Pixelzine Issue Three: A New Blueprint for AI Art by pixelmindai

FEB 2022 | ISSUE NO. 3

PIXELZINE

A NEW BLUEPRINT FOR AI ART COVER ART BY NUMBER 48

02 Minting Begins! 04 Interview with Architect 05 A Victorian Series by Rogue Leader

PIXELZINE

ISSUE

3 08 Neo Tokyo Portrait Processes 10 Lost in a Futuristic Castle Series 12 Mycelium: An Investigation Zine edited by Bot Ross Blue Art by Wxll

MINTING BEGINS! Hello Pixelheads, With minting now available for WAGMI.G1, the Pixelmind experiment has only just begun. In the third official Pixelzine issue, we put together a collection of some of the most cohesive and stunning series to emerge in

the

last

week

that

suggest

new

"Blueprints for AI." This issue also provides some how-to guides for

creating

Discord,

generously

provided by one of the masters of Pixelmind tech, Architect. We also get a chance to learn about the man behind those stunning Neo Tokyo portraits, through a wonderful interview conducted by Robert Stevens II. Special thanks to Cmo for his Mycelium series,

Rogue

experimentation,

Leader's and

Victorian

Number

48's

evocative "Lost in a Futuristic Castle" series. A very Happy New Year to you all. We are so excited to have you on this journey with us! Yours, Bot Ross Blue

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Words Bot Ross Blue Art by Wxll

Conducted by Robert II Stevens,

INTERVIEW

Artwork by Architect

WITH ARCHITECT

Robert

Stevens

community Neo

member

Tokyo

spoke

with

Architect,

famed

Portraits,

about

his

Discord for

his

Pixelmind

artistic journey. R: Tell us a little about yourself.

What is one of the

reasons you get up in the morning?

A: My name is Alejandro, an architect from Spain, currently a PostDoc researcher, part-time teacher at a Dutch public University and co-founder of a small architecture office back home. Reason I get up in the morning is because I’ve slept enough. I don’t ask myself about my purpose in life because I know that’s an impossible question. I do with what I find, with what I have at hand, and with what I enjoy doing, with what makes me and my closest friends grow and become better persons. In short: I improvise.

R: What is your background in creating digital artwork?

Actually, I wish I was able to keep my distance and see things as they are, not as what they might become. Architectural drawings, digital photographs, ugly signatures for Ogame forum users, posters for art competitions… I’ve always enjoyed creating digital artworks. My recent dive into the NFT world has made me re-discover this side of myself. I have made 0 profit, but oh god, I am enjoying it so much…

R: For the uninitiated, what is Neo Tokyo/Syn City?

What made you start creating and what inspires you? A: Neo Tokyo is a gaming-NFT project created by Alex A: I’ve always enjoyed creating things, it comes with my vocation and my profession. It’s a bit scary to say it so openly, but we architects constantly want to modify things, to improve things, to change the world. An anthropologist will go to an island in Indonesia and will focus on understanding the people there, while an architect will go there and convince them to build a school, a hospital and a church. I envy Anthropologists.

Becker and Elliot Wainman (Ellio Trades, founder of Superfarm). It started with a series of riddles and 2000 free mints that are now worth more than 50 ETH each. I unfortunately came late to the project, but found there, in the “dumpster”, a small community of Misfits that called themeselves Rats. I’ve been a rat ever since, longing for a NeoTokyo identity while working with my fellow Mischief (a “group of rats”) to create a strong community and build something together.

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Source

R: How does PixelmindAI fit into your creation process? A: Well, this is quite the question. If you follow my tests on Pixelmind’s server, you will see that I usually start with source pictures. Why? Because as much as I say I improvise, I actually have a clear picture of what I want in my head, and use Pixelmind as the tool to get there. This is very different from what users are normally doing with the AI, and I envy their results and their bravery when starting from scratch, without knowing what will happen. It turns out that Pixelmind is extremely good when you give it creative freedom, but much more challenging when you aim for detail, sharpness, and full coherence. Nonetheless, Pixelmind has made me able to do things I couldn’t do before. I’m not an illustrator, I am used to drawing building layouts, plans and cross-sections. This project has enabled me to depict almost everything, it has expanded my creative field so much that I am having a really hard time dealing with my schedule.

