Thursday 30 November 2023

November 2023 -- SUMMARY

 30 blog entries for November 2023 -- as many posts as there are days in November!


This was a crazy month for AI as Sam Altman was fired from Open AI, and then rehired again.  Plus there is a suggestion that Open AI has recently achieved AGI (and more scuttlebutt and doom and gloom).

Our AI overlords manipulating us 
from The Cloud above


Meanwhile I pushed my drawings further with AI -- through video, 3D and the improving 2D AI image generators.


END of Another ERA

We had the last drawing session at the NORTH FOURTH ART CENTER in Albuquerque -- forevah -- on November 16th, 2023, as the art center is closing the end of the year. The sessions started on December 2, 2021, and I first drew there on December 9, 2021.  A big thank you to Athan (Tim) Psomas for monitoring the sessions for two years.

BUCKET EXHIBITIONS
something to show for it

At least we had something to show for this era.  I had been bringing the Tortilla Press to the drawing sessions, so that during the model breaks we would make prints.  This cascaded into the BUCKET EXHIBITIONS, and we showed many of those prints at the "Deck The Walls" exhibition at the North Fourth Art Center.   

Our 88 prints
at the opening at the North Fourth Art Center
for the "Deck The Walls" exhibition,
on November 10, 2023


In fact, we showed 88 prints total -- from Albuquerque, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Texas/elsewhere and Mexico.

Ellie and I hung 88 prints
at the North Fourth Art Center 
in Albuquerque

Gary Cohen next to his print
showing at the North Fourth Art Center
 in Albuquerque


AI VIDEO

This seemed to be the month of AI Videos as I discovered new online programs and pushed the AI videos as far as I could:

Cloud People

These are the AI video programs that I used:

I think the YouTube videos probably show off the video AI muscle better than any explanation:

Moonvalley and PIKA LABS video by Krrrl


PlaiDay and PIKA LABS -- AI video by Krrrl


PlaiDay and PIKA LABS video
ModelScope Video2Video
EzGif
I further altered the PlaiDay video output
with more AI using ModelScope Video2Video


PIKA LABS Obsession

April 20, 2021
April 2023 Review
PIKA LABS
PIKA LABS Obsession
One of the first Ironman sculptures
at Lomas and 4th Street in Albuquerque
in 2021


PlaiDay by Krrrl


Not Whistler's Mother


They are now getting closer to making something like a movie with AI:
PIKA LABS upped their AI Video program and changed their name to just Pika on November 28, 2023.  I signed up for the waiting list in order to try the new features.


Moonvalley gave my drawing
an animated Peter Max feel


3D AI

3D in AI is also making big leaps.  I pushed these three AI 3D programs this month:
  • CSM (image-to-3D on Discord)
  • Genie by Luma Labs (text-to-3D on Discord)
  • MasterpieceX (text-to-3D animation)
    • Note: Latent Labs doesn't seem to work anymore on Discord

CSM

2D to 3D: I uploaded one of my better Midjourney 2D images to CSM, and generated a 3D file:

DOWNLOAD: "ropesculpture.GLB" (3.81 MB)


Tim and Adam at Quelab helped me 3D print the above 3D figure, as both a small one inch resin print, and (later) a large 7.5 inch PLA print:

Resin 3D Print
The one inch resin print
on top of the 7.5 inch PLA print


GENIE

On November 1st, Luma Labs premiered  -- Genie -- the text-to-3D generator on Discord; and I generated a "robot javelina" in Discord:

November 2, 2023
Luma Labs Genie
DOWNLOAD: Javelina_Robot.GLB (4.95 MB)


MASTERPIECE X

Later in the month I discovered Masterpiece X, which would not only generate a 3D file from text, but would animate it too:

Masterpiece X -- animated 3D
MasterpieceX
DOWNLOAD: An_artist_with_a_bad_haircut_1.GLB (18.83 MB)


2D AI IMAGES

Leonardo.AI

I revisited Leonardo.AI, mostly because it won't censor my figure drawings (unlike Midjourney);  it also lets me train models from my drawings; and it generates the best AI results in my figure drawing style.  It's still free, though there is a paid plan (which would not accept my VISA gift cards when I last tried it a while back):

I like this sculpture in my drawing style
generated in Leonardo.AI


AI sculpture in my drawing style
 blended with the style of Hans Bellmer


Midjourney

Midjourney introduced "Style Tuning," so that one can steer the results more towards a particular style.  But there is nowhere near the control you get when you train a model in Leonardo.AI:

November 2, 2023
Midjourney --style kACHEiRF
"Style Tuning" in Midjourney --
with the suffix "--style kACHEiRF"


AI EXHIBITION

I saw the most impressive physical AI Art show so far, by Jonathan Loth, at the North Fourth Art Center, down the hall from where we were exhibiting our 8x8 inch prints:

OPENING -- Deck The Walls -- at North Fourth Art Center
Jonathan Loth filled the walls of a whole room
with AI images 
at the North Fourth Art Center

LCM
AI in REAL TIME

In November a few programs surfaced that would create AI versions of one's drawing -- IN REAL TIME -- for every stylus mark one made on the computer screen -- Latent Consistency Models (LCMs).

I'm hoping that these programs will "correct" my drawings, as I draw the live model in real time.  Finally I might be able to draw!!!


