Week 10
Ai Art History Project – Renaissance, Baroque, and Surrealism
*Ai was Adobe Firefly, using the Nano-Banana Model
For the Art history project, I chose to use the Renaissance style, baroque style, and Surrealist art styles to showcase the capabilities of Ai in comparison to actual historical art.
The Renaissance was a period spanning the 14th through the 16th centuries in Europe, marking a profound rebirth of art, science, and culture after the Middle Ages. Originating in Italy and later spreading throughout the continent, it became known for its groundbreaking advancements in technology, politics, philosophy, and, most famously, its art. Key figures such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael shaped this era with their pursuit of balance, proportion, and natural beauty. Renaissance art was defined by its realism and humanism, with artists striving to capture the complexity of human emotion and the harmony of the natural world. Through precise perspective, soft lighting, and meticulous attention to anatomy, their work expressed the era’s central ideas: a renewed faith in human potential, the beauty of the physical form, and the belief that art could mirror both divine perfection and earthly truth.
The Baroque art style emerged in early 17th century Europe, blooming first in Italy before spreading across the continent through the influence of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. It sought to captivate the viewer through grandeur, drama, and emotional intensity. Key artists such as Caravaggio, Peter Paul Rubens, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and Diego Velázquez redefined the visual language of art by merging realism with heightened theatricality. Their works were characterized by rich, deep color palettes, dynamic compositions full of movement, and a masterful use of dramatic light and shadow contrasts to guide the viewer’s eye and inspire a sense of spiritual awe. The Baroque style aimed not merely to depict religious or mythological scenes but to move the spectator, to immerse them in moments of divine revelation, triumph, or human passion.
The Surrealist art movement arose in the early twentieth century, centered in Paris, during a time of disillusionment and intellectual change following World War I. Rooted in Freudian ideas about dreams and the subconscious, Surrealism sought to break free from logic and allow the imagination to lead. Artists such as Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, and Max Ernst became known for creating dreamlike, sometimes unsettling images that merged fantasy with a startling sense of realism. Surrealist works often featured strange juxtapositions, distorted perspectives, and vivid, precise detail, such as melting clocks, floating figures, and impossible landscapes rendered with near-photographic clarity. The movement aimed to express the hidden layers of the human mind, embracing emotion, irrationality, and wonder as essential parts of human truth.
Renaissance:
Prompt: A Renaissance-style oil painting of a young scholar bathed in golden light at an oak desk strewn with manuscripts and a quill, surrounded by marble columns, velvet drapes, and symbols of knowledge and mortality, depicted in deep contrasts of light and shadow.
Reference Image:
Compare and Contrast: The AI actually does a pretty impressive job of capturing the overall look and mood of Renaissance art. The colors in the generated image feel authentic, especially the warm yellows and earthy browns that are so common in real works from that era, and you can clearly see the resemblance when you compare it to the reference painting. The lighting and shading are also handled well, closely matching the soft contrasts you’d expect, though the AI version leans a bit heavier on the shadows, which makes the scene look slightly darker and more dramatic than a typical Renaissance piece. Even so, the stylistic accuracy is striking. From the way the figures are lit to the subtle choices in color and texture, the AI ends up capturing the Renaissance vibe much more closely than you’d expect. It’s very impressive how naturally it picks up on the details, and it really shows how well AI can mimic classic art styles.
Baroque:
Prompt: A dramatic Baroque painting of an angel descending through swirling clouds of light and shadow, illuminating a kneeling figure in awe below, with dynamic movement, rich crimson and gold fabrics, and dramatic contrast between light and shadow emphasizing the emotional intensity of the scene.
Reference Image:
Compare and Contrast: The AI-generated image captures many of the defining qualities of Baroque art, especially in how it handles lighting, color, and overall composition. It uses a strong, focused light source that cuts through deep shadows, closely mimicking the dramatic contrast Baroque painters often relied on to create a sense of depth and intensity. The warm golds and rich reds in the palette also feel true to the era, since those tones were commonly used in emotional or religious scenes. Even the layout of the image, with its flowing curves and angled shapes, helps guide the viewer’s eye in a way that echoes the movement and energy typical of Baroque compositions. Where the AI version differs is in texture and finish. The digital rendering looks smoother, with softer transitions between light and dark, whereas traditional Baroque paintings usually show visible brushstrokes, thicker paint, and sharper highlights. The AI’s lighting feels gentler overall compared to the bold, high-contrast edges found in many original works. Still, despite these differences, the image reflects the essential visual language of the Baroque style surprisingly well, showing how effectively AI can interpret historical aesthetics while maintaining its own digital clarity.
