re-did the color correction.
Personally I’m getting less excited by the newest versions of Midjourney. The development seems to be barreling toward pure photographic realism, losing all the interesting artistic textures. I’m going to have to try to find ways to add additional prompts to get some of the abstract goodness back in current version 6.1.
#Art I made with #Midjourney #AI
I didn’t tell the machine to subdivide the frame and create four images that suggest spring, summer, fall, and winter. It just did it. That’s the nature of the machine. It’s like roulette. Ya get what ya get.
I did ask for it to be drippy…
#Art I made with #Midjourney #AI
#Art I made with #Midjourney v6 #AI
I had a different art piece to post today because tonight is the Presidential debate, but I think I’ll leave that one for another day. This image I created is more calm and centered and that’s what I think we’ll need after tonight.
#Art I made with #Midjourney v6 #AI
This guy has a lot of issues. He also has a tie.
#Art I made with #Midjourney #AI