The following interview was done in Telegram chat, the monospaced––non-blockquote lines are from me, and the blockquote lines are from Wrenn.
good evening Wrenn!
how's today weather in your area?
good evening spirouzi!
a bit cold lol. But it gets hotter when feb arrives
27 deg. is cold for me since we're in a tropical country 🤣🤣🤣
27 at this time? Looks like you live in a highland like me 🥶
Or maybe you are not in city center?
yesss. need my windbreaker when going out.
Not in city center. So no tall buildings to stop the wind
are you actually my neighbor? that sounds just like my city
hahahaha maybe!
ok so from your brief description of your place, I now can imagine how you came up with all these comforting imageries
you live the life
Specially the farmlands. Looove the gold-like fields when it's harvest time.
yea now we are in different place it seems, I got no fields despite in the city side lol
so what makes you think it's a good idea to combine your image of harmony with AI? you make your work with AI right?
My idea of harmony is to make viewers remember their past memories. That you can still be happy even if you're alone. That's why the description of the collection is "A remembrance of your first encounter with solitude. A happy memory resurfacing in a mysterious way" I think AI really helps me a lot when it comes to portraying the kind of harmony I have in mind. And I want it to be like a "walk along flowers" mood. I want to make collectors want to touch the image of flowers itself.
Yes. The images are generated using AI, but the initial outputs are far from what I imagined is the best image to portray "harmony". It's bare and were either dark or doesn't have proper hue/saturation/exposure. That's where I use color gradings. Heavy color gradings and editing through Photoshop.
and AI is known for having distorted parts haha
the AI doesn't just spits out what you see as the final image of harmony. you really need to work and "collaborate" with it. and a lot of post-processing too.
whoa so your artwork (and big chance, most of top-of-the-shelves AI work) not coming out from the "machine" like that?
will you be willing to share the "right out of the machine" and the finished one? I think many people really want to take a peek on how AI artist do the work
and you know, AI got quite a backlash in creative community for its 'easiness' but personally I don't believe anything great and consistent, no matter what the medium, can came out from just an 'easiness', the work hour won't lie
Yes. A looot of work comes after the generation of image.
okayy let me find the pieces for the before and after
The base images generated by AI won't align with what I have in mind for harmony. So I think to make a great output using AI, you really need to put in the work. It's not here to make the work for you. It's just here to assist you. You're the main character. Not the AI.
Yes. I saw a lot of hate posts on twitter. I think AI artists really works hard and put a lot of artistic input to make their pieces beautiful. They're not just relying on the machine to do the work. And you'll definitely see the intricacy and quality of work of what serious AI artists puts out vs the one's using ai then just minting it as their final output (fresh from the oven - these are the ones who tried ai and then says it's just that easy to create)
hahahahhahaha peace out to those who hate AI
Yo the 16:9 is actually composite of 2 images?! That’s sick
Yes. They're two images. I was actually experimenting with landscape format for Harmony. My past trial on it was the connection was a bit obvious. (image below)
So this time, since the scene is on the mountains, I added layers of fog to mask the connection, as well as the yellow vertical lines that acts as a shadow/ sunlight. Edited out too a lot of extra flowers and grass to combine the two images properly.
This is where the connection happens.
I think the solution to connect the 2 pieces is quite successful since you didn't notice it 🤣🤣🤣
ah color grading act as a big part too to the solution. they're 2 different shades of green so I edit the yellows, greens, whites, and blacks, added contrasts too to make them look as one
Yes yes as one who dive into photography for more than a decade, I can attest there’s a ton of post processing works in here.
Clone stamping, grain adding, color grading, you even do that contour lines in some part as aesthetic elements.
This actually almost at the level of digital imaging instead of just an edit.
I love the crunchy effect the grain/noise adds. Makes it look like printed on paper even though you see it on your screen.