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Guiding the AI

I don’t like to be surprised by the results, as some others like Isabeau usually do. I use Pixelmind as a tool to get a detailed, sharp, and clean picture of what I have in my head. Alejandro de la Sota, Spanish architect, always said that you first design the building in your head, and then you draw it. That’s how I work, though I now have Pixelcat drawing for me. R: Where should we look for you in 2022? Where can we support your work? A: You should look in Pixelmind. I am completely into Pixelmind for the long-term. Nowadays I’m seeing so many applications for the generative algorithm that I’m having a hard time deciding where to go first. And I’m speaking of actual work-environment applications connected to my background as an architect. What I’m doing is training, aiming at the real thing! Moreover, it’s easy to follow what I do, you can either visit my Twitter profile, @cdemente1

Result

or a website I created with a selection of my works (ratchitect.cargo.site). And if you want to support me, buy a Rat Kingdom Map: https://ratchitect.cargo.site/Rat-KingdomMaps Above is the first series Architect did of this kind, guiding the AI to what he envisioned in his mind's eye.

.diffusion Portrait of Neo Tokyo Citadel #0011, Side Photo, Race - Human, Cyberpunk Half Helmet, Blue Green Visor, Augmented Reality, Asian, Beard, Facial expression - Smirk. Class - Broker, Gender - Male. Futuristic. Coolness - High, Toughness - High. Trending on artstation skip_timesteps 67 -init_scale 1000

A VICTORIAN SERIES BY ROGUE LEADER

Pixelcat and I have been exploring lore, character and world building potential collaboratively. After experimenting with wording to develop my incantation vocab and library (an ongoing effort!), I’ve dug into narrative elements and themes centered around a Victorianinfluenced visual treatment. It's been fun to discover that, if the first result wasn’t what I had in mind, it’s usually because my direction wasn’t phrased right or wasn’t as clean as it could be. Now, Pixelcat delivers pretty consistently with a super mysterious, vintage, steampunk-like look. Using simple recipes and architecture as the foundation of my language, I set a basic scene. From there, I tweak and adjust elements to reflect darker (‘Victorian gothic’) or lighter (‘Victorian, sunlit’), sexier (‘boudoir, velvet’) or other themes. In the same way, Pixelcat can add details to the image. Natural, descriptive phrases can be very successful at creating and layering specific textural elements.

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NEO

PORTRAIT VIA

Words and Artwork by

TOKYO

Architect

PROCESS

PIXELMIND

Experiment One Source 1

Come along the Pixelmind journey with Architect, as he shows you step-by-step how to create his stunning portraits. Step 0: What do you want? The starting point for a portrait is always research. Learn how the portrayed looks like, traits and items, clothing, location. In this case, we are talking about a Neo-Tokyo citizen, a game within a dystopian city, with androids, robots, mutants, humans, apes… In this case, we were looking for an Android male, with a rave hoodie and a scar, tattoos, a cyber football helmet, no weapons, but a cup of Scotch. The owner of this identity requested to remove the football helmet. Step 1. Looking for a good source Probably the most important step is to select a good image source. “Good” means that you like the position of the figure, the overall colouring and, most importantly, the lighting. Nonetheless, “good” also means that Pixelcat is able to recognize the features of the source image easily. You should select a small batch of options and try them with the AI with a basic query, no pre-editing needed. In this case, after trying different photos from Unsplash, I finally selected this one. Idea was that the guy will be offering a cup of Scotch to the viewer, so I ran a basic query: diffusion portrait of cyberpunk android, cup of scotch, football helm, male, rave hoodie, Neo Tokyo Citadel | realism, night neon, trending on artstation --skip_timesteps 75 -- init_scale 1000