LCM -- AI correcting my drawing in REAL TIME!
Terry Allen -- Juarez Album
In downtown LA 2014,
imitating Terry Allen's sculpture
because I can't draw


The Collab LCM program worked, but their model "corrected" my drawings into anime:

November 17, 2023 -- Portrait
The LCM program
corrected my bad drawing
in real time

I also discovered Drawfast to make random AI images: 

November 30, 2023 -- Random AI
Drawfast -- TDL Draw
Made in Drawfast,
adjusting for every stroke in REAL TIME



I bought a Samsung Galaxy S9+ tablet so that I could draw the model at the figure drawing session, and have the Internet correct my drawing in real time:

LCM -- AI correcting my drawing in REAL TIME!
Samsung Galaxy S9+ tablet


Leonardo.AI revisited
Testing the LCM program
on my new tablet


My first live model session
drawing on a tablet



RANDOM AI

It is just hard keeping up with all the new AI ART programs, and I found a few more in the last hours of November, which I listed in the Random AI blog post:

Krea Image Enhancer
upscales a low rez image


November 30, 2023 -- Random AI
Clipdrop -- SDXL Turbo
The first few generations in Clipdrop--SDXL Turbo
are free

November 30, 2023 -- Random AI
Clipdrop -- Face Swap
Clipdrop--Face Swap
will let you upload and replace faces,


PRINTS

We showed 88 prints -- 8x8 inches -- at the North Fourth Art Center during their final Deck the Walls art show.  Next year in 2024 the art center will be closing.

OPENING -- Deck The Walls -- at North Fourth Art Center
BUCKET EXHIBITIONS
second billing on the flyer


OPENING -- Deck The Walls -- at North Fourth Art Center
Art Collector Ray Graham
bought our AI print


OPENING -- Deck The Walls -- at North Fourth Art Center
Some of our artists and model
relaxing in the back room during the opening


I also pitched having a linocut printmaking workshop in Santa Fe, in the classroom at the new Vladem Contemporary Art Museum:

A Great Day in Santa Fe
I proposed having a linoleum workshop
in the classroom of the new Vladem art museum in Santa Fe


November 28, 2023
Open Press Print Exchange 2023
My Open Print Exchange
catalog arrived from Germany



QUELAB

I spend a lot of time at Quelab hackerspace in Albuquerque.  I aspire to try to use all their tools to make something physical from my drawings.  Adam CNCed one of my drawings into acrylic:


CNC my drawing into acrylic
Adam CNCed one of my drawings
into acrylic,
and I like the fuzzy shadow that it casts


Resin 3D Print
Tim 3D resin printed
a 3D file I generated with AI
from one of my drawings


 FIELD TRIP

November 6, 2023
Visiting the "Realist Gallery"  on Eli Levin's property 
in Dixon, New Mexico,


SOFTWARE

Real time AI rendering/correction is known as a LCM (Latent Consistency Model), and one can check an LCM out on Hugging Space:

temp
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Resin 3D Print

It took two hours to print this inch high 3D figure on the resin printer at Quelab on November 30, 2023:

Inch high resin 3D print


The one inch resin print
on top of the 7.5 inch PLA print
 

Important DETAILS
Supplies
  • Clean with 90% isopropyl alcohol
  • General cleaning with Sprayway glass cleaner
  • Clean FEP with microfibers, so as not to scratch it

We probably should have printed with ventilation as the fumes from the resin are probably not good for humans, even though there isn't a hard toxic smell.


3D OBJECT

I had generated the 3D file in CSM, from one of my AI drawings (based on my drawing style):

3D AI organic figures -- and 3D clay printmaking at UNM
DOWNLOAD: "ropesculpture.GLB"  (3.81 MB)


The 3D file was generated from the 2D image below:

Rope Sculpture -- Part 1
Leonardo.AI
I uploaded this 2D image, generated with AI,
to make the 3D image with AI


The actual 3D print was tiny,
one inch high





This tiny print
would easily fit on one of the individual keys
on the keyboard


THE PROCESS

We printed with a Phrozen Sonic Mini Desktop 3D Printer -- a resin printer -- using LYN Cast DLP 3D Printer Photopolymer Resin that we bought from Amazon -- slicing the 3D file with CHITUBOX:

Phronzen Sonic Mini
Desktop 3D Printer
 

First cleaning the "FEP" 
with a microfiber cloth
so as not to scratch it




Our FEP did have some scratches


"Focusing" the resin printer means moving the top down so that you can't move a 3x5 card underneath it:

"Focusing" or leveling the 3D printer
so that a 3x5 card cannot move under the top


Filling the FEP with resin


LYN Cast DLP 3D Printer Photopolymer Resin


Sticker on the back of the resin bottle



FEP screwed down


Sliced with CHITUBOX software

I am not entirely sure if the settings below are what we used:








We used the settings
for the Sonic Mini model


START






Note that the print is on the top
hanging upside down


The print hanging upside down




Clean up tray




Cleaning the print with 90% isopropyl alcohol




Lastly the print has to be cured with UV light:

Curing with UV light
on a turning disk




Sprayway Ammonia Free glass cleaner
works well for general cleaning
and is cheaper than 90% isopropyl alcohol


FASTER FASTER


Apparently there are faster resin 3D printers:

FAST & Smart 12K Resin 3D Printing
 -- Anycubic Photon Mono M5s





PLA 3D Print

UPDATE (December 12, 2023):  Adam made me a 7.5 inch PLA print, of the same 3D figure, on his Bambu 3D printer:

The 7.5 inch PLA print,
next to the one inch resin 3D print


The most amazing thing is that Adam printed remotely, uploading the file on his laptop at Quelab in Albuquerque, and printing the physical piece at his home in Rio Rancho:


The 3D file in the slicer software
on Adam's laptop


The printer's webcam streamed the progress, so that we could watch it printing on Adam's laptop in Albuquerque.  It took several hours to print (but less than 8 hours I believe):


Watching the printing live
from the streaming webcam of the Bambu 3D printer


Video of the progress
of the Bambu 3D printer

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