Creative

Hardworking Sasquatch

I asked Adobe Firefly to give me a Sasquatch working in an office on Adobe Photoshop, using the photography filter. It gave me this:

Sasquatch isn’t real (or is it??) but AI still having trouble with fingers.

I mean, would you tell him lunch break is over?

My most important use for AI-generated art

To amuse me. If it makes me laugh (or smile), I’m good.

Yesterday, a discussion in Discord lead to speculation over whether the Sasquatch had arrived in Australia via dugout canoe1This started when someone in my gaming group, who is going on a trip to Australia soon, noted “my research has indicated that there’s a Bigfoot like cryptid called the Yowie that lives in Australia“. I asked Adobe Firefly to produce illustrated proof of this, and behold:

Also, I just generally love the way Firefly depicts the Sasquatch

This is all I really need AI to do when it comes to art. Sasquatches in canoes.

A haiku about the warmth of the sun

It was hot today. But if I had to choose between 40C and -40C, I’d go with 40C.

I mean, really, I’d choose something nice in-between, but if I had to pick because of an important movie plot or something, I’d go with the warmer. I dislike being cold.

Anyway, the haiku:

The warmth of the sun

Just like a beach boy
The warmth of the sun calls me
Rays of light and tan

Ten words that rhyme with June

It’s the end of June, I’ve lost weight, it’s been sunny, and I got sick.

So, a mixed bag.

And now ten words that rhyme with June:

  1. Spoon
  2. Moon
  3. Prune
  4. Loon
  5. Tune
  6. Rune
  7. Boon
  8. Croon
  9. Zune1According to Microsoft, this is totally a real word
  10. Dune

Now, take these ten words and use them in a story! Surprise writing prompt!

I sat by the window, listening to a tune on the radio, staring out and up at the fat moon. I used a spoon to shovel up ice cream from a bowl, directing it to my mouth. The night was silent, save for the plaintive cry of a loon. I did not want to listen to it croon its sorrowful song, so shut the window.

I picked up my Zune, which still worked all these years later, quite the boon. I played a song at random and did not like it. Why had I bought it? I would need to prune my playlist. I laid back on the bed and closed my eyes, seeing before me in the dark an image of endless sand, one giant rolling dune after another. Had I been here before, or only in a dream? I opened my eyes and reached over to the nightstand, picking up a small wooden talisman I had been given by a stranger, a burnished, dark rune, whose etchings defied explanation. I held it up before my face and turned it over.

"Soon," I whispered. "Soon."2Bonus rhyming word for extra credit

Trying to draw a cartoon hummingbird

It’s harder than I thought it would be!

I started using my usual bird-drawing style, and that turned out too realistic, so I tried to simplify it further by:

  • Removing all shading (pretty much), making all colours flat
  • Removing all the detail lines, except for the actual outline of the bird
  • Removed its itty bitty footsies
  • Going over the outline with a thicker stroke to make it more cartoonish

In the end it definitely looks better, but the proportions are still those of an actual hummingbird, so I may try exaggerating those next. Cartooning is tricky!

The current result:

A Facebook post about my new science fiction novel

First, I should explain that I don’t have a new science fiction novel, and I’m not posting about it on Facebook.

But I did get an invitation to try out Microsoft Designer, which is a web-based thingie that uses AI (or AAIIEE as I like to call it) top help generate images and stuff.

I told it:

> Generate a Facebook post for my new science fiction novel

I altered the text and went with this. The future is full of UFOs! Or UAPs. Or perhaps they are the future of mobile lighting.

Share and like if you agree.

Gum Gum Person Blade prompt redone

One of the Inktober drawing prompts I had from several years back was BLADE. I used Gum Gum People for this, as is my way.

Below is the new coloured version, then the before/after with the original.

Shiny new:

Before/after:

I am still kind of amazed at how terrible the line work was in the older prompts. I mean, I know I did each sketch in a day and usually without spending a lot of time on them, but yeesh.

Gum Gum Person sleeping: Coloured remaster

The original version of this sketch was for a prompt called SLEEP, and it’s one of the few featuring a Gum Gum Person where I was happy with the result, probably because most of the GGP is hidden inside a sleeping bag. And yes, I forgot to actually contour the body in the original, and decided to leave it for the colour version.

The colour version only refines a few lines, so it’s mostly unchanged. After colouring it, I had the idea to have the campfire projecting light, though perhaps unrealistically, since it’s just glowing embers. I call it art. Yeah.

Here’s the colour version:

And side-by-side:

Time for another desperation photo

It’s getting late, and I realized I’d not taken a photo all day. Panic? Yes! But also, as usual, I used this as an opportunity to do something a little different.

I placed one of the drawing figures I have flat on the black mat my keyboard and mouse sit on, then adjusted the light levels for a touch more contrast. He looks like he’s chained to a wall, or maybe just glued to one. The light source is from my desk lamp.

It occurs to me that this is a great way to pose the figure without it toppling over all the time. Hmm.