Artist Spotlight | Quiet Volcano
Quiet Volcano
The Artist Spotlight is your inside look into the influences, collaborations and prompts that drive the NightCafe community.
We catch up with some of our most original creators to find what inspires them, who their favorite creators are, and how they use image generator algorithms as part of their work.
NC: WHAT INFLUENCES YOUR WORK?
There’s a few strong influences in what I make. First -and it’s going to sound cheesy - but my family and my home. I come from a family background filled with both amateur and professional artists, so I grew up learning a lot about the arts in general, and was exposed to a lot of both classical and contemporary art. That family background has influenced which artists I use as modifiers and what styles of art I’m going for at different times. I do tend to lean heavily on artists I know, or artists I’ve come across thanks to my family.
My home state is also a big influence, as it has a great variety of terrains and climates, from desert to forest to wetlands and mountains. Temperatures here can vary wildly even in the same season, I’ve seen it snow in early summer, and gone in just a t-shirt in winter. It feels like you never know what the weather is going to do here. Many of my top pieces contain elements of the storms and wildfires common across my home state, as well as the variety of terrain here.
Second: other creators. There’s a lot of amazing creators on NightCafe, and their unique styles have heavily influenced what I’m trying to do, or have put me toward new paths. I quite often “borrow” prompts from Adansito, SodaKhan, KinginYellow, Tdraw, as well as many other artists on the site. I have definitely moved outside my routine thanks to seeing the variety around NC, and the many, many styles used. For instance, I’d have never thought of using needlepoint or crochet as an art style had I not seen it come across my feed.
Lastly, cinema and books. For most of my life I have been a voracious consumer of books and film. A lot of my ideas for creations, especially involving animals, come from books or cinema. From astronauts in NeoTokyo to magical portals, to strange orb-filled worlds and post-apocalyptic cities, if it’s some off the wall idea, or surrealist sci-fi image, it very likely had some influence from a novel or film.
NC: MOST UNDERRATED NIGHTCAFE ARTIST?
Can I only name one? There’s a handful of artists I really enjoy, and admire. That said, I think u/Azbats, u/L4pinator, and u/Gazelli all deserve a lot more looks than they get. They all have a good number of likes and followers, so maybe not underrated, but I feel like I don’t see their work hit the top spots as often.
All three have a unique and consistent style throughout their work, but also a lot of variety within those styles as well. All three have heavily influenced my own current creations as well, whether it be prompts or art styles I try to emulate to some degree. I feel like they aren’t seen as much because their output isn’t as prolific as others, but all three are really incredible.
NC: PROMPT THAT MOST SURPRISED YOU?
"Anna Dittmann". The day that Stable released I tried her name as a prompt and the way that influences portraits was striking! The soft yet intricate and detailed nature of her work really comes out when used in Stable. It was quite a surprise. I have probably overly used her name as a prompt since.
Another one that surprised me that I have to mention is “Adorable.” Using ‘that one has been so much fun, and I was shocked by how fun it can make images of everything from kaiju to rabbits in coffee cups.
NC: TIPS ON PROMPT WRITING?
I think u/adansito nailed this one, composition wise, so I’d defer to his breakdown:
"1. Main subject
2. Secondary subject
3. Artists names/style
4. Photography/artistic prompts
5. Specific colors (optional)
Example: A deer passing through (main subject) an abandoned neon city (secondary subject), by Dan Mumford and Victo Ngai (artists name), 8k resolution, a masterpiece, 35mm, hyperrealistic, hypermaximalist (photography/artistic prompts), crimson, jade (colors)
NOTE: the order DOES matter on writing prompts, so it is better to write what you want FIRST."
That said, composition aside, I recommend being open to new ideas, always seek to think outside your own experience by searching for artists, styles and formats on both NightCafe and online in general.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with something you don’t know, or are unfamiliar with. Experiment as much as you can, and don’t consider any piece a failure. Not only do you learn from the ones that don’t turn out, but you can always use them as start images or recycle them into prompt sets later.
NC: WHAT LED YOU TO USE NIGHTCAFE?
I was reading about AI generative art online late at night, and while the article was mentioning sites and projects I’d heard of, none of them were open to the public at the time. They were all research projects, or just not finalized and open yet.
Wanting to try it out, I hopped online and searched for “AI Text-to-Image creation”, and came across a Reddit post leading me to NightCafe. I joined up that night. Not a very exciting story, haha, just me reading science blogs at night and going to Google, but I’m glad I did!
NC: WHAT KEEPS YOU COMING BACK TO NIGHTCAFE?
WhileNightCafe is hands down my favorite way to create generative art. I’d be using it to create art regardless.
But the community is the big reason I’m so active on the site. I love the community here, and there truly isn’t anything like it in any art group or site I’ve been to. It is definitely the most welcoming, and pleasant online community I’ve been a part of.
Also the art people make on NightCafe is just incredible. There’s a breadth and width in style represented on NightCafe that I just don’t see anywhere else.
It’s really incredible what people are creating, and just hopping on my feed, or exploring is always going to keep me coming back to the site.