Joseph Nathan Cohen

Department of Sociology, CUNY Queens College, New York, NY

Abstract

Generating images in the style of abstract art.

This post is an installment in the Generative AI Art Style series, a practical knowledge project designed to help content creators fine-tune the aesthetics of their generated images by references to and descriptions of popular art styles.  Click here to read more on the project.

Click here to learn about this project

Click here for this style’s Wikipedia page

Generated Thick Descriptor:

Abstract art disregards realistic references, often conveying ideas via shape, form, color, and line. To create an abstract piece, emphasize the following: 1) Color: Use vibrant and contrasting hues to evoke emotion, 2) Shape and form: Deploy non-representative or non-objective shapes/forms to move away from realistic imagery, 3) Line: Employ various types of lines (straight, curved, thick, thin) to express movement or energy, and 4) Departure from reality: Strive for a non-literal representation, favoring creativity and individual interpretation.

The table below depicts New York City’s Times Square and Northern Ontario’s Lake Kenogamissi. The left column shows the results of a “thin” prompt, in which the style was requested in name only. The right column shows the results of a “thick” prompt, in which the generated prompt was used.

  Thin Thick
Lake
Times Square

These images show what Generative AI renders when one requests that an image be rendered in well-known art styles. This series does not purport to describe major art styles as understood in the art scholarship community. If you have expertise in art and want to explain why these images do or do not capture the essence of these fields, then please do so in the comments section below.