Midjourney is an AI system that can generate stunning digital paintings and artworks from text prompts. With some creativity and prompt engineering, Midjourney opens up exciting possibilities for creating your own unique “AI-infused” paintings inspired by the styles of famous artists, in this Guide it is Picasso Style AI Art.
By studying Picasso’s stylistic techniques and common motifs, you can craft prompts to produce AI art that captures the spirit of the master. Putting your own spin on Picasso’s cubism and surrealism results in refreshing, modern homages to an artistic luminary.
Understanding Picasso’s Style
Before diving into Midjourney, let’s analyze some of the characteristics that defined Picasso Style AI Art:
– Cubism – Picasso pioneered the cubism art movement, fragmenting subjects into abstract geometric shapes and planes. Common traits include overlapping, intersecting forms, collage-like canvases, and multiple perspectives depicted simultaneously.
– Surrealism – Many of Picasso’s works blend surrealism and cubism. Dreamlike imagery is rendered in his cubist style. Melting, distorted figures and objects are common surrealist elements.
– Color palette – Picasso worked with limited color palettes, often sticking to a few muted or earthy tones like grey, blue, pink and tan within a single painting. High color saturation was not prioritized.
– Subject matter – Common Picasso subjects include still life objects, reflective portraits, musicians, animals and mythological creatures like minotaurs. Nudes and abstract human forms were also recurring themes.
– Textures – Picasso’s textures were very visible, with blunt, rough brush or palette knife strokes that fragment the picture plane. Differentiate textures like smooth, glossy finishes vs rougher, matte ones.
Studying Picasso’s existing portfolio will help identify other key details to inform your Midjourney prompts. Notice patterns in his style you can describe to the AI.
Crafting Initial Prompts
With a grasp of Picasso’s aesthetic in hand, we can start crafting prompts tailored to generating artificial homages to his work.
Some key tips for prompt engineering:
– Use Picasso’s name – “In the style of a Pablo Picasso painting…”
– Pick 1-2 core stylistic traits to focus on replicating – ex. “Cubist portrait”, “Surrealist minotaur scene”
– Describe visual details beyond just subject matter – colors, textures, geometric shapes
– Compare a real Picasso work for additional guidance – “Similar to Picasso’s blue period portraits…”
Here are a few example starter prompts:
“A cubist portrait of a woman with angular geometrical facial features reminiscent of Picasso’s portraits from his blue period, done in shades of blue and gray.”
“A surrealist minotaur on a beach, inspired by Picasso’s minotaur artworks, with a collage-like canvas of overlapping shapes and textures.”
“A still life painting of a bowl of fruit in Picasso’s analytic cubism style, with overlapping geometric planes rendered in muted pinks and browns.”
The goal is prompts that direct Midjourney’s AI while leaving room for novel interpretation. Let’s see what it generates from these initial prompts.
Assessing and Refining the Outputs
After generating your first Picasso Style AI Art Midjourney, look critically at the results. Do they successfully channel the spirit of Picasso’s cubist/surrealist style, or is more refinement needed?
Things to look For
– Accuracy of cubist elements – Are there enough abstracted shapes/planes? Do the perspectives look appropriately fragmented?
– Surrealist weirdness – If aiming for surrealism, are the figures/objects sufficiently dreamlike and distorted?
– Colors – Is the color palette suitably muted? Are the tones matching Picasso’s preference for blues, pinks, etc?
– Textures – Do the textures look thickly painted vs digital? Are the brush strokes rough and visible?
– Lighting – Picasso’s lighting was usually fairly uniform. Ensure the AI isn’t adding too much dramatic lighting.
If certain elements are missing the mark, tweak your prompts to better capture Picasso’s aesthetic. For example, if your cubist portraits lack angularity, emphasize “jagged, geometrical forms” more strongly.
Use Midjourney’s ability to recursively generate variations. Remix aspects of its images with new prompts to refine the style.
Combining Picasso with Original Ideas
Once you’ve gotten Midjourney effectively emulating Picasso’s style, you can have fun putting your own creative spin on it.
Some ways to inject originality
– Remixing subjects – Depict unexpected subjects like pop culture characters in Picasso’s style
– New color schemes – Use a brighter, more saturated palette compared to Picasso’s muted tones
– Stylistic fusions – Combine cubism with another art movement like impressionism or art nouveau
– Modern contexts – Place Picasso-esque figures in modern day settings and attire
– New mediums – Render the Picasso aesthetic using non-traditional art mediums like vector art or stained glass
The key is to use the established Picasso style as a jumping off point for your own imagination. Add creative twists and customizations on top of Midjourney’s pastiche of the master.
Here are some examples of original derivative prompts:
“A Cubist cityscape in vivid neon colors reminiscent of Picasso’s cubism style.”
“A surrealist Android in a dystopian future, with cubist fragmented robotic body parts influenced by Picasso.”
“A woman’s face with eyes, nose and mouth split into segmented geometric planes imitating Picasso’s cubism, rendered as vector art.“
See what new and unforeseen artistic directions the AI will explore when given prompts that blend Picasso’s aesthetics with your unique inspirations.
Refining your Final Creations
Once you’ve generated some promising original Midjourney artworks, consider finishing touches to polish off the pieces:
– Upscaling resolution for sharp final image quality
– Cropping/composing to perfect the composition
– Post-processing for any needed tonal adjustments, overlays etc.
– Watermarking to assert creativity rights over AI outputs
– Printing/framing to proudly display your art as you would traditional paintings
– Sharing online and on social media to expand the reach of your AI-Picasso remixes
Proper post-processing and presentation elevates these AI collaborations into respected artworks you can exhibit as part of your creative portfolio.
Conclusion
That covers the overall process for channeling the essence of Picasso’s painting brilliance into your own original AI-generated artworks with Midjourney. Here are some key tips:
– Analyze target styles/artists in depth before generating
– Craft prompts focused on distinct aesthetic traits
– Recursively refine outputs through multiple generations
– Inject originality by customizing subjects, styles, mediums
– Finish pieces properly for professional presentation
With thoughtful prompting and purposeful deviations from source material, Midjourney allows endless riffing on historical art styles like Picasso’s to create refreshing new commentaries and perspectives and for more helpful tips and tricks just hop onto our Guides section. Experiment until you hit that sweet spot between emulating the old masters and asserting your own vision. Picasso pushed boundaries – let Midjourney empower you to push them further!
Bonus
Here are some example prompts for generating artworks inspired by famous painters
- “An oil painting of a vase of sunflowers on a table, in the style of Vincent Van Gogh with visible thick brushstrokes and yellows contrasting with blues in the background”
- “A surrealist scene with melting clocks in a desert, reminiscent of Salvador Dalí’s melting watch paintings”
- “A portrait of a contemplative woman with eyes looking forward, similar to a Frida Kahlo painting, with flowers in her hair”
- “An abstract cityscape with geometric shapes and bright colors, in the style of a Basquiat painting”
