Watercolour portraits with AI
Portrait study with botanical greens
In this series I experimented with generating portrait and figurative studies that resemble loose watercolour paintings. I was interested in how AI interprets the softness of washes, the bleeding edges of pigment, and the delicate balance between line and colour.
Some images lean toward portraiture; others drift into dreamlike forms and creatures. I like how some results feel closer to half-formed visual sketches than finished paintings.
Process
These images were generated using DALL·E 3 with prompts focused on soft watercolour washes, loose, minimal linework, and a delicate, mysterious colour palette.
Portraits & abstract figures
Prompt example
“Minimal, loose, watery and flowing line art, delicate, tiny, flowing shrouded figure kneeling in the belly of a whale, mysterious, Indigo, Hooker’s Green Deep, Cerulean Blue, Sepia Brown, Pale Lavender watercolour washes on textured paper”
Reflection
What I enjoy about these experiments is how AI predicts the unpredictable — those qualities of watercolour that encompass accidental blooms, bleeding pigment, and dissolving edges.
While these images are digital, they capture a looseness and spontaneity that makes painting in watercolour so appealing.
