A Library's Eye View

Generative art collaboration with Libraryscapes

Image one by author. Image two by Libraryscapes. Used with permission.

Welcome

Welcome to the first April edition of Eclectic Extras. I have enough collaborations going that I will, at least for now, publish twice a month so my fellow artists don’t end up waiting a year to see their stories in print.

Today’s collaboration is a special treat. Libraryscapes is an artist near and dear to my heart. Their entire Instagram image collection is dedicated to libraries! Not that I’m particularly attached to books or anything.

You can find Libraryscapes on Instagram

The Collaboration

As usual, Libraryscapes and I used Chippy’s 444 collaboration format. If you’re not familiar with this format, you can read about it in the first collaboration post I did with Mixed AI Art. As always, I wrote the story to go with the images.

Image A by author. Image B by Libraryscapes. Used with permission.

However, there’s also a twist to this collaboration. Libraryscapes doesn’t use Midjourney and the 444 format proved to be somewhat problematic. Libraryscapes heroically worked with multiple versions of different platforms to create and refine their images. Here’s the process as they described it:

“I ran a batch of 4 using VQGAN+CLIP. Without changing the prompt, I used the output as my start image for Stable Diffusion 2.1. I then, without changing the prompt, did the same thing using Stable Diffusion 1.5. Finally, I repeated the process again using the 1.5 images with 2.1.”

Whew! That’s a lot of work. And their images are stunning. We chose our favorites from each to use for this story.

All of the words used in the collaboration can be found in the images in this section, but so you don’t have to parse each of our “private” words from within the prompts themselves, here is the complete list of each of our words.

Libraryscapes’ words: cozy, ominous, liminal, dark, intricate, luminous, reef, complementary colors (That last one is two words, but we cheat a bit sometimes.)

My words: library, seabed, coral, dream-like, surround, creatures, magical, books

Now onward to the story to see where the inspiration from the words and images led me. (I did incorporate all of the words into the story.)

The Story

The prompt words Libraryscapes and I used to create our images provided the threads for a rich tapestry. Where better to set it than in not one, but two libraries? I hope you enjoy the story I’ve woven for you.

A Library’s Eye View

Philippa was accustomed to her grandfather’s cozy library with its illustrated books, wall hangings and bookcases in complementary colors, and luminous comfy reading nooks. There she had spent her summer days as a child and every spare moment as she grew into first a teenager and later a young woman.

She would choose a nook and surround herself with her beloved books. They would transport her to fantastical kingdoms filled with magical creatures. And there she would remain, lost in a dream-like fantasy world until her mother called her to supper.

Little had she known that this liminal existence was only a prelude to an adult awakening which had led her to this dark, ominous reef. How could her parents have married her off to the sea king? Treaty or no, she preferred her feet firmly on solid ground.

Instead, she now found herself beginning a new life with a husband who was all but a stranger to her, at the bottom of a deep ocean in a strange castle held within a bubble of air. At least Azumao, having asked her grandfather what might please her, had built her a library as a wedding gift. And he was fair to look upon and, by all accounts, kind. She supposed a princess couldn’t hope for a better marriage.

But outside the windows of her library lay not grass and trees, but a seabed with an intricate garden of coral. It was beautiful to behold, but she couldn’t step outside to enjoy its beauty without drowning. Not to mention the fearsome beasts that swam past looking as though they desired nothing more than to break open the precious dome that provided life to those living within and eat them for breakfast.

A gentle hand on Philippa’s shoulder startled her from her thoughts. She looked over that shoulder to see Azumao’s smile. He tilted his chin toward the window at the creature swimming past.

“Would you like to ride?” Azumao asked.

“I beg your pardon, my lord?”

“Please, dear heart. I am your husband. Call me Azu.” He again indicated the creature that had turned and again swam past in the opposite direction. “Beimi is your mount. He’s anxious for you to ride. And I want to show you the wonders of your new home.”

Philippa looked from the beast outside the window to her husband and back. “But Azu,” she said, “I can’t go out there without drowning.”

Azu laughed, but it wasn’t taunting or cruel. Philippa found herself laughing with him.

“My dear, I wouldn’t let you drown. A simple injection will alter your physiology so you will ever after be able to breathe in air or in water. It is a gift of the gods to all our people.”

Philippa turned from the window, first in shock, then wonder. She had thought the sea king and his people to be of a different lineage than her branch of humans. She had never dreamed she could become like them.

She turned back to the window, seeing what lay beyond with new eyes. It now seemed like a magical world out of a storybook—a wondrous new world to explore, rather than a prison to confine her.

As Azu’s arms wrapped around her from behind, she leaned her back against his chest, feeling as though she had truly come home. “Thank you, husband. I would love to ride Beimi and to have you share your beautiful world with me.”

Azu stepped out from behind Philippa and took her into his arms. She tilted her face up to his and returned his warm kiss willingly, wondering what other delights this sea king had in store for her.

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Afterword

Libraryscapes was an wonderful collaboration partner. We enjoyed finding a way to make the process work across platforms, though, truthfully, they had to work a lot harder at it than I did. My friend, when you read this, my hat is off to you.

You can see the six images we published on Instagram.  Libraryscapes’ images are the odd numbered ones (1, 3, 5) and mine are the even (2, 4, 6). Enjoy!

On April 30th, I’ll publish “Portal Master,” the result of a fun collaboration with p.ai.nterly, another great artist you can find on Instagram.