Surrealism:
Prompt: A surrealist painting of a melting clock suspended over a desert of floating staircases and faceless statues, beneath a sky that ripples like water, blending dream logic and impossible geometry in vibrant, uncanny colors.
Reference Image:
Compare and Contrast: The AI-generated image manages to capture many of the classic elements of surrealism, like objects behaving in odd ways, scenes that break the rules of nature, and a general sense that reality has been bent out of shape. But even with those similarities, something still feels off. The subjects look similar, yet the colors are far brighter and more cheerful than what you’d normally see in traditional surrealist art. Instead of creating a sense of mystery or unease, the image has a light, almost playful vibe, as if it belongs more to a fantasy world than to the strange, subconscious space surrealism aims to explore. Because of this, the piece ends up feeling technically accurate but emotionally shallow. It hits the visual notes without capturing the mood that gives surrealist art its depth and power. Overall, the image shows that while AI can imitate the look of a style, it struggles to convey the emotional weight behind it.
Thur, Nov 13 HW – Image and description of completed homework – HWDueDate 2025-11-13
For homework today, I created my prompts for the various Art styles for the Ai to generate images with.
Renaissance: A Renaissance-style oil painting of a young scholar bathed in golden light at an oak desk strewn with manuscripts and a quill, surrounded by marble columns, velvet drapes, and symbols of knowledge and mortality, depicted in deep, dramatic contrasts of light and shadow.
Baroque: A dramatic Baroque painting of an angel descending through swirling clouds of light and shadow, illuminating a kneeling figure in awe below, with dynamic movement, rich crimson and gold fabrics, and dramatic light and shadow contrasts emphasizing the emotional intensity of the scene
Surrealism – A surrealist painting of a melting clock suspended over a desert of floating staircases and faceless statues, beneath a sky that ripples like water, blending dream logic and impossible geometry in vibrant, uncanny colors.
Tue, Nov 11 CW – Image and description of completed homework – CWDueDate 2025-11-11
In class today, I was able to fully put together the luminary lamp. I ended up putting one additional layer of paint on the 4th panel(shown in image). Today I put the backgrounds of the panels on, as well as glued the entire thing together.
Tue, Nov 11 HW – Image and description of completed homework – HWDueDate 2025-11-11
For homework, I came into consultation on sunday, and was able to print out the last to elements of my luminary lamp, that being the flag pole, and the golf ball, which I glued on using wood glue, to give the elements the effect of “coming out of the page.” In addition, I was able to do a first layer of paint over the last panel. This means that all I have left to do in the luminary assignment, is (maybe) one more coat of paint over the fourth panel, and assemble the actual lamp.
Week 9
Thur, Nov 6 CW – image and description of completed homework – CWDueDate 2025-11-6
Today In class, I was able to complete my paragraphs for the Ai Art History Project. (See Below for the Paragraphs)
Renaissance – The Renaissance was a period spanning the 14th through the 16th centuries in Europe, marking a profound rebirth of art, science, and culture after the Middle Ages. Originating in Italy and later spreading throughout the continent, it became known for its groundbreaking advancements in technology, politics, philosophy, and, most famously, its art. Key figures such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael shaped this era with their pursuit of balance, proportion, and natural beauty. Renaissance art was defined by its realism and humanism, with artists striving to capture the complexity of human emotion and the harmony of the natural world. Through precise perspective, soft lighting, and meticulous attention to anatomy, their work expressed the era’s central ideas: a renewed faith in human potential, the beauty of the physical form, and the belief that art could mirror both divine perfection and earthly truth.
Baroque – The Baroque art style emerged in early 17th century Europe, flourishing first in Italy before spreading across the continent through the influence of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. It sought to captivate the viewer through grandeur, drama, and emotional intensity. Key artists such as Caravaggio, Peter Paul Rubens, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and Diego Velázquez redefined the visual language of art by merging realism with heightened theatricality. Their works were characterized by rich, deep color palettes, dynamic compositions full of movement, and a skillful use of light and shadow to guide the viewer’s eye and inspire a sense of spiritual awe.. The Baroque aimed not merely to depict religious or mythological scenes but to move the spectator, to immerse them in moments of divine revelation, triumph, or human passion.
