AI Art Adventures: The Bookstore

I dream about a certain bookstore/library sometimes.

It’s not one I’ve seen in real life, but a combination of all the ones I’ve ever known. It always has the kind of books I am interested in: fantasy and science fiction, art and design, sociology and science and history and all the weird ways these intersect.  Every book is fascinating, weighty, and colorful. I am always browsing and always delighted, making note of them for future checkout or purchase.

The books are arranged in a logical way on multiple levels and several floors, with narrow stairways running up and down. It’s dim and narrow in this place, but a comforting dim, not a threatening one. It’s equal parts childhood public library, The Strand bookstore in NYC, and cramped academic archive. It’s never crowded.

Unlike real life, I can read the spines without my reading glasses and browse inside the covers. That’s the best thing.

Also unlike real life, I have all the time in the world.

These Midjourney pictures are the closest I can some to recreating it.

Worldbuilding Wednesday 11/14/23: Venus and Mars

The phrase “Venus and Mars” is a potent one. Not only does it bring to mind Venus, the goddess of beauty and love, and Mars, the god of war and brutality, in all their opposition, but also nights of stargazing, self-help books on relations between the sexes, astrology columns, and (as above) anthemical rock albums. This one, released in 1975 by Paul McCartney and Wings, came with a set of stickers as well.

In some other universe, what substitutes for Venus and Mars might there be?

 

Venus and Mars

Venthem

Vestivalus

Vathus

Varthus

Venher

Venhilm

Vnardus

Vendhyu

 Mantrouble

Mabs

Metherny

Mirar

Mirdream

Marmisay

Martigrus

Marjuns

AI Art Adventures: Poltergeists

Users of Midjourney know every day brings a new theme word to play around with decided by the site’s creators. (I suspect it’s a way for the owners to iron out problems with the AI’s interpretation of that word.)  One recent word, for example, was generuk, which is a species of long-necked antelope renowned for standing on its hind legs to get at tree leaves. I doubt most users knew what a generuk was, but the AI did  and did a passable job with their prompts.

A few days before Halloween the word of the day of the day was poltergeist, which is German for “noisy ghost.” This word posed a problem as poltergeists are invisible.

So I decided to explore the theme by using the prompt “B&W vintage photo, poltergeist activity in a suburban home kitchen, 1950s, telephone flying, child screaming, housewife watching in fascination.” I should have published this before Halloween but, well, life.

1950s suburban poltergeist activity b&w vintage photo mom and child

From the first set. No poltergeist and no flying telephone (none of these pics had telephones) but a woman aghast with horror who has jumped up on the kitchen counter for safety, and a female child who is reacting in alarm to her but can’t see the horrible thing the woman can, which is off-camera.

The set was not bad in general but there’s a number of goofy things which point to the non-reality of it: The child’s shoes, the woman’s hands (as usual), that object on the counter that looks like a stereo receiver with stuff piled on top of it. Perhaps there were some 1950s homes which boasted stereo receivers in their kitchens, but not likely.

The kicker though is what’s in the cabinets in the back!

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Worldbuilding Wednesday 11/01/23: Ultraman Kaiju I

Ultraman Leo does some kaiju wrasslin’

The many, many incarnations of Ultraman over the decades gave fans a decorative Rogue’s Gallery of foes, most of whom were out to destroy Earth or conquer it. The show’s writers were careful to give them all distinctive names, which, oddly, the attack teams somehow always knew despite never seeing that monster before. Most sounded Japanese, such as Gomora, Dorako or Saigo. Others got names in English like Dinosaur Tank, Sea Killersaurus, or King Joe, which must have sounded exotically threatening to the Japanese audience but made the American one snigger. In spite of this, most ill-named kaiju overcame the handicap to give the Ultra hero a run for his money in the martial arts showdown.

The names below were inspired by the kaiju of the Ultraman Leo series.

