Anatomy of the prompt

Setup point

To start with a new generation you have to setup the basics first. What I always do is choosing the model I like and leave the rest alone, for now. I really love the results of the model RevAnimated, so that’s also the one I use for this post to start with.

Hardware setup

  • 18 Solar Panels
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080Ti
  • Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060

Used sources

Prompt anatomy

A prompt can make you a great image, but a single typo or wrong placement of a word can messup your whole creation and results in a gompie. Prompts can be really complex and confusing so it’s important to know how the prompt works and how you can build one. Let me take you to a proven prompt anatomy and beaking up each part to explain what it does “add source of prompt anatomy”

The flow

A prompt flow looks like this: Subject (required) -> Medium -> Style -> Artist -> Website -> Resolution -> Additional details -> Color -> Lighting

Later I will add examples on each step of the flow, but first I’m going to tell you what each step in the flow means and what it does.

Subject - What do you want to generate?

keyword Note
Elsa from Frozen This is what your artwork needs to look like

Medium - Define a category of your artwork, below you have some examples of which you can use.

keyword Note
Portrait Very realistic drawings. Good to use with people.
Digital painting Digital art style.
Concept art Illustration style, 2D.
Ultra realistic illustration Drawings that are very realistic. Good to use with people.
Underwater portrait Use with people. Underwater. Hair floating.
Underwater steampunk Very realistic drawings. Good to use with people.

Style - Define the style of your artwork

keyword Note
hyperrealistic Increases details and resolution
pop-art Pop-art style
Modernist Vibrant color, high contrast
art nouveau Add ornaments and details, building style

Artist - Add the style of a specific artist Mentioning the artist in the prompt is a strong effect. Study their work and choose wisely.

keyword Note
John Collier 19th century portrait painter. Add elegancy
Stanley Artgerm Lau Good to use with woman portrait, generate 19th delicate clothing, some impressionism
Frida Kahlo Quite strong effect following Kahlo’s portrait style. Sometimes result in picture frame
John Singer Sargent Good to use with woman portraits, generate 19th delicate clothing, some impressionism
Alphonse Mucha 2D portrait painting in style of Alphonse Mucha

Website - Mentioning an art or photo site is a strong effect, probably because each site has its niche genre.

keyword Note
pixiv Japanese anime style
pixabay Commercial stock photo style
artstation Modern illustration, fantasy

Resolution - Improving the quality of the artwork results

keyword Note
unreal engine Very realistic and detailed 3D
sharp focus Increase resolution
8k Increase resolution, though can lead to it looking more fake. Makes the image more camera like and realistic
vray 3D rendering best for objects, landscape and building.

Additional details - Add specific details to your image

keyword Note
dramatic shot from a low angle
silk Add silk to clothing
expansive More open background, smaller subject
low angle shot shot from low angle
god rays sunlight breaking through the cloud
psychedelic vivid color with distortion

Color - Add an additional color scheme to the image.

keyword Note
iridescent gold Shinny gold
silver Silver color
vintage vintage effect

Lightning - Add specific lightning effects on your artwork

keyword Note
Volumetric Referencing to the presence of visible rays or beams of light in a space
Rim lighting It is a technique where the subject is illuminated from behind, creating a bright outline around the edges of the subject
Golden hour It is the period shortly after sunrise or before sunset when the sunlight is softer, warmer, and diffused
Blue hour It is the period just before sunrise or after sunset when the sky has a deep blue hue
Sunlight It helps to direct light emitted by the sun
Dimly light Create a moody or mysterious atmosphere
Broad Lighting Illuminates the side of the face that is turned towards the camera, making it appear broader
Loop Lighting Creates a small shadow of the nose on the cheek, forming a loop-like shape on the shadowed side of the face
Rembrandt Lighting Named after the famous painter, this technique creates a small triangle of light on the shadowed side of the face, below the eye
Butterfly Lighting Produces a small, butterfly-shaped shadow just below the nose

Time to generate some artwork

Setup your starting point

  • Model: RevAnimated
  • Steps: 20
  • CFG: 7
  • Sampler: DPM++ 2M Karras

1. Subject - Generate a couple of images

With a random seed -1 enabled you generate a couple of images, for this example I create 6 images with only a subject in the prompt; Elsa from Frozen

Your prompt looks like this: Elsa from Frozen

c1ec1bae79b059a64b4ec584805d6411.png

Quite impressive already, don’t you think? But we can do a lot of improvements by adding more details. Choose the image you like the most and take the seed of this image. I go for the top middle one with seed: 438922630

2. Medium - What category is used for you artwork

This part can be a bit confusing since we put the medium in front of the subject, but when you read your prompt you’ll probably understand why that is. Lets go for: Ultra realistic illustration and we generate 6 new images but now with the choosen seed as starting point.

Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen

0e16786b14ff2d0eecd988546479f048.png

As you will notice the results are more similar which is a result of using the same seed for all generated images.

3. Style - Adding some style

Now I will generate a couple of examples without changing the settings, I will only change the style in the prompt so you can see what it does. It’s possible that the results will not be 100% similar, this has to do with the changed prompt that will have influence on the calculations and results.

1. hyperrealistic Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, hyperrealistic 4897af50d920d60dfc4801b26836b304.png

2. pop-art Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, pop-art 3195d592fc87306de4697f2a97681487.png

3. Modernist Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist 060ae764ec8748ee1b5e9c77044e6877.png

4. art nouveau Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, art nouveau a6362082c7b8a8f5e10a669881e0c5bf.png

I like Modernist the most, so I’ll pick that one for the rest of the post!

4. Artist - Adding an Artist

When you add an artist to your prompt the AI will create an artwork in the artst style, for example thinking of Van Gogh, or Rembrandt, or combine both to make unique artworks based on the combined styles. Since that approach can also completely mess up your results I will leave that part for you own trial-and-error Friday evening. :)

1. John Collier Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by John Collier fd15d802486c43711292547a26a96f4d.png

In the first creation I’ve used “by John Collier” but you can also use a comma seperated approach which results in something totally different, up to you what you like most! Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist, John Collier eccf17741283a6e0bf40ac94b35d3f35.png

2. Stanley Artgerm Lau Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau 56ad84af74bbfeb0d083ad0f928450b0.png

Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist, Stanley Artgerm Lau 7bc7aabe33314fcc8a155aa5d2c4392a.png

As you can see in this example, the two different prompts will not always lead to completely different creations.

3. Frida Kahlo Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Frida Kahlo 5c7420b7a4c4cb40ee3c61030cb76311.png

Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist, Frida Kahlo f3053e2ad9f07531ab82b1b41514eec2.png

4. John Singer Sargent Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by John Singer Sargent 9060075168fa3fe75f172d668d72b723.png

Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist, John Singer Sargent 9351a16123fd3f91430d278b98ab1202.png

5. Alphonse Mucha Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Alphonse Mucha 304dee00e25aa62a9c2afb560998fa43.png

Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist, Alphonse Mucha 63ea5ed1bb51a845451aa3b0f3e66eb1.png

I like the first run from Stanley Artgerm Lau the most, so I will continiue with this prompt Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau

5. Website - Adding a art website as a reference

1. pixiv Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, pixiv f463d04bc1f824748194325fbd2447ea.png

2. pixabay Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, pixabay 4e533a15815e47586d409749e7bdfd88.png

3. artstation Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, artstation 966e4c0e4ad6d30c799e8b6272ab6f12.png

6. Resolution - Improving the quality of the generated results

1. unreal engine Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, artstation, unreal engine 38cb25cd06977739d870283b9d92614e.png

2. sharp focus Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, artstation, sharp focus 6a2fe7f40403c6a8d105d6e3407d5eeb.png

3. 8k Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, artstation, 8k ffb97313bb9b88a2e7a4800577a8d956.png

6. Additional details

1. dramatic Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, artstation, 8k, dramatic a2ca2af7b93b2c8735ef6e987f0eb215.png

2. silk Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, artstation, 8k, silk 12f6d3adeb81179b1c4544690a30c452.png

3. expansive Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, artstation, 8k, expansive 62a2f7f7cab7ed6fcd0ff6b4fda5e331.png

4. low angle shot Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, artstation, 8k, low angle shot 7ff502161fce20e918c235a562f5f0b0.png

5. god rays Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, artstation, 8k, god rays ce613da064c8b09f8f3b435e67fd5008.png

6. psychedelic Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, artstation, 8k, psychedelic 0b83123a2302f4a374cb8d63d0adaff0.png

7. Colors - Adding an additional color scheme to you artwork

1. iridescent gold Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, artstation, 8k, god rays, iridescent gold 16404324f2f2ba34e816e86c82cb73c9.png

2. silver Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, artstation, 8k, god rays, silver e29489fd40ea7a2b4863a79570734253.png

3. vintage Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, artstation, 8k, god rays, vintage 16b15a7c0563839e97c0e6db80ee64b1.png

8. Lightning - Add lightning effects to your artwork

1. volumetric Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, artstation, 8k, god rays, silver, volumetric a73815209883ba1265d397afa0bc5768.png

2. rim lighting Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, artstation, 8k, god rays, silver, rim lighting 1b7e8829fd6d06290f018f64f3d44981.png

3. golden hour Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, artstation, 8k, god rays, silver, golden hour d6b91da7cee9106c17d8a33a5db15361.png

4. blue hour Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, artstation, 8k, god rays, silver, blue hour 9087872940603c65481167f44caa6ca4.png

5. sunlight Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, artstation, 8k, god rays, silver, sunlight 00628931b5f6753a09a99a0cc5a3c34a.png

6. dimly light Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, artstation, 8k, god rays, silver, dimly light a5511862f9de5fddc757545a7ce83dc3.png

7. broad lightning Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, artstation, 8k, god rays, silver, broad lightning 42e30883fe3b71f751b51f4b9509aaf3.png

8. loop lightning Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, artstation, 8k, god rays, silver, loop lightning 864f75de7890bd907cac26a169bb79c4.png

9. rembrandt lightning Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, rembrandt light style, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, artstation, 8k, god rays, silver f47fe824096c1f2513b96039e11faa68.png

10. butterfly lightning Your prompt looks like this: Ultra realistic illustration of Elsa from Frozen, Modernist by Stanley Artgerm Lau, artstation, 8k, god rays, silver, butterfly lightning a5f27b9eb9c873ae0673c1fd04d40194.png