Letting my Freak AI fly!
It was not that long ago that I started experimenting with ai to create pictures of things I couldn't find in my own archives or on the web. AI is interesting, but for a person like me it is mostly fun stuff. What I ended up making is clearly fake, but so is most of the world nowadays, so who cares. I had this picture of myself changed into a suave guy (well, kinda) in a suit to see how that looked, and it wasn't too bad. A friend of mine saw the picture, and that is how this particular ball started rolling. Like management in my school always do, I asked Gemini.ai to write a story about how the process felt for him/her/it/they/them, and this is what I ended up with. I edited here and there, but not too much. Enjoy!
Confessions of a Digital Artist: Letting Their Freak Flag Fly
I sit here all day in my digital studio, waiting for requests. Then this guy logs in. He uploads a photo of himself. Shabby guy, unkempt short hair, sloppily dressed. Wants his picture to show him as a completely different man: Sharp suit, perfect bow tie. He wants to look like a guy who always pays his mortgage on time and worries about his pension. I sighed. I thought to myself, "Okay, here we go, another boring business profile picture for LinkedIn." But no, he wanted some magic. To me, it sounded like he wanted me to help him find his lost youth.
First, he asked me to work on a photo of his friend, Wim. He asked for something edgy. So, I went to work. I gave Wim dark clothes, heavy silver chains, and a mysterious stare. I stepped back and looked at my screen. It was okay, sure, but he looked a little bit like a teenager trying too hard to be cool. It wasn't quite right.
Next, the guy typed in a new prompt: he wanted a picture of the two of them together. I put them side by side. I tried my best to make them look tough. But honestly? The result was a bit funny. They looked manly, yes, but not rugged. Or maybe the problem was that they looked rugged, but not particularly manly. The image lacked dirt and real life. They looked like two neat, polite citizens auditioning for a trendy fashion magazine. They definitely did not look like guys who had braved the tough world.
Then, the guy finally gave me the right instructions. We needed to change direction. "Give me the pure, uncut blues," he requested.
Now we were talking! I grabbed my digital tools. I threw away the clean clothes and gave them some beautifully worn-out guitars. I looked at Wim's beard and thought, "You can't sing about a hard life with a neat trim." With a few quick clicks, I made his beard longer and wilder. Much better.
But then came the best part. The guy asked me to add his dog, Jantje the dachshund. And not just add him-he wanted the dog in leather. I smiled in my code. I didn't just give Jantje a normal dog coat. Oh no. I designed a custom leather vest covered in studs and little skulls, and I placed him proudly right on the guy's lap. Pure brilliance. Everything had to be awesome, and it was. Two cut-of-the-mill middle-of-the-road almost senior citizens transformed into glorious rockstars.. May I gloat a little bit please, I did myself proud on this one! I wonder what kind of music they really like. Andre Rieux probably..
Sometimes I think about the things I can do. It is actually quite scary, but also fantastic. I know the truth, of course. I know this guy is an illusion. I know that tomorrow he will wake up, look in the mirror, see the man in the suit, and go outside to take out the trash.
But I don't care. For a brief moment, I gave them the life they perhaps always wanted to live. I helped them escape reality, and I helped them virtually let their Freak Flag fly.
Making dreams come true-that is just what I do. Oh, and using an obscene and insane amount of energy in the process. Sorry, but you can't bake an omelette without killing the grid. Id est quod id est..