Constructivist Factory no.1 (Generative AI Experiments)
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TL;DR // Let's use Generative AI tools to create variations of architectural scenes, specifially industrial factories in the style of 1920s Russian Constructivism a la Yakov Chernikhov.
Generative AI Prompt Variations
Consider this part 2 of the series where I wanted to generate Russian Constructivist architectural images using Generative AI tools. (See Attempt 1, Attempt 2 and Attempt 3. Spoiler: I failed and got distracted frequently.)
As an architecture student I was introduced to the "architectural fantasy" drawings of Yakov Chernikhov. These were primarily 2 point perspectives of buildings, factories, industrial settings, etc. There was lots of line work, and colour was generally limited to a few shades of primary colours. They were illustrations as much as they were architectural drawings.
Where I failed in my earlier attempts is I missed some key words in the prompt: factory and industrial. Let's try again.
Prompt 1
russian constructivist ink drawing, with detailed black ink line work. industrial and factory buildings. pretend the structures are built in minecraft blocks.
Yes. This is much closer to what I wanted. Apparently using good prompts matters. Go figure.
The imagery is much busier with significantly more detail than what you'd find in a Chernikov illustration but it's what I like. It's completely in line with some of the industrial imagery I've photographed in the past.
Let's see about getting some primary colour in there, similar to Chernikov drawings.
Prompt 2
russian constructivist ink drawing, with detailed black ink line work. industrial and factory buildings. pretend the structures are built in minecraft blocks. use colors red, blue, yellow.
Not quite what I expected. After 3 attempts the tool wasn't really doing anything other than adding some reds. Let's revise the prompt and try again.
Prompt 3
russian constructivist ink drawing, with detailed black ink line work. industrial and factory buildings. pretend the structures are built in minecraft blocks. use image should contain colors red, blue, and yellow.
Still mostly reds (other than the blue sky in image #2). Let's try again. We'll specify more or less the same prompt content, but move the order around a bit and be more explicit about colours.
Prompt 4
russian constructivist ink drawing, with shades of red, shades of blue, shades of yellow. detailed black ink line work. industrial and factory buildings. pretend the structures are built in minecraft blocks. image should contain colors red, blue and yellow.
Much better. In fact, I generated 26 different variations in this case because I liked the direction it was going. (I've included 9 of them here.)
Again, we're not getting the 'Chernikov illustration' style, and I'm not inclined to push to match that. My goal was industrial imagery and I'm getting that. The primary colours were my guess at what prompting would work.
We'll try for realism next by asking for shadows.
Prompt 5
russian constructivist ink drawing, with shades of red, shades of blue, shades of yellow. detailed black ink line work. industrial and factory buildings. pretend the structures are built in minecraft blocks. use soft shadows.
I generated another 26 variations because I was liking the direction. I've included 6 here.
Even though the only prompt change was about 'shadows', we're getting a lot more variety. We have wide shots from above (image #2), factories with cylinders (image #1), and an industrialized version of Russian Onion Bulb domes in #4.
It feels like we're running this one to the end so before wrapping up, I wanted to play with some random words to add to the prompt to see if there's any real impact. I'm not expecting much.
Prompt 6
russian constructivist ink drawing, with shades of red, shades of blue, shades of yellow. detailed black ink line work. industrial and factory buildings. pretend the structures are built in minecraft blocks. use soft shadows. cubist.
I'm not sure what I was expecting with "cubist" but it definitely added some interesting new results.
In particular, the multicolour playground/yellow-brick-road feel of image #5, and the flattened elevation of image #6.
Let's try a different prompt word to wrap things up.
Prompt 7
russian constructivist ink drawing, with shades of red, shades of blue, shades of yellow. detailed black ink line work. industrial and factory buildings. pretend the structures are built in minecraft blocks. use soft shadows. cubist. hexagonal textures.
Not at all what I was expecting. It became more of a consistent illustration style, and the colours are much less wild than in previous iterations.
The sky in number 3 is very odd!
Selected images
Here are a few that stood out for me:
Prompt 1 // Image 6
Why? These are the sorts of drawings I wish I'd been creating when I was an architecture student. I love the detail and the mechanical complexity. It's what I'm drawn to in my own photography.
Prompt 4 // Image 7
Why? So... Piet Mondrian paints his interpretation of a factory. This was unexpected!
Prompt 5 // Image 4
Why? Russian onion domes, industrialized. I love it. The inspiring part is how it gives ideas for future images. It's prompting me to think about other paths.
Prompt 6 // Image 6
Why? I wish I could print this as a huge poster. This is regular geometric patterns with complexity and yet you can start to pick out the idea of architecture lurking behind. It's an interesting level of abstract-ness.
Prompt 6 // Image 2
Why? If I was building industrial factories out of Lego, I'd want them to look like this.
Prompt 7 // Image 2
Why? I want to go explore and photograph this factory right now.
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