STABLE DIGEST #16

Artist spotlight - Jenni Pasanen, plus StableAudio, fun tools & tuts, and more!

Sep 21, 2023

THIS WEEK’S ISSUE

Get ready for a new issue of Stable Digest that's sure to impress.

Stable Audio and Japanese InstructBLIP Alpha are here!

This week's spotlight features the ethereal creations of the ever talented Jenni Pasanen.

In Tools & Tuts, you’ll learn all about AnimateDiff, the spiral craze, SyncDreamer and UpsideDown Diffusion.

Finally, join us in celebrating the creations from our gifted community and learn how you can enter our Sticker-Scrapbooking Event!

Have suggestions for artists spotlights or community features? We wanna hear from YOU. Email us community@stability.ai

FOR THE COMMUNITY

Stable Audio

We're thrilled to introduce Stable Audio, a groundbreaking tool that revolutionizes the way you create music and sound effects! Using cutting-edge AI, you can now generate up to 45-second tracks for free or go Pro for extended, commercial-use tracks.

For the full story and how-to's, head over to our blog!

Japanese InstructBLIP Alpha

Earlier this month we rolled out our first Japanese vision-language model, Japanese InstructBLIP Alpha. From generating textual descriptions for images to answering questions based on visuals, this model is a game-changer.

Test it out now on Hugging Face and find all the nitty-gritty details on our blog!

BY THE COMMUNITY

For transparency, it should be noted that the items being showcased are not necessarily affiliated with our company.

TOOLS & TUTS

AnimateDiff

Been itching to get your hands on AI animation tools but didn't want to spend the money on a Gen2 subscription? Well, AnimateDiff just went through an upgrade and Nerdy Rodent will walk you through how to use it locally on ComfyUI!

Logo Art

If you have been on social media at all this week you’re sure to have seen the spiral craze started by Ugleh’s reddit post. Taking it a step further Sebastian Kampf walks us through the ins and outs of how to use this QR Code Monster ControlNet technique on logos, text and more!

Want to know how to do the same process on ComfyUI? Check out this tut by our very own Scott Detweiler!

SyncDreamer

This new technology turns a single picture into multiple, consistent 3D views, making it easier to create 3D images and models.

You can test out the code on Hugging Face or get your hands dirty in this colab by Camenduru.

Upside Down Diffusion

This fun little Hugging Face Space uses Stable Diffusion to create optical illusions! Dare we say you should give it a whirl?

MODELS & EMBEDDINGS

Take your creations to new heights with this cloud texture based LoRA for SDXL, Aether Cloud!

WITH THE COMMUNITY

STABLE SOCIETY DEEP DIVE - Jenni Pasanen

“I recommend that everyone stare at a wall at times.”

Hello Jenni, it's a pleasure to have you with us today! To get us started, could you tell us a bit about your artistic journey and how you went from working as a designer in a marketing/branding agency to becoming a full-time NFT artist? What were the biggest challenges or surprises in making that transition?

I've been doing art all my life; I haven't got a clue when I started as it has always been part of my life. Throughout my artistic journey, I've tested every technique you can imagine, from clay to coding to animation. My main tool, which I always return to, is digital painting; I've been doing it for around 15 years now.
I pursued my career and studies in Graphic Design and worked as a designer and animator in branding and marketing studios for 13 years. In my free time, I always did art and dreamed of becoming a full-time artist one day. Then one day, my friend sent me a message asking if I had heard of NFTs; I was immediately mind-blown. NFTs enabled digital artists to make a living with their art in its original form for the very first time. I already had some knowledge of crypto, so the learning curve was easier. I took a couple of months just to observe how everything works.
The biggest challenge, I think, was finding time to sleep because everything was so new and exciting. And of course, letting go of the career I had built for 13 years. But I knew that if I didn't follow my dream now, I would be an idiot. So, I ripped off the plaster and jumped into the unknown. It was scary but the best thing I've ever done in my life. It was the beginning of my dream, and I will always be grateful for every step along the way.

In previous interviews, you've talked about the importance of boredom in the creative process. How do you think this "unconscious creating" shapes your work, especially in a world that often equates productivity with constant activity? Do you have any rituals or practices that help you enter this state of "productive boredom"?

Walking and just sitting in silence. I go for walks almost daily. Often, I listen to an audiobook, but if I need to think or solve something, I just walk in silence. I also often work in complete silence when I need to focus. Sometimes, I just walk around my home or stand somewhere, looking at a wall. You need those little moments of stillness to solve problems. If our brain is constantly bombarded with distractions, we can't be productive, and our brain becomes lazy. So, I recommend that everyone stare at a wall at times.

Empress of Destruction & Empress of Creation - Jenni Pasanen

Your art has been described as having an "ethereal aesthetic," featuring faceless figures and dream-like landscape. What draws you to create these surreal, almost otherworldly images?