Result proved that the AI understood the source image perfectly. Pixelzine | 8

Result

Experiment Two Step 2. Hacking the different elements in with an image-

Source Source2 4 (+background) (+cup of scotch, scar, and visor)

editing software Now you stop trying queries with Pixelmind, because you need to add some elements to your source image, if you are aiming for precision and coherence. We have to add a background, the scar and some android implements, the cup of scotch, and it was advisable to add something that resembles a hoodie, to help the AI. This is a long process

adding

something,

testing

the

result,

changing, re-testing, etc. It might need some time and a lot of patience, but results will be worth it! Here you can see some of the additions and tests I

Result

performed for this particular portrait (it seems easier than it was because I’m only including the steps were I actually made some progress):

.diffusion cyberpunk android, rave hoodie, hands holding cup of scotch, cyber-implants, cyborg-eyes, scar, male, tattoos | tough, threatening, attractive | realism, nightneon, retrofuturistic, trending on artstation -skip_timesteps 65 --init_scale 1000 --w 1100 --h 860

Source 3 (+hoodie)

Experiment Three Result was acceptable, except for the Scotch, so I abandoned the cup and added the hoodie:

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Result

Source 4 (+background)

Experiment Four Result was more than acceptable, so I decided to add the background:

.diffusion cyberpunk android, rave hoodie, hands holding cup of scotch, cyber-implants, cyborg-eyes, scar, male, tattoos | tough, threatening, attractive | realism, night-neon, retrofuturistic, trending on artstation --skip_timesteps 70 --init_scale 1000 --w 1100 -h 860

Result Wow! That was too good to be true. But I was still missing the cup of scotch, so I added a hand and a cup of Whiskey with Photoshop, together with some white lines around the glass to ensure that the AI did not mistake the glass for a tattoo.

Source 5 (+background)

Final Experiment .diffusion cyberpunk android, rave hoodie, hand offering whiskey, scortch, cyborg-eyes, scar, male, tattoos | tough, threatening, attractive | realism, night-neon, retro-futuristic, trending on artstation --skip_timesteps 80 --init_scale 2000 --w 1100 --h 860

I have to say, you don’t normally get as good results out of the AI. This was extremely precise, sharp and coherent. What I would normally do it aim for the general image at first, forgetting about the face, and then focus in the face with a zoom, a new image

Result

source. Actually, what I do is obtaining lots of general results, and lots of close-up faces, and afterwards I blend the good parts with Photoshop.

Neo Tokyo Citizen #0524 - OneShot In any case, Pixelmind has made me able to do something I’ve never thought I will be capable of doing, but always longed for. Now I am confident that I can use this tool for creating almost every illustration that I could think of. It’s a question of persistence, patience, and endless iterations.

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-Architect

FINAL

RESULT:

A NEO-TOKYO PORTRAIT BY ARCHITECT

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LOST

Words and Art by Number 48

FUTURISTIC CASTLE "I think of this series as a blueprint to our future destinations." I am used to being creative – using or fusing words to summon feelings. I spent hours writing and making stuff only for a few people to hear. Now I get to create using this tool, the mixture of visual concepts entwined with the commands and prompts. Summed up in two words, this experience has been next level. This series grew out of a desire to think long-term: Lost in a futuristic castle. Lost = A strong emotional concept. Futuristic = A destination. Castle = A grand design. Using these base prompts plus some more imagery to come I wanted to invoke a higher setting for Pixlecat to put together the pieces. Many people drawn to the metaverse or the meta kingdom may not consider how it will visually appear, so I chose such a description to inspire, guide and build the visual setting.

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My hope is that these spaces

eventually

I am grateful for this opportunity and see a

become 6th dimensional infused experiences.

vast upside. I want to be a contributor, add

I think of this series as a blueprint to our

value, explore new territory and expand my

future destinations.

thinking. New opportunities await us all in

Being able to make your fantasy a reality is

2022. Realization is the first key and

powerful. The wider applications of this

together we can do so much more.

product are unbound and far reaching.

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- Words and Art by Number 48

MYCELIUM: AN INVESTIGATION

Mycelium embodies the power of connection, and the web of experiences that make us a community. Bringing together our wants and needs in this new paradigm of creation and the feeling of oneness in the face of uncertainty. Mycelium illustrates something we all know inside ourselves and can chant as a collective... WAGMI Art and Words by Cmo

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