How AI Helped Me Paint an Idea That Was Already Living in My Mind
"Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time."
— Thomas Merton
Do you see it?
 |
| Original photo taken with my Samsung A12 Phone |
Before you continue reading, I'd like to ask you something.
When you look at this photograph...
What do you see?
Do you simply see the reflection of a woman standing by a balcony, taking a photo through a sliding glass door?
Or...
Do you see a silhouette embracing the sky?
Do you notice how the clouds seem to cradle her profile?
Do you feel the quiet conversation between the woman and the horizon?
Most people would probably scroll past this image without giving it a second thought.
But I couldn't.
Because I didn't just see a reflection.
I saw a painting waiting to happen.
That's both the blessing and the curse of being an artist.
We stop in places where everyone else keeps walking.
We notice stories hidden in ordinary moments.
We fall in love with light that lasts only a few seconds.
And sometimes...
...we see an entire painting inside a photograph that nobody else notices.
From Photoshop to AI: A New Way of Sketching Ideas
For years, whenever I had an idea in mind, I would manually create my studies using Photoshop.
I'd spend hours combining photographs, adjusting transparency, experimenting with layers, changing skies, moving elements around, and trying to make my vision appear on the screen.
It wasn't cheating.
It was thinking.
Photoshop became my sketchbook before I ever touched the canvas.
But technology continues to evolve.
So do artists.
Recently, I began exploring AI—not to replace painting, but to help me explore possibilities faster.
Instead of spending several hours creating one digital study, I could experiment with dozens of visual directions in one evening.
Not because I wanted AI to create my artwork...
...but because I wanted to ask it,
"Can you show me another way to see this?"
That question changed everything.
The Painting Was Never About the Girl
 |
| Prompt 2: Enhance the photo |
At first, I thought I was creating a silhouette against the sky.
But as each AI study evolved, I realized something unexpected.
The painting wasn't about the woman.
It wasn't even about the city.
It became about everything she carries within her.
The city slowly found its way inside her silhouette.
The buildings no longer stood behind her.
They became part of her.
And suddenly...
The painting began telling a story I hadn't consciously planned.
Perhaps that's what creativity really is.
Sometimes the artwork knows where it wants to go before the artist does.
 |
| Enhanced with AI Prompt 2: Can you make the buildings overlap with the silhouette |
Why This Concept Speaks to Me
As I refined the composition, every element seemed to find its own meaning.
The soft sky became hope.
Not the loud kind of hope.
But the quiet kind that reminds us another sunrise is always possible.
The city became life itself.
Busy.
Complex.
Beautiful.
Sometimes exhausting.
Always alive.
Then came my favorite part.
Instead of painting every building with perfect detail, I imagined allowing parts of the skyline to dissolve into loose brushstrokes.
Some buildings would remain complete.
Others would simply disappear into the clouds.
Some would quietly melt into the woman's silhouette.
Why?
Because life isn't finished.
Neither are we.
I wanted the viewer's imagination to complete the painting.
Perhaps they would see their own city.
Their own memories.
Their own unfinished dreams.
That, to me, is far more meaningful than painting every window.
An Artist Doesn't Just Paint What She Sees
It's permission to explore.
Every version became another conversation.
"What if the clouds were softer?"
"What if the buildings faded?"
"What if the city lived inside her instead?"
Each question brought me closer—not to AI's answer—but to my own.
In the end, the final reference didn't replace my creativity.
It revealed it.
The real painting still hasn't been painted.
The canvas is still blank.
The brushes are still waiting.
And that excites me the most.
Because the AI reference is only the beginning.
The heart...
The brushstrokes...
The textures...
The imperfections...
Those will still come from my own hands.
The Story I Hope You'll See
 |
| Prompt: Get the sky on image no. 2 to soften the clouds. |
As I look at the final concept, I no longer see a woman looking toward the horizon.
I think it's about the worlds we carry within us.
People see only our profile.
They don't see the dreams.
The memories.
The struggles.
The places we've been.
The hopes we're still building.
The unfinished buildings melting into the woman tell a beautiful story.
We are all unfinished masterpieces.
Perhaps that's why I wanted the buildings to disappear into light instead of ending with sharp edges.
Because our stories don't end where others stop seeing them.
They continue.
Quietly.
Beautifully.
One brushstroke at a time.
To Be Continued...
If you've read this far, thank you for joining me at the very beginning of this creative journey.
You may have noticed something.
I haven't shown you the final reference that I'll be using for this painting.
That was intentional.
Just as every good story unfolds one chapter at a time, I want this painting to reveal itself in the same way.
The concept is now clear in my mind.
The composition has found its voice.
But the canvas is still waiting.
The brushes are still clean.
And the first stroke has yet to be made.
In my next blog post, I'll reveal the final reference that emerged after countless explorations and share how I begin translating a digital study into an original acrylic painting. You'll see how I interpret the colors, simplify the composition, and allow the brush—not the computer—to tell the rest of the story.
Because this is where the real adventure begins.
After all...
AI can help me imagine.
But only my hands can paint.
I hope you'll join me for the next chapter as this idea slowly transforms from a simple reflection on a balcony into what I hope will become one of my most meaningful paintings yet.
Until then...
Keep looking at the world with curious eyes.
You never know when an ordinary moment might become your next masterpiece.
🎨 See you in the next issue of Cascade Art Studio.
