Fantasy portrait prompt tips.
I have noticed that adding emotion and deep feel into prompts is what a lot of people lack in their creations. There are plenty of ways to write a prompt, but depending on if you’re trying to create scenery or portraits, here are some things that can help you.
Sometimes a prompt can be written almost like a story, with poetic rhythm. For this reason I have made some fascinating creations using lyrics from real songs, and the fun thing is that you’re never quite sure what AI is going to create. Lyrics are often obscure, but they have feeling.
Another thing is making sure AI listens to your prompts, which can be solved by writing everything in the right order.
For instance, when making a portrait, start with the camera angle, and some hints at vibe ( Dramatic, three quarter angle close up shot...)
Then move on to facial description and race. (….of a stunningly beautiful European woman with a diamond shaped face, pale skin and large green eyes.) Depending on how fussed you are you can say more or less, but if you make it too long that’s when I’ve found AI will just stop listening.
Before we move on to hair description, we have to add some expression, and some feeling. She might be pretty with green eyes, but what is she feeling? And what way is she looking?
(She is solemn, an expression of resolved determination playing across her delicate features. She gazes up at the darkening sky, looking through the camera as if it doesn’t exist. In her eyes is long forbearance and courage.)
Now, we move on to hair description, (Her hair is thick, falling over her shoulders in jet black springy curls, which flow out of the shot.)
Clothing, ( She is clad in a modest fantasy/medieval style gown made from delicate black silk adorned with red lace.)
Because this is a close up we don’t need to mention shoes or the length of the dress, however this will naturally be necessary for full body or distant shots.
Now. Backgrounds can be very varying depending on what style you want. For a close up, you want to start with either, (Behind her,) Or (In the background) as that way AI won’t be tempted to zoom out of your closeup.
(Behind her is a grey brick wall, ivy and tiny creeping toadflax growing in every crack where they can get a footing. An air of abandonment and memory.)
If you’re doing a full body shot, then (She is standing by an old grey brick wall, ivy and tiny creeping toadflax growing in every crack where they can get a footing. An air of abandonment and memory)
Last of all, more vibe inputs if necessary and the desired lighting effects. (Late afternoon lighting. What was a warm summer day is clearly fading to a dark night. There will be no moon)
Now, stating the fact that there will be no moon adds to the theme of the picture I am trying to make. There is no light in the darkness. In other words, a dark state of mind.
Models: left, Seadream V4, middle, Primo, right, Midjourney: (Dramatic, three quarter angle close up shot of a stunningly beautiful European woman with a diamond shaped face, pale skin and large green eyes. She is solemn, an expression of resolved determination playing across her delicate features. She gazes up at the darkening sky, looking through the camera as if it doesn’t exist. In her eyes is long forbearance and courage. Her hair is thick, falling over her shoulders in jet black springy curls, which flow out of the shot. She is clad in a modest fantasy/medieval style gown made from delicate black silk adorned with red lace. Behind her is a grey brick wall, ivy and tiny creeping toadflax growing in every crack where they can get a footing. An heir of abandonment and memory. Late afternoon lighting. What was a warm summer day is clearly fading to a dark night. There will be no moon.)
I often rework my original prompt templates, changing ages, races, genders, and vibes, to make a completely different picture. Feel free to use this one! This prompt is well suited to models like Seadream and Midjourney. I find Midjourney isn't very good at creating good looking characters, but that is a personal opinion. I have often struggled trying to make realistic content with Nano banana, as in my experience it leans toward fantasy digital art style, when presented with emotional or long prompts. This problem can be fixed by simply writing photo style, realistic ect, though it can get frustrating at times. I’m not sure about Nano banana pro, as I haven’t used it much.
Scenery and nature prompt tips.
Creating scenery, nature or animals is pretty easy, and obscure prompts aren't such a problem. But be sure to add plenty of vibes. Be they dark, dramatic, happy, dreamy, romantic or anything make sure you're expressive. Here are a few examples out of my own creations.
Model, Primo: (Dramatic, low angle shot, a tall shimmering bronze coloured wolf, it's chest slender, yet strong. It's snout is raised to the starry sky, sniffing the freezing air. It's feet, which are close to the camera are standing on a protruding rock, with crisps snow around it. There is the ghost of a pine tree printed against the sky)
Now this one is very simple, and doesn't seem to have much expressive vibe until you look at it closer. (The ghost of a pine tree) Now this is expressing something moody. And yes, the pine tree in the picture is alive, but in the first picture especially it has added the vibe I wanted, which can be hard with Primo. However if you tried the same kind of prompt with Midjourney it would be even more dramatic. I find Midjourney to be a better quality artistic model with a similar style to Primo. This is a descriptive prompt.
Model, Primo: (Very realistic. To their left grew the first trees of the willow forest, blue bonnets growing on the patches of ground that got sun through the canopy of leaves. The weeping willow trees grew thicker along the banks of the river, which now flowed abundantly with glittering blue water. Blue bonnets lined the edges, their fragrant head blowing in the slight breeze. Under the nearest tree, stood a pure black unicorn, it's glossy dark coat shimmering in the sun)
This prompt was taken from my fantasy novel, making it written in a different style. It still had a definite vibe which you will hopefully spot. warmth, summer flower, sunshine, however it was very difficult to work with. I used Promo, and kind of felt like I was fighting it the whole time, like it didn't want to work for me. I had to add the seemingly out of place (very realistic) at the start, and even so it was a very stylised horse, not a unicorn. So really, more descriptive prompts are better for more descriptive work. If you aren't really fussed if it's a horse, a unicorn or a Scottish Kelpie, then song and book verses are great. They are artistic. This fantasy passage seems reasonably expressive, but because of how it's written Ai takes the almost dreamy vibe.
Model, Primo: (A single white plum flower set against a very dark heavy sky. Rain is pouring, causing the flower to look a little battered, but it stands nevertheless, barely hanging on to what skerrick of hope remains in the world. All is darkness and decay but the flower shines on through happy and sad.)
This one was quite poetic, but because of how short and simple it was, there really wasn't much deviation Ai could do. If interpreted the vibes perfectly, because of how clear the message was. If things are poetic and mysterious, then Ai might become equally as mysterious. "How on earth did it interpret that?"
I hope this article was helpful and informative. Feel free to rework some of my prompts into your own amazing creations!
