Chapter 1: My Journey with AI Art

After much contemplation, I finally took the plunge into illustrating a fantasy novel, and here are my outcomes thus far! The images below are the fruits of artificial intelligence working on my behalf.

The Stone Dragon: An AI Vision

I have never considered myself artistically inclined, which has always been a source of frustration. The ability to vividly imagine objects, landscapes, and fantastical creatures, yet being unable to capture them visually, felt like a form of torture. While I can articulate these visions through words and evoke imagery in others' minds, illustrating them provides a direct way to share my unique perspective.

While perusing articles on Medium, I encountered numerous discussions about the capabilities of AI platforms, particularly text-to-image generators. These tools allow users to input descriptions as prompts, aiming to recreate those visions. I owe my initial motivation to Celtic Chameleon, who highlighted a specific AI called "DALL-E" in one of her articles.

Write, Illustrate & Publish a Children's Book in ONE DAY using AI - A deep dive into using AI for creative writing and illustration.

Chapter 2: Initial Attempts and Learning

With eagerness, I decided to test DALL-E's capabilities. However, the first results left much to be desired. In my fantasy narrative, a colossal stone dragon plays a pivotal role in the lore, so I attempted to visualize it. Here's my initial attempt—feel free to chuckle!

While this image does resemble a stone dragon, it wasn’t quite what I envisioned. The AI required more detailed prompts to generate a more accurate representation. It’s essential to provide adequate context, as it cannot read your mind!

After refining my prompts, the results improved significantly:

This version was far closer to my imagination, yet it still didn't fully capture the essence I was aiming for. So, I explored what other creators were achieving with their prompts. I was astonished by the array of options available, including styles, lighting conditions, and mood settings.

Subsection 2.1: Enhanced Results

After incorporating various elements into my prompts, I let the AI work its magic again.

The moment I saw this image, I was taken aback. "Now this captures my vision!" I thought. It bore a striking resemblance to the deranged and corrupted look I was after. With a bit more tweaking, I managed to generate an image that reflected the calm demeanor I also envisioned.

Seeing my conceptualization materialize into a visual representation was exhilarating. I generated a multitude of images during a free trial month, gaining valuable insights into the process. I wholeheartedly recommend giving it a shot, especially as we often seek fitting visuals for our Medium articles.

Even though AI isn’t perfect at creating dragons, the results were impressive! DALL-E offers many features, from photo editing to generating variations of existing images, leaving plenty to explore.

As for me, I'm eagerly awaiting the next month and my additional credits—assuming I don’t cave and purchase more in the meantime!

Conclusions

Although this technology still has room for improvement, the results are already quite remarkable. You may encounter more misses than hits, but when it gets it right, it does so spectacularly! Dedicate some time to mastering the basics, and you will be pleasantly surprised by what you can create.

I Wrote an Entire Book with AI. This is What Happened. - Discover the journey and outcomes of writing a book using AI tools.