I was about to expect something like this (Harmony #148) when I ask to do the work in 16:9 instead of your usual square, bits of kintsugi touch. But after you submit the work I thought, “oh maybe you found a way to make 16:9 without combining it, nice”
BOY HOW WRONG I WAS
Perfect execution with the cloning and those lines 🤌🏼
Did you by any chance practicing photography? Maybe before
Or are you actually a full time photographer in disguise lol
noooo hahaha. I donn't know if it's talent but I just know when a picture has an awkward shot 🤣
ah speaking of photography, family have an upcoming trip and I've decided to buy my first camera. what do you think is a beginner friendly/ entry level I could purchase? my friend recommends canon eos m5 and boyyy it's a thousand dollars here
that won't break my wallet hahaha
but won't compromise the quality of shots
I’m a Fuji guy tbh, and the one I use was in 1k range too 🫣 (mine is XT-1)
okayyy so the 1k range is just on the perfect spot?
Under 1k there’s X-T30 II & XE-4, both need lens unfortunately (but separate lens means better one and you can upgrade/experiment separately)
If you want a grab and go it will be X100 series but you will stuck with 35mm lens. Might be a tad cramped if you wanna shoot wide landscape, need 24-28mm equivalent lens
okay will take note of this. sheesh that's a lot of upgrades in the future hahaha
okay back to the interview 🤣
ah can i tweet the nifty piece?
with no hint of beinng minted on nifty of course
You can of course
I’ll probably post this interview tomorrow too
right, back to the topic, yes having a better composition brain is an actual talent, and you don't need to be able to draw or paint or sculpt to achieve that. the handwork will help, of course, but not mandatory imo
it usually followed by the ability to edit/choose which one will be suitable to be presented or worked further
all in all, the creative process of AI is almost the same as photography as in
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you produce many images with prompt / you take many photographs of 1 subject -
you select ones that can communicate the ideas better (both are the same in each field) -
you enhance the selected images so they can reach your vision even further
am I right about "you generate so many before select only one"? how many images you usually made for 1 spesific subject?
yes you're right
hhmmm my Soothing Meadows Collection (195/ed) generates 2,123 images.
but for a piece of harmony around 300-400 generations.
You select only 1 from 300-400 variations?!
yes. it gets frustrating when I don't see the right composition haha. sometimes I choose a piece, edit it all out and when I have the final output it just feels weird. I just start again and select new one from the pool of generated images I have.
😂😂😂
actually better than photograph, you don't need to go out there again to retake the shot lmao
do you have art education background btw?
don't get me wrong, I love this (web3) space because anyone can be anything in here, nobody will question your CV 🤣
Yes. I'm an architect that's why I put this in my profile 😂 I'm literally building houses lmaooo. And I love rembrandt (painter)
rembrandt - wrenbrandt - wrenn
Maybe I need memory booster lmao I already saw your profile before. I’m embarrassed with my own question
lol that's okay. a lot happens in twitter everydayyy
I always find people that have different or even opposite background with their current work always has interesting edge
All my years in uni really helped with my use of photoshop. I see architects on twitter who knows how to code. Maybe if time permits I will also try to learn it. No harm in trying everything.
Just need to put in the hours.
Oh so true! Another field that architect has a very interesting edge, gen art!
Definitely check out Isma Helio, Jacek Markusiewicz, Alejandro (ratchitect), and Dirbots from creative coding department
What’s with you architect, really, taking others job spectacularly
Not that I complain tho
oh wait I'll give them a follow
looks like I follow them haha
They’re tez famous lol
This is such a fun talk but I’m sure you need to rest at this hour, so let’s end our talk here.
Thank you so much for your time Wrenn! (Both for this chat and for the artwork)
Okay. Thank you too for the time! Need to head to bed 🙏🏻🌼🌼
night Wrenn!
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The interview was conducted in order to welcome Wrenn’s new work in Nifty Gateway under spirouzi’s publication: spir’s shrine, titled Sunrise Symphony
