How I use Deep Style AI as a creative tool
I’m a painter. When it comes right down to it, I love the smell of oil paints, turpentine, beeswax. I love the feel as my old worn brushes moves them across the linen canvas. The pigment is luminescent. It feels like a little piece of magic, witnessing the new work created in my studio. Sometimes I feel in control of it all. Sometimes the paint tells it’s own story, and I let it.
So, why would I use artificial intelligence as an artist?
The video below shares the process for a recent commission painting. This might give you some insights on how the creative process evolves for me.
As an artist I am fascinated by new perspectives, and I believe artificial intelligence delivers an immensely unique view on our world. So, of course I’m going to discover ways to incorporate it into my practice. However, I don’t want to hand over the reins entirely. For me, it is about using the best of the technology to help me generate new ideas. Right now, I use it as a creative tool, and not to create the final pieces - even though the process pieces are wonderful in themselves, as shown below.
Here are a selection of the process and source images I used to create a recent commission.
As context, I’m currently doing a PhD investigating how people collaborate with artificial intelligence. So I’ve been researching and trialing versions of AI technology as they arrive for about 3 years now. I use several commercially available technologies to process ideas, and sometimes combine the outputs. They include DALLE2, Deep Dream, Night Cafe, Midjourney and Canva. For creatives, all of them are worth investigating, and new techs are coming out all the time as the field is blossoming.
Deep Dream takes podium position for my favorite tool. There are two ways to use it: ‘Deep Dream’ and ‘Deep Style’. Deep Dream uses a pre-trained convolutional neural network (CNN) to find and enhance patterns in images. The technique works by taking an input image and feeding it through the neural network in a reverse manner, allowing the network to "dream up" or enhance patterns and features that are present in the image. The result is a modified image that highlights these features in a more pronounced manner. Deep Style, on the other hand, is a technique that uses a neural network to transfer the style of one image to another. This technique works by training a neural network to recognize the style of one image (e.g., the color scheme, texture, and patterns), and then applying that style to a different image. The result is a new image that has the same style as the original image, but with different content. It means the visuals are a constantly moving feast, and I get to move the work in a direction that is useful for me.
I use Deep Style the most. For the pieces I create, Deep Style uses a pre-trained CNN to extract features from both a style image and a content image. Essentially, features from the first piece are mapped and then combined in a way that preserves the content of the original image while incorporating the style of the other image. The resulting image is a blend of the two images, with the content of the original image and the style of the ‘style image’.
I start with a visual database of my own images, which include detailed shots of my own artwork, plus I take shots intended to form part of the process. For this commission piece, I’ve included local maps, marble textures (from the kitchen benchtop!) and structural plants in the garden. I also included the timber and architectural features of the property.
The first Deep Style generative images become the base of the painting. Then, I keep creating new levels with Deep Style. Some work well, others don’t. It’s all part of the process. AI doesn’t understand what I know about beauty and balance. Sometimes it gets it absolutely wrong. And that’s interesting too.
A painting will normally take around 8 weeks using this collaborative process.
So why do I use artificial intelligence? Because I find it sees the world in wonderful new ways. I love how my own creativity is evolving as I use it.
The final feedback is always from my clients when they receive a new commissioned piece. This one was delivered this morning. The clients absolutely love it. So do I.
‘We saw, along the quay…’ Sarah Daly (2023) Oil on canvas
Interested in art that tells your story?
Let’s have a conversation.