AI Art Prompt Ideas List

This year was significant in the world of AI art, with many major innovations taking place. For one, you may have noticed a lot of AI-generated art displayed on social media that is primarily generated with Stable Diffusion online. 

Stable Diffusion is an AI image synthesis model that has the ability to produce images by learning from a sizable collection of images gathered from the internet. It creates an infinite number of images using text-to-image prompts and picture-to-image generators. Stable Diffusion is open source, and the public can access it for free. Figuring out what prompts to use can be a little confusing, especially if you’re just getting started.

An AI art prompt should contain at least three to seven words and usually follows this structure: (Subject), (Action/Scene), (Mood), (Artist), (Filters). For example:

• “Tom Cruise, watercolour, in the style of Vincent van Gogh”
• “Cat sitting on a chair, melancholic, photography, film noir, bokeh”

Artists Described for Inspiration

You may also get ideas for your own work by looking at art created by established and world-renowned artists. Some recommendations to use for the artist in your AI prompt include:

• Yayoi Kusama: Renowned for her immersive and colourful installations, often featuring dots and repeating patterns
• Pablo Picasso: A pioneer of the Cubist movement, known for his abstract and fragmented compositions
• Leonardo da Vinci: A Renaissance artist, scientist, and inventor known for works such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper
• Banksy: Popular for his anonymous, politically charged graffiti and stencil artwork
• Rembrandt: Known for his realistic and expressive portraits
• Frida Kahlo: Created self-portraits that often depicted the pain and suffering she experienced in her life
• Vincent van Gogh: A post-Impressionist painter known for his bold, expressive brushstrokes and vibrant colour palettes
• Henri Matisse: Renowned for his colourful and expressive Fauvist paintings and paper cut-outs
• Salvador Dali: A Surrealist painter famous for his dreamlike, irrational, and surreal imagery
• Claude Monet: An Impressionist painter recognised for his paintings of landscapes and the effects of light on colour
• Andy Warhol: Distinguished for his Pop Art paintings and prints featuring celebrities and everyday objects
• Georgia O'Keeffe: Notable for her large-scale, detailed, and often abstract paintings of flowers and landscapes
• Jackson Pollock: Recognised for his drip paintings, in which he splattered and poured paint on canvas to create abstract compositions
• Marcel Duchamp: Known for his ready-mades, which were ordinary objects that he presented as works of art
• Edward Hopper: Famous for his realistic depictions of everyday life and landscapes
• Willem de Kooning: Celebrated for his Abstract Expressionist works
• Mark Rothko: Prominent because of his large, colour field abstractions
• David Hockney: Recognised for his colourful, figurative paintings and prints

Art Styles for Your Prompts

Here are some categories of art styles that you can play around with when creating AI art:

• Abstract: This aesthetic is characterised by non-representational, geometric, or organic forms that can include a wide range of colours and textures. It often has a modern or avant-garde feel.
• Minimalist: A style that imbues simplicity and minimalism and often includes a limited colour palette and simple shapes.
• Cyberpunk: Influenced by science fiction, it depicts a future world that is often dystopian and heavily reliant on technology. Cyberpunk also usually includes elements such as neon lights, cybernetic implants, and advanced robotics.
• Organic: This style depicts nature and includes elements such as natural materials, organic shapes, and earthy colours. It often has a calming, soothing feel.
• Geometric: Showcases precise, geometric shapes and patterns. This type of design can include a wide range of colours and textures, and often has a modern or futuristic feel.
• Sci-Fi/Futuristic: Inspired by science fiction, this style generally includes elements such as advanced technology, futuristic cityscapes, and space exploration. It often has details such as sleek lines and metallic finishes.
• Vaporwave: Incorporates elements such as neon colours, distorted or pixelated images, and references to consumer culture often associated with escapism themes.
• Gothic: A design that focuses on dark, moody, and mysterious or supernatural themes.

Mood Adjectives

You can sway the mood of a piece of AI-generated art by using specific adjectives. For example, to create an upbeat, positive mood for your piece, consider using mood prompts such as joyful, light-hearted, exciting, calming, soothing, playful, fun, bright, colourful, dynamic, energetic, passionate, romantic, vibrant, or vivid.

If you’re looking to create a moody, darker piece, consider using words such as sad, melancholic, nostalgic, sombre, intense, serious, mysterious, apocalyptic, dark, or bleak.

Art Mediums and Other Considerations

If you want your AI art to replicate certain aspects of art, here are some other prompts to think about:

• Medium: Oil on canvas, Chinese painting, graffiti, watercolour, graphite
• Lighting: Cinematic, film noir, fluorescent, moody lighting, silhouette, ultraviolet, x-ray
• Photography: Polaroid, double exposure, fisheye lens, bokeh

Start creating awesome AI-generated artwork with NightCafe–sign up for a free account. Learning Stable Diffusion prompt syntax will help you transform your imagination into a digital masterpiece.