Fun With AI

 I've been having loads of fun with AI. When it actually does what I want it to do, it's more than FUN!!!!! But sometimes it doesn't do what I want it to do, and the results can be downright hilarious!!! For example, I've asked for a rat with monkey-like hands, and it'll give me a picture of a norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) with hands like a macaque monkey, and the hands would be HUGE!! A lot larger than the proportions of a normal rat. Then I have to tell it to make the hands more proportionate to the body of the rat, and I guess it doesn't understand that, so it'll change the rat's head into a monkey's head, and so on and so forth. But I'd rather use the AI feature than not. It's making my work in Metazoica go much faster. Now, I only have 3 more families to complete for the Meet The Mammals section and I'll be ALL done!!! Two of them are rodent families, and one is a flightless bat family.

However, sometimes AI's mistakes work for me, and I like them and I keep them. There's been several examples of that throughout the Metazoic website, which you will see when I finally make the complete switch from 2D to 3D drawings in the near future. Most of the time, I like using AI because it actually improves my drawings. And I don't even have to put in much effort. As long as the AI engine cooperates. For example, here's my 2D drawing of Davy, the little fawn who got his start in Gracie's Odyssey...

That's a drawing I did myself, with pen and ink. He looks just like a fawn should, even though he's not a deer fawn. AI tends to see him that way though. Now here he is again, through AI...

AI did not change much, except he's supposed to have like a doggie tag on his collar, and instead AI put a bell. Also, as you can see, he doesn't have spots on his backside, and he should. But you can see, AI put more detail in this picture than I ever could! I can never put that much detail in any of my drawings! My drawings are more inspired by 1940s style cartoons than from realism, which is why I am trying to do Metazoica all over again! Cartoony drawings are not good for scientific-style illustrations. It gives a false impression. Though they are great for stories! But some pics actually come out better, like this one of Aerobates, a tiny Metazoic flying fox that lives like modern hummingbirds...

Not only did AI add more detail to the animal it's self, it also added more detail to the background. I don't ever have time to do extravagant backgrounds like this, so that's what AI adds to my pics. I only do extravagant details like this if I am being paid for it, because they take forever! Therefore, I'd have to charge more for the pic. But AI can do it great! And in seconds! Sometimes AI mistakes can even look great! This is a throw-away pic AI did on it's own...

That's Davy again, the baby fawn. This pic is supposed to be him sitting on a stool in front of a window, crying for his mama. Well, AI got him right, and the stool right, but forgot the window! Instead, he's just sitting there, looking up at the stars in what appears to be a grassy field. I did not ask for this pic, but AI created it anyway. It was too good to throw away, so I kept it anyways. I can't use it in the story, but I can keep it pinned up near my desk, just because I think it looks good. I got several of these AI images that I did just for the hell of it, that I pinned up in my room. It's a testament to how much I really enjoy AI, and the beautiful job it does with my drawings. Even though in a way, it makes me look lazy asf! And this here is my most favorite pic of all...

That's supposed to be me, holding Hutchess. Back when I was younger and skinnier! Hutchess was the cattle dog puppy I only got to enjoy for a week back in 1998. A week after I got her, she fell prey to the parvo epidemic that swept Washington State like a plague in the night! I wrote this story, called Hutchess: A Picture Diary, as a way to cope with the immense pain I endured losing Hutchess. So, this is my favorite pic, out of ALL the pics I've done for these stories. I only have one pic of Hutchess that I took before she fell ill...

That was taken by me, in our old yard in Toutle, WA. Shortly before she died of parvo. She was lively and active as any cattle dog pup is! I miss her a lot! I want another cattle dog. I wanna try and go for having one again. A neighbor here has a cattle dog. But I don't think it's an Australian cattle dog. I think it's one of those Stumpy-tailed cattle dogs, because it doesn't have a tail. It's not the same. Hutchess was a true Australian cattle dog, undocked and everything! And Hutchess was the perfect name for her. I only have this one pic of her. I'm not the best photographer, and the other pics I have of her are not as good as this one. I was hoping to start a scrap book of her. But GOD had other plans for her.