AI Art for Beginners - Stable Diffusion Crash Course

Women of the World: Conceptual Overview

Let's talk about the concept for the Women of the World project and its inception.

When I first started experimenting with Stable Diffusion, I was using images of Mandy and trying to apply different styles. During the previous three years, Mandy and I had been living throughout south east asia, and this is where I got the idea to make a south east asian version of Mandy.

Art Reflecting Life

We lived in Vietnam for two years during Covid, so I naturally started with a Vietnamese version of Mandy.

It worked! Mandy looks Vietnamese.

This resulted in me trying different versions from other countries we'd traveled to. These countries include the following:

• Indonesia
• Singapore
• Malaysia
• Myanmar
• Laos
• Thailand
• Vietnam

Soon I realized that I could make something very interesting. I could make a version for every country. I just needed a list of countries. I googled for a list and found the list of contemporary ethnic groups on Wikipedia.

Mandy and I often talked about living in every country in the world some day, so I thought this was kind of fitting.

This personal connection to the idea made the project more meaningful to me. My relationship with Mandy, our past experiences, and the potential future experiences we might have, all contributed to the development of the project.

Additionally, this project is an expression of my involvement in artificial intelligence and it's progression. The project integrates my love for Mandy with my experience traveling, with my experience with artificial intelligence.

Each of these elements about my life are embedded in the project. As we will see, I'm even in the project. In many ways, my story, even my existence is embedded in this project.

I've heard before that life imitates art. Maybe it is the other way around, art imitates life. I definitely feel that this project reflects my life and experience.

Individual yet Universal

Another idea that I wanted to convey in the project is that we are all one. We are connected, a collective. We all look slightly different, but we share a common humanity. This was my experience when meeting people while traveling.

This is when I decided that I definitely wanted to keep the eyes unchanged. However, we will see that there are technical reasons that make this desirable as well.

The artistic side of the eyes being a constant are more important though. Looking into someone's eyes is a powerful thing, and I see Mandy's eyes more often than any other pair of eyes in existence. The eyes in this piece are significant to the artist as an individual, and the idea of looking into another's eyes is a universal feeling.

Note that the eyes or the act of seeing can be generalized to sensing in any way. For example, taste, touch, smell, feel, etc.

Easter Eggs in Art

The eyes used in this AI art piece also contain a hidden bit of information. This is sometimes called an Easter egg.

I'm in the reflection. I am the one who took the photo, and Mandy is looking at me, and so if you squint, the artist is in the piece.

After knowing about this Easter egg, it's hard not to notice when viewing the Women of the World piece.

In terms of being a creator or an artist, I like to say, "Make art. Leave artifacts". This project is an artifact that I'm leaving.

With all this being said. I suggest you make this project more meaningful to you by choosing your own photo or meaningful person in your life as the input.

Voyage through Time - a Generative AI journey

Another notable project that we'd like to highlight is the Voyage through Time AI art project that was created by Xander Steenbrugge using Stable Diffusion.

This piece evokes a feeling that in universal among humans, the beauty and amazement at existence itself. Being alive and conscious while contemplating our past, present and future.