Color Prompting - Establishing Artistic Identity Through Color Theory
Be Specific
Not only does color have the ability to capture a viewers attention, it also allows for an artist to convey mood and emtotion. A lot of artists develop their signature style, or “look”, around a specific color palette. Every artist I have ever met is striving to find their style, and one big part of that journey is finding a color palette that expresses you.
Now that is a lot easier to accomplish in traditional art mediums, where we consciously choose colors. But when it comes to A.I. based art, how do we get the A.I. art generators to adhere to the colors we envision in our mind? It doesn’t matter if you use MidJourney V4, Stable-Diffusion, Dall-E 2, or Jasper Art. Odds are, you are going to run into this issue.
Ok, Now What?
Stick with me here I am going to be a color nerd, but I think its important to understand the depth and range of color and the impacts it can have on an image.
The key is in the detail. Your descriptions should never be vague if you want to control the final color output. For example, instead of typing out the three primaries try out colors like “teal” and “orange”. “Cerulean” or ”Amber”.
When you use the right terminology and values, you’re giving your AI art generator the information it needs to follow your instructions. The term AI can be misleading, a lot of people have expressed they believe the art generator is “reading” and interpreting their words. But it is important to note the machine has it’s own limited knowledge of words. It makes art by correlating your commands into data sets it has studied. Then it can then give you images that fit your desired aesthetic. You’ll become a better AI artist by practicing specificity, and watching which terms influence your prompts the most. As well as which words do not.
Can I Use Hex Codes?
Sadly no, but there are ways around this. If you are used to working with color through hex codes there are some really cool sites you may want to look into.
I would recommend to check out a website like Coolors. Sites like these will help you realize what you individually like, and tell you what’s popular as well.
You can also use its tools to sample color names from their unique HEX codes. Often times when I am researching a color harmony for a project this tool helps me realize what I am actually looking at. Being color blind, it is an immense help.
This will also help you get more accurate results when describing color because you know exactly what you want the AI to create. Color theory is interesting because perfect color is impossible. Often times we do have to train our eyes to recognize color on a deeper level.
If you don’t know the HEX code, you can upload an image and it will suggest a palette. Adobe Color Theory does this as well.
Once you have the names, you can drop them into your specific prompt.
Let’s Get Descriptive
Another way to get great color is to be more descriptive in your wording. Get creative with the way you are describing your color, I always feel like I am giving “Crayola” colors. Instead of just using the primary color, try invoking a feeling or object that is associated with it: “cherry red”, “neon yellow”, “forest green”, etc.
The important thing to note is that the more precise you are with your inputs, the more reliable your output images will be.
What About Color Palettes?
They follow the same rules. Graphic designers will typically use terms like “cool”, “warm”, or “muted” to describe a vast spectrum of colors.
Instead of keeping it simple and saying your color palette is “warm”, try giving more specific adjectives. Words that convey feeling or mood.
The AI is capable of understanding more descriptive words like “uplifting” “haunting” “scary” or “joyous”. You can really set the scene for your images by using words like this as descriptors.
A “warm” color might be described as “fiery”, “happy”, or “rich”. This will help you to create particular moods and atmospheres with the AI you chose — through a wide range of possibilities.
In Conclusion:
I hope at the very least you were able to spark some new creative ideas by reading through this blog. I have been enjoying sharing knowledge and stories with you and can’t thank you enough for your time. If you have made it this far, you are the best. <3