Version 5 of the Midjourney image generator was released last week. The new algorithm can produce stunningly realistic scenes, but not always is the output going to be fit for purpose, where, in our case, fit for purpose means, illustrating our work.

While writing 'AI for Writers', I've also been working through my 'Flashed' anthology of very short stories. I'd like to share the experience of developing the image for part 24 'Black Metal', a 1300 word horror piece, that is probably more like a let's see if we can make a story out of this idea, type of write. 

It involves the protagonist revisiting their grandmother's cottage where, in their childhood, experienced paranormal visions. To cut a short-story even shorter, it includes a vintage photo of a blacksmith and a small girl...This was the image that I wanted to illustrate (it was either that or a dead old lady with blood streaming down from dead eyes open...(it is horror after all))

The original prompt:

"/imagine A distressed old sepia photo of a blacksmith. hammer resting up over his shoulder. He was thick bearded and stern, having the look of a wolf about him; with the [sweet face of a little girl holding his hand]. --ar 3:2"

Here the idea was to go with some tweaked words direct from the story. Remember that '--ar' is the command that gives your and aspect ratio (width over height) so that 3:2 is three parts wide and two parts in height.

Here is the result (the best of a few) ...

The graphic is almost exactly what we asked for, a sepia photo of a blacksmith and a little girl. Notice the a photo-realism that v5 is generating for us. In fact, this graphic is too good. 

The lesson here is that, the AI is not so aware to our needs that it recognises that we want an old photo. So for it to produce that we must be more specific. Here is a revised prompt:

"/imagine Memento mori tin photograph of a large angry blacksmith standing and holding hands with a small girl --ar 2:3"

Let's break it down:

Memento mori - in Victorian times, Post-mortem photographs were sometimes accompanied by the phrase "memento mori" as a reminder of the impermanence of life and the inevitability of death. MJ seems to be very good at the more morbid side of representing our imaginations...take the follow image generated from reference to Henry Fuseli's 'The Nightmare' painting...

It is almost like the lost souls of deceased artists have found a way to influence the machine's output (oO story idea!).

Tin photograph - this was the trick, by referencing tintype photography you are giving the machine's algorithms reference to a certain look and feel that was widely used in the 19th century. It will use this reference to build images based on tin photos in its database. 

The original attempt at an image used the word 'sepia' which only refers to a duotone output, not a style.

...a large angry blacksmith standing and holding hands with a small girl - here an interesting point to mention is angry. The blacksmith may (or may not) be angry in the story, but any hint of emotion that we can convey to MJ will be useful in getting more 'attitude' out of the image that is, in this case, designed for a horror story.

The point for this part is that specificness or intention in your MJ prompts will have a big effect on the final output. Don't be afraid to leave a prompt sit for a while and start fresh with new ideas as they present themselves.

Here is another cover for my 'Find Proteus' Wattpad story. The graphic was generated by MJ v5. Here is the prompt:

"/imagine Cybergoth with mean attitude and black hair holding an antique green book to her chest in the impressionist oil painting style of Richard Schmid paints the figure --ar 2:3"

It might be useful to talk about this here because it is another example of how being very specific can help you achieve your illustration objectives. Richard Schmid was an American contemporary impressionist working from the 1960s to the 2020s. He had a gift for loose impressionistic portraits (and landscape). His book, 'Richard Schmid Paints the Figure' is one of the most sought after tutorials for life drawing and portrait painting. By referencing this artist in my prompt, MJ is able to link my intention for an illustration with a very specific style.

The effectiveness of appropriating style with MJ, I believe is potentially very problematic, and a good topic for a future part.

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