What I love about art is that you can bend what is real. Creativity and expression are gateways to one's heart and mind; they offer a glimpse into how one sees the world. In a way, that's how I see the world. What I see, I bend with my imagination, and the most lovely thing about imagination is that it makes the impossible possible. There's beauty everywhere and in everything, from the smallest rock to the endless horizon. I try my best to capture it on canvas, but sometimes, when you're hurt, everything is painted black. I use art as my tool to express who I am and what I feel, as I was never good at doing that verbally or physically, like dancing. So it became my way to speak.
There are multiple reasons I hide faces from the work I release. I've drawn faces all my life and find it curious and mysterious to hide them. The first thing we humans see and seek to observe in others is the face, as it tells us whether one is a friend or foe. This instinct goes back to a time when knowing this could save your life. It also serves as a challenge for myself: can you express emotions through means other than facial expression? I I love mystery and challenges, and this keeps me on my toes every day.

You've mentioned that humans limit their imagination to things they've experienced emotionally. How do you think AI, which lacks emotional limitations, has expanded your emotional palette in your art? Can you share an example of a piece where AI helped you tap into an emotion or concept you hadn't considered before?

AI can bring unexpected elements into situations that you're unconsciously directing with your "monkey brain." Even if we have evolved this far, we are still controlled by our own impulses. Breaking away from them allows you to create new connections in your head. I use AI for this, generating random abstract shapes and blobs, I am able to find more inspiration than I would be able to think of myself for any situation. Using ArtBreeder as my main tool. In a way, it works as a muse.

As someone deeply involved in the NFT art scene, where do you see the future of CryptoArt heading? What do you think needs to happen for CryptoArt to reach its full potential?

Mass adoption of crypto is needed. Most people still don't know how crypto works, so once everyone knows how to use it, it's a much smaller gap and step to start collecting art in digital form. The way is only up; the world turns more and more digitized every day.

In your early work you used Artbreeder at the beginning of your artistic process, which is a fascinating tool because they encourage artists to remix each other's work. How do you feel about this kind of open, collaborative artistic environment?

It's fun; you could describe it as a big blob of clay that everyone bunches together. In the general splicer, you cannot add your own images; it uses the BigGAN library, so we all just bunch the same target but with a little different twist in the wrist. Some variations are a complete mess, but if one person keeps refining the same blob over and over again, it starts to generate something more interesting and precise.

The world of AI is ever-changing, with new tools and techniques emerging rapidly. We just spoke of your process using Artbreeder and digital painting, have you experimented with any new AI tools or techniques that have expanded or enriched your creative process?

Yes, I try my best to test out new updates and technologies that come along. Very often, I accidentally skip one or two steps, as the speed is just impossible to keep up with. You have to unlearn everything you learned today to learn something new again tomorrow. "Lope" was super fun, as I got to also see more of the prompt and tech side. For me, AI works as inspiration and an extension of my craft.
The model I used was created by Huemin and No Usr, I provided them with my artwork for the material or dataset, while they were the tech masterminds and help.
I learned so much along the way from them, yet there is so much still to learn. Most of the time, my brain was just twisted and needed help with the simplest tech questions. I'm extremely grateful and send big love to those guys. As AI has proven, we are completely unable to learn everything by ourselves, so I think it's super important to work together on projects. That way, you're able to learn and share so much more. I think human connection, along with AI, is also important in creativity.

'Lope' is described as inviting the audience to free exploration and creative expression by merging human and machine skill. How do you see this merger evolving in your future works, especially after this collection? Are there any specific themes or techniques you're excited to explore in your next projects?

I would love to explore the possibilities that the blockchain enables and offers. I want to explore these more because never before was there a moment and chance to do them in history in just this way. You can suddenly turn a still work into an animation, dive into the code to find out a route that leads you to a completely new work, and create artwork that will only reveal itself 100 years from now.

Thank you for taking the time to speak with us! Would you like to share any additional thoughts with us and our community of readers, or give shoutouts to anyone who has been an inspiration to you along the way?

Oh, these questions are always so bad because I have so many names, and then I feel guilty if I forget someone. But here we go: From the very beginning of time, everyone who reached for their dream without fear and worked hard to achieve their dreams has always been an inspiration for me. Since I started to walk on my own dream path, there have been so, so many people I’ve wanted to give my gratitude and my whole heart to. They've always been helping, supporting, and inspiring—hearts made of pure gold. People I've met in the past few years have given so much joy and love to my life that I can never thank them enough. Big love to Chikai and Datzel, who encouraged and helped me in the very, very beginning of my journey. Love to every single collector and friend from Tezos, ETH to VET; you've enabled me to continue working on my dream and are forever cherished for the friendships we share online and IRL, Every DM, I see you all and try to give my little heart emojis if I am not able to comment. Sweet BLOOMies, HAGs, ArtHousies, HOMEis, MONOLITHies and oh, y'all, you know you I know you. You know I know you and I love you!