Surrealism – The Surrealist art movement arose in the early twentieth century, centered in Paris, during a time of disillusionment and intellectual change following World War I. Rooted in Freudian ideas about dreams and the subconscious, Surrealism sought to break free from logic and allow the imagination to lead. Artists such as Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, and Max Ernst became known for creating dreamlike, sometimes unsettling images that merged fantasy with a startling sense of realism. Surrealist works often featured strange juxtapositions, distorted perspectives, and vivid, precise detail, such as melting clocks, floating figures, and impossible landscapes rendered with near-photographic clarity. The movement aimed to express the hidden layers of the human mind, embracing emotion, irrationality, and wonder as essential parts of human truth.
Thur, Nov 6 HW – image and description of completed homework – HWDueDate 2025-11-6
For homework, I came into consultation and was able to print my last panel for the luminary design project. Having this part completed leaves just needing to assemble the Luminary, and complete the art history project.
Tue, Nov 4 CW – Image and description of completed homework – CWDueDate 2025-11-4
Today in class, I made significant progress to complete the Ai art History project, where I gathered lots of information, specifically about the Renaissance, and compositional elements regarding the period, and I was able to formulate a rough draft of my paragraph for that aspect.
Tue, Nov 4 HW – image and description of completed homework – HWDueDate 2025-11-4
For homework today, I started working on the Ai Art History Project. I spent lots of time researching details about the Renaissance, Baroque, and Surrealist style of artwork, building the foundation for the paragraphs to be written about each style respectively.
Week 8
Fri, Oct 31 CW – Image and description of completed homework – CWDueDate 2025-10-31
In class today, I painted my third panel, as well as painted a few missed details on other panels. All I have to do on all three panels at this point is do more coats of white paint on the clouds. Now in the luminary project, all I have left to do is my fourth and last panel.
Fri, Oct 31 HW – Image and description of completed homework – HWDueDate 2025-10-31
For Homework today, I was able to make the linework for my madella from the shapes that were already in place. The lines shown in the image are larger than they are going to be when printing, just so they are easily visible. Having the Mandella complete, allows me to begin working on our final project, the art research project.
Wed, Oct 29 CW – Image and description of completed homework – CWDueDate 2025-10-29
For today, I continued to work on my layered mandela, finishing the actual design of the the project, now all I have to do is the lines for it. I also was able to complete a print of the luminary, and cover it in chalk. From here, I have to paint the cut-out luminary panel, and complete the linework on the Layered Mandella.
Wed, Oct 29 HW – Image and description of completed homework – HWDueDate 2025-10-29
For homework today, I worked on my layered mandela, adding significant detail, and worked heavily on both the first and third layers.
Week 7
Thur, Oct 23 CW – image and description of completed homework – CWDueDate 2025-10-23
Absent, Concussion
Thur, Oct 23 HW – image and description of completed homework – HWDueDate 2025-10-23
Unable to complete Homework, Concussion
Tue, Oct 21 CW – Image and description of completed homework – CWDueDate 2025-10-21
In class today, on the first panel, I went over the details, as well as did another layer of white over the clouds to make them appear more white. Additionally, I was able to complete another panel’s painting. The second panel’s painting was much simpler than the firsts’ so at the end of class I had time to make some slight adjustments to my mandella, but nothing significant or particularly visible.
Tue, Oct 21 HW – image and description of completed homework – HWDueDate 2025-10-21
For homework today, I started, worked on, and made significant progress to a layered mandala project. This was my first mandella that had layers, and doing this allowed me to figure out, and manipulate design concepts that I had either not used, or only briefly touched on. Doing this also both solidified and quickened by ability to do many techniques that were used on the previous mandela, such as centering and pasting around a point, as well as joining segments, and working with fragments.
Week 6
Fri, Oct 17 CW – Image and description of completed homework – CWDueDate 2025-10-17
Today, after finishing up the printing of my second panel, I was able to do the painting of my first panel, since the shellac had dried. Most of the painting of the first panel is now done, however I would like to go over the clouds with 1-2 more coats of white, as well as finishing the detailing along the edges.
Fri, Oct 17 HW – Image and description of completed homework – HWDueDate 2025-10-17
For homework today, I went to consultation twice, and managed to print out another panel, as well as spray the printed panel with chalk so that the panel can be painted. I am anticipating being able to print out a third panel in class, as well as painting the printed panel, in hopes of creating a more refined outcome.
Wed, Oct 15 CW – Image and description of completed homework – CWDueDate 2025-10-15
In class today I was able to paint a test print to see if and/or how it enhanced the project, as well as