SUSAN TIPPETT BRAITHWAITE

Welcome to week four of the Spies, Lies & Digital Skies (SLDS) art challenge. Each week, I share a prompt for you to create a spy and romance-themed image. You can use PhotoShop, ArtRage, Procreate, DALL-E, MidJourney, you name it to create your masterpiece.

Last week’s prompt, ‘An elusive double agent,’ was tough for me. Jez and Kevin reported the same struggle to get their images, but their entries were dazzling. Thanks for taking part, guys!

Recap of ‘An Elusive Double Agent’

Jez walked us through the process for his images. Each one getting a step closer to the scene in his head. Two images really stood out for me. The first is the library. It’s overt in showing the double agent spying on the couple.

I love this one at the spaceport. It fits the prompt to a T. The double agent, unnoticed in the shadows, taking everything in.

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Kevin made it look easy! His scene exudes danger, with a hint of duplicity from the man walking the darkened street. The scene makes you wonder if the car is following the man or just passing by.

This Week’s Artistic Mission

On to this week’s prompt! This week, our task is to create an image of ‘a romantic rendezvous on a rooftop’. I think my AI prompt generator felt the need for some alliteration in this week’s prompt. ?

A Glimpse Over My Shoulder

I love using photos I’ve taken as a starting point for AI imagery. I had an image in mind. As always, I wanted to set the scene in Marseilles, France. So, I hunted through my files and found a photo capturing part of the roof of Callendar House in Falkirk. You may have seen it doubling as a French chateau in Outlander.

I uploaded the image, plus one I’d previously created in DALL-E of my characters Adam and Elle, into Hot Mods. Hot Mods is a modified version of the text-to-image generator DALL-E, which will create new images based on your photo and text prompts.

The Evolution of Romantic Imagery

I told Hot Mods to reimagine the chateau-style rooftop shot. Here’s my prompt: Reimagine this image of a chateaux-style rooftop as the scene of a romantic rendezvous between the couple in the other image. The rendezvous happens at night, with the lights of Marseilles glowing in the background. The couple are worried, but that is outweighed by their attraction.

It looks good, but the overall scene and the characters feel cold. So, back I went and instructed Hot Mods to ease up on the worry and to have the couple embrace in the shadows.

It’s nice, but just a bit too dark.

How about making it dusk? That should shed a bit of light on the characters…

Again, nice but way too dark.

Having learnt from previous prompting sessions, I changed my language and focus. Hint for AI users: AI can get very confused when you tell it what to focus on more than once in a chat. You can see a brilliant example of what happens on Jez’s blog with his mutant sunflower.

Prompting the AI: A Screenwriter’s Touch

The best way I’ve found to focus the AI on what I want is to do it through subtle direction. I learned this trick while studying screenwriting. It’s a way of ‘directing’ on the page without telling the director how to do his job.

To get the image I wanted, I focused on that aspect in my prompt. I wanted the focus on the romantic couple. Here’s the prompt that created my entry: Have the man holding the woman in an embrace that speaks of comfort, love, protection, and relief. It’s a subtle difference, but there’s no wiggle room for the AI to misinterpret what I want to see in the image.

The Final Image: A Story of Comfort and Love

I love how this image came out. It fits exactly what I wanted to see. The love between them is evident; the comfort and protection are right there in his embrace, and the relief is etched in the woman’s face and posture. What do you think of the image?

Your Turn!

Now, it’s your turn to dive into the enigmatic world of spies and secrets. Remember, this is more than just an art challenge; it’s a celebration of creativity and storytelling.

How to Participate:

1. Create and Share: Craft an artwork depicting “a romantic rendezvous on a rooftop.” Use any digital tool that inspires you.
2. Share Your Creation: Post your artwork on your blog and link back to this post, or share it on Instagram/Twitter using the hashtag #SLDSart and tagging me @susbraithwaite. Make sure to do so before next Friday!
3. Engage and Inspire: Join our community of artists and spies. Your work might just be featured in our next intelligence brief (blog post) and possibly in my monthly newsletter.

This challenge is open to artists of all skill levels, from new, fresh, out-the-pack recruits to seasoned agents. Dive into the shadowy world of espionage and let your creativity unfold the story of the elusive double agent.

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I can’t wait to see how you all interpret this romantic theme!

Embrace your creativity, and stay awesome!

Susan x