November 4, 2024
In this post I will explore the "Ink and Watercolor #2" prompt. This prompt was inspired by ancient and modern Chinese ink painting, with an attempt to fuse the ancient and modern into one style.
Basic Prompt Elements
Artist Modifiers - the main artist modifiers are Liu Haisu and Zhang Daqian, either alone or together. Both were known to bring modern influences to traditional Chinese ink painting. Additional artists can be added to continue the theme (e.g., Wu Guanzhong was another artist known for combining traditional and modern techniques) or to add an additional influence.
Style Modifiers - the "core" style modifiers include: modern Chinese ink painting, ink and watercolor, wet on wet, paint (or ink) splashes, paint (or ink) drips, dynamic, detailed, and intricate. "Optional" modifiers include grainy, opaque layers, deep texture, insanely detailed, vibrant color, and modifiers related to the brushstrokes such as bold brushstrokes, organic lines, fine lines, and so on. Sometimes I have specified colors and sometimes I have specified black and white.
Subject Modifiers - any subject matter is permissible - in the image above I used a barnyard owl perched on an autumn tree branch with vibrant fall leaves in the rain.
Starting Prompt
The input prompt for the image above was:
An insanely detailed portrait of a barnyard owl perched on an autumn tree branch with vibrant fall leaves in the rain. The style is inspired by modern Chinese ink painting, with a wet-on-wet technique using ink and watercolor, showing paint splashes, drips, and sprays. The color palette is bold, warm, and vivid, creating a moody yet dynamic composition. The painting has a deep texture with grainy, scratched effects and opaque layers, evoking a masterpiece quality with an uneven sheen. Influences from Liu Haisu's style are present. Widescreen format with a rich, intricate backdrop.
Output Prompt
Many AI models, such as Dall-e3, take the prompts your enter and revise them. The revised prompt for the image above was:
Create a meticulously detailed landscape representing an owl from the barnyard, majestically situated on a branch of a tree adorned with leaves in their autumnal splendor, amidst a shower of rain. Capture the essence of the time honored techniques of Chinese ink painting, employing the effect of wet-on-wet technique with ink and watercolor. The imagery should exhibit elements of paint splashes, drips, and sprays. Let the color scheme be daring, warm, and vivid, leading to a composition that is both moody and dynamic. The work should demonstrate a deep texture with coarse, scratched effects and opaque layers, bearing the sheen of a masterpiece. The canvas should reflect elements commonly found in 20th century Chinese landscapes. The image should be in a widescreen layout with an intricately detailed background.
Notes and Tips for Prompting
This is a fairly complex prompt - feel free to take things out for a simpler prompt and/or mix things in. As some of the variations below show, this prompt works well with double exposure modifiers as well. If you keep the "modern Chinese ink painting" portion of the prompt and have people in your image, they will likely be Chinese, so if this is not what you want you may need to specify that. If you don't want text, you may also want to add "no text".
Variations - Celestial Cellist
Input Prompt
Chinese modern ink painting:: ink and watercolor :: woman playing an embellished elaborate cello superimposed on a silver and gold clear cosmic starry sky:: double exposure:: ink splatter:: wet on wet:: Zhang Daqian:: Liu Haisu:: midnight blue ink wash:: breathtaking intricate detail:: opaque layers:: moody:: dynamic:: masterpiece
Output Prompt
A modern Chinese ink painting showcasing the interplay of ink, watercolor, and elaborate detail. The central figure in the composition is a Hispanic woman elegantly playing a highly embellished cello. Her figure is creatively overlaid onto a cosmic landscape of a starry sky, painted in hues of silver and gold. This unique painting technique illustrates a double exposure effect, and further enhanced with ink splatters and wet-on-wet techniques made famous by artists before 1912. The sky appears to be a midnight blue ink wash, providing a moody and dynamic backdrop. The painting creates an atmosphere of opaque layers and breathtaking intricate detail. Despite being static, it seems as though it has movement, making it a true masterpiece.
Note
The input prompt can easily be used in models other than Dall-e3 (the longer version of prompts that Dall-e3 favors don't always translate well to other models). Below is an example of an image created with the input prompt using Flux Schnell.
Variations - Night Fishing
A variation of this prompt involves a night fisherman with eerie demonic shadows as the subject. This is one of my favorite prompts using Dall-e3, which for some reason tends to emphasize the shadows much more than other models.
Starting Prompt
hand-drawn ink and watercolor illustration of a hyperdetailed villager fishing with a bamboo fishing pole in a small wooden boat on a tranquil river :: eerie dark demonic shadows :: ink and watercolor painting :: wet on wet :: modern Chinese ink painting :: paint splash :: paint drip :: paint spray :: midnight blue ink wash :: dynamic composition :: moody :: dark :: vivid colors :: deep texture :: grainy :: scratches :: opaque layers :: Liu Haisu :: Zhang Daqian :: uneven sheen :: masterpiece :: widescreen
Revised Prompt
A hand-drawn ink and watercolor illustration of a hyperdetailed villager fishing with a bamboo fishing pole in a small wooden boat on a tranquil river, surrounded by eerie, dark, demonic shadows. Created in the style of modern Chinese ink painting, this piece uses a wet-on-wet technique with midnight blue ink wash, incorporating dynamic paint splashes, drips, and sprays. Inspired by Liu Haisu and Zhang Daqian, the composition is moody and dark, featuring vivid colors, deep textures, grainy effects, and scratches with opaque layers. The artwork has an uneven sheen and a masterpiece quality, presented in widescreen format.
More variations
I will update this post with more updates, but in the meantime, I hope you have some fun with the prompt!
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