Skymagineart

Digital Illustrations

If an image is created with the help of artificial intelligence, is it art? It’s definitely digital; it’s definitely an image; it definitely can be awesomely beautiful. But is it art?

The Norwegian who goes under the name of Skymagineart argues yes. I find myself agreeing.

Digital images created in AI are generated through the programs’ interpretation of descriptions known as prompts. The more detailed and specific the prompts, the more detailed the image will be. So a digital artist whose, uh, for lack of better word, brush is the prompt window of an image-generating AI platform must develop a skill set to call upon that AI to produce works that reflect a certain style and consistency. The clarity of the words that the artist uses in the order they’re written will dictate the success or failure of the project. They will dictate the success or failure of the artist to achieve a consistent style via the AI tool.

Throughout the collection of anime-style portraits that Skymageart posted (and is selling) on DeviantArt, the style, tone, detail and near-mathematical-perfection of the women is consistent. And yet, each of the portraits is different enough that they’re not Barbie-like paper dolls with a different set of clothes pasted onto them.

Myuna’s hair is fat and stringy because it’s wet, dripping from the realistic (depth of field) body of water behind her.

Ritla, clearly a fanboy’s fantasy prom date, is depicted with a facial expression that is at once innocent, wise, curious, enigmatic, seductive, apprehensive and, again, biomechanically perfect. The lighting, as generated by the artist’s prompts, coupled with the halo-like background, pulls the viewer directly to Ritla’s eyes, despite the abundance of other beautiful characteristics and garb.

Within the image titled Katlina, Skymagineart’s fondness for anime rises to the fore, with the slightly more rounded head and the doe-eyed stare typical of anime. Generating the details within this image required a degree of specificity that only an artist’s creative juices could have ginned up.

So: Does Skymagineart illustrate with a touchpad, a mouse or a Wacom tablet? Unlikely.

Is this art? YES.

About Skymagineart

Skymagineart, whose pronouns are he/him, describes himself as a professional digital artist, creating and selling wallpapers to a mass audience. The person from Norway calls himself an anime aficionado and art enthusiast.

Bio information gathered from various online sources. Images sourced from and watermarked by https://www.deviantart.com/skymagineart/