 

Ultraman Monsters Names I

Tshraz

Gillub

Black Gass

Zadons

Mvuvuk

Tejbul

Yevbou

Ayuran

 Vuzilla

Beniman

Malanash

Utles

Aquatux

Semgaga

Ashclean

Suvanee

AI Art Adventures: Blending a crown

If you’ve read my posts on AI versions of Narnia’s White Witch, Green Witch, and Queen Jadis of Charn, you’ll know I have a fascination with exotic costumes. I blame this on watching the Sonny and Cher Show  in the early 1970s. (Some of my grade school designs for Cher would have put present day drag queens to shame. ) Happily, hours hunched over a sketchbook, pencil in hand, is no longer necessary to come up with some daring designs. Just a good eye and good command of the English language.

Several months back I was teaching myself the Midjourney Blend command, trying to come up with a novel crown for a fantasy character.

These were the pics I chose as bases. Very disparate. You can blend up to seven pics in MJ, loading each one as you would a pic on a blog.

These were ones generated. The woman seems to be the same, with variations in her metallic costume, and the crowns are all variations too in beaten silver metal and golden spikes. Not bad at all for one go-round.

If I was a costume designer I’d ditch drawing thumbnails for good.

Worldbuilding Wednesday 10/25/23: Vampires Around the World

The handsome Peruvian vampire

 

Vampires are a horror staple and one that has, in the Western world, a stereotyped appearance: pale and with elongated canine teeth. They are generally evil, allergic to daylight, and have  magnetic eyes and hypnotizing powers. The mockumentary movie What We Do in the Darkness takes this trope to a whole new level with several vampires living together in a house, Real World style. One is a poetic, Byronic vampire (played by the movie’s director, Taika Waititi), another a Romanian Vlad the Impaler type, one a horrific Nosferatu, one a modern Emo youth. Other modern takes on vampires emphasize that they can look like just about anyone, as in the series True Blood, but even so, there’s always something special about them.

Other cultures have different takes on the idea of an undead that preys on the living. Phillippino vampires are called Pennangallan. They are always female and suck the blood of mothers and children. The horror comes in that they can detach their heads from their bodies and fly this cranial drone around, while trailing their internal viscera behind them. That right there is why Pennangallan never caught on in the Western world. Plus, it’s a very hard special effect to do properly, as opposed to a vampire’s fangs and threatening stance.

To have some Halloween fun I AI-generated a series of pictures of vampires from a variety of different countries, and used these to help novices identify these creatures should they go traveling.

 

Vampires Around the World

Tanzanian Vampire: These are secretive and stay away from large cities, preferring villages and small towns. They have glowing teeth, dark blue skin, and bat wings attached to the back of their skull. They are pretty hard to miss. When biting they attack with pointed canine teeth in their lower jaw, not the upper.

Siberian Vampire: Has horse’s hooves instead of feet. Their faces are distorted and they carry long, thin daggers to stab their prey, ambushing them with a flying leap. During the day, they sleep deep within the ice, not in coffins. Again they are pretty hard to miss.

Icelandic Vampire: Recognizable by their blank white eyes which they conceal with sunglasses when among humans, they are fond of long capes and mudboots which aid in chasing victims across the melting snow.

Canadian Vampire: They often partner with werewolves, were-bears, or were-bats. After eating they paint their faces with their victims’ blood. In towns or cities, they wear black suits with a fedora hat and have pale, flaking skin.

Libyan Vampire: Appear as young male children wearing suits with red bow ties. They appear innocent but can be recognized by their hollow eyes.

Sicilian Vampire: An elegant dresser, the Sicilian vampire wears black suits with bowler hats and caped overcoats. Their left hands bear two elongated fingers with sharp nails they stab their victims with; afterwards, they drink the blood from cordial glasses. When among humans they will always use their right hands and keep the left one hidden. Female Sicilian vampires are the archetypical femme fatale, wearing slinky red dresses. They will conceal their left hands by carrying a little clutch purse.

Greek Vampire: Always male and extremely masculine. If undressed, they can be recognized by the red ribbons they wear over their nipples.

Sri Lankan Vampire: Has a yellow-tinted complexion and too many teeth to fit comfortably in their mouth. Since they use their heads to batter down victim’s doors, they can be spotted by the red scars on their foreheads and unusually broad, flat noses.

Ottoman/Turkish Vampire: They transform into pterodactyls, not bats. Their eyebrows are dark and bushy and if they have a mustache, it is displaced onto their cheeks.

Australian Vampire: Can be recognized by their large number of blackheads.

Human Pomegranate

Artwork by Dolce Paganne

Some Biblical scholars believe the apple of the Garden of Eden was actually a pomegranate, apples being unknown in the Middle East many thousands of years ago. But I’m sure it wasn’t a fruit like this one, which is beautiful yet eerie.

 

AI Art Adventures: Using my name

Recently on the Midjourney Reddit users have been posting the pics generated by using a prompt of their Reddit usernames, so I tried the same. Granted I have a leg up because it’s so descriptive and concrete.

Using just Cobalt Jade, we get some kind of attractive mineral or gemstone formation. Neat!

Cobalt Jade + Super Villain. This one might be the basis of a new website banner or avatar for me. The owl I currently use is becoming old.

Cobalt Jade + Country Cottage. A rather overwhelming use of the deep blue and green in the previous pics.

Cobalt Jade + Mythical Animal. Very nice! Combines the mineral colors of #1 with the aesthetic of an Oriental jade carving. I could use this one instead of the comic character. What do you think?

Worldbuilding Wednesday 10/11/23: Efficacious Fs

F is for Flaming

The letter F is full of energy. It’s fiery, furious, florid, fuming fun. It’s also very earthy. Take flora and fauna, fungi, fornication, fucking. It’s the naughtiest of letters and the most disreputable. To name a character with an F is to make the reader look and think twice, like with this list. (To soften the f sound, make it more elegant and highbrow, you can substitute ph.)

 

Character names beginning with F

Male

Fadevrin

Falmet

Fanoro

Fathas

Fazoron

Febrand

Fedanan

Feruem

Fioddan

Firg

Flaven

Floyse

Fodan

Forbando

Fulthil

 Female

Fabira

Faiwynn

Falcarys

Farsha

Faswe

Fathaleen

Faya

Fayla

Fenilah

Fiadren

Finalia

Fiomae

Fledra

Frouvis

Fushani

 Surnames

Farwarden

Finmoon

Fitfellow

Flusinard

Follyshield

Fordrush

Forplanette

Fospring

Fovisphor

Foxbell

Fribrandt

Frigglegate

Fristarn

Fruleigh

Fusewick

Worldbuilding Wednesday 10/4/23: Welsh II

The first time I ever saw a lady dressed in traditional Welsh clothing was in a book about quilting. At the time I couldn’t make heads or tales about it, because it was so different from the Slavic ethnic costumes I was familiar with.

But it was a real thing, women really did dress that way, and the evidence is from the historical photo above. The stovepipe hat, which was worn by both genders, was made of black silk, but women wore a ruffled white cap underneath it. Over their shoulders they wore a shawl and a white kerchief, and under that,  a “bedgown” of printed muslin, or a blouse and skirt combo, with a petticoat and an apron which could be made of various harmonizing fabrics. Shoes were of black leather with big shiny buckles. Long fingerless gloves completed the getup.

The connection between this, and stereotypical American “Pilgrim” garb, is interesting. I see similarities to American Amish costumes too.

The woman exemplifies a Welsh physical type too — thin lips held in a line, dark eyebrows, heavy-lidded eyes. Photos of rock stars Ray Davies and Jon Anderson, taken when they were young, show this type as well. Both were of Welsh ancestry.

It’s amusing to me how fantasy fiction set in a Wales-like world never hints at this costume; everything’s generically Medieval.

And if you want some generically Welsh female names, here’s a list below. Not in real Welsh, but something that only sounds like it.

 

Welsh Names (Female)

Achiarea

Aellan

Agreidd

Amae

Anniaw

Annietrie

Archangei

Arianywn

Asyen

Bergfia

Breiwynn

Bryneiry

Brywaness

Bwrayd

Cariffei

Cigwirdd

Dyffa

Dyffaudery

Eilyth

Einessway

Emwy

 Faena

Farcha

Ferchtrei

Glaesweddyn

Iwedd

Lyshawri

Myfandan

Oware

Pwythra

Rhianwll

Rhodae

Rhodfai

Sabinwyra

Sigfaydda

Tairwy

Tegnian

Treen

Trisatws

Uwyll

Yffedwyn

Ywfn