Tutorial: How ChatGPT and Leonardo.Ai turned my labyrinth scribble into a Sci-Fi artwork for my DIY Techno label

I'm a believer in the idea that when it comes to using AI for creativity, it's best when there is a collaboration between humans and the AI. And not a situation where all tasks are simply delegated to the AI - or worse, the AI "replaces" the artist.

At the same time, it's amazing what possibilities AI has to offer for the aspiring artists, and how AI can *enhance* one's own works.

So here is a use case, specific to a project I worked on.
And more specifically, I needed an artwork for a Techno / Acid House compilation on my digital DIY label.

I didn't want to use a "generic" AI art, right?
At the same time, my own art skills are... strictly limited!

Thus I came up with this idea:

I scribble a little artwork on a scrap piece of paper.
And let's see if AI could transform it into a "real" artwork.
And, to give the AIs a little challenge, I literally drew the lines of a labyrinth, on a piece of paper, with a pen, following my imagination. Took me about 20 seconds; no reworks, no filling out of things.

Here it is:

It's just a doodle or a scribble, and not even a very... "skilled" one, in my opinion!

Could AI turn it into something cool or not?

Step 1: was drawing the labyrinth.

Step 2: I took a photo of the labyrinth with my outdated 2020 phone.
I fire up ChatGPT (free user version), explain the situation to the AI, and ask it if it is are willing to do the task. ChatGPT then asks me about some further details, for example: should it be a medieval dungeon type of labyrinth, or a futuristic cyberpunk one etc, should it be realistic, or look like an illustration, and so on.

I go for the futuristic version. And this is the result:

Step 3: not bad already? But, to my tingling "artist sense", this is more like a jewel in the rough.
As I had some very good experiences with another AI art creator - Leonardo.AI, I explain to ChatGPT that I'd like to enhance the picture in Leonardo, and ask it to supply me with some cool prompts to do so.
I also ask it add some extra features, such as golden colors and the technological structures.
And ChatGPT agrees.

Step 4: I upload the ChatGPT created "basic" labyrinth art into Leonardo, and use it as "content reference". Content reference in Leonardo means that a source artwork is going to get used as the root or inspiration for a new creation. And you can toggle how "close" to the original artwork the result should be.

I then generate the new art, using the prompt that ChatGPT created for me to use with Leonardo and the image.

Here is the result:

Not bad again, right?

Still... looks a bit lifeless, IMHO!

As it is bound to be a sci-fi artwork... why not fill it with the life of... aliens, robots, or cyborg?

Step 4: So I fire up Leonardo again. I task Leonardo to create a cool silver alien / cyborg looking guy.

I let Leonardo remove the background, I download the file.
I fire up a freeware art app, load the new labyrinth AI, load the cyborg art.
I shrink the cyborg art and place it on random places in the labyrinth.

This is the result:

Looks like crap, right? A bit like a failed copy / paste thing... but this is intentional, and doesn't matter, because Leonardo has our back, again!

Step 5: I upload the "collage" art into Leonardo, and use content reference again.
Because of this, Leonardo creates an image that follows a similar concept than mine, but looks... a lot better!

(Note that in this case, the art and labyrinth look slightly changed now - this is because it did not matter for my project, so I did not set the reference "strength" to a higher level. But for your own projects, Leonardo could create an image that would look very close to the source).

I am more than "okay" with the art, so everything is ready for release now.

And as a bonus. Leonardo created 4 final artworks. I used one. So I still have 3 more artworks for future entries in this compilation series. Without any extra effort!

And even if you still think the art is lacking in some way, or is over-the-top, or whatever...
You must admit that it is a long from my pen-and-paper labyrinth that we started with!

I hope that this tutorial could help you with your own creativity in some way. Of course it would not need to be a labyrinth or something futuristic.

You can use it for every task, and with most material as a source. Your own imagination is the only limit here.

There were some minor "middle" steps that I did not include in the tutorial. But I think it's enough to give a picture of how it works...

But, if you have any comments, questions, criticism, and so on - feel very free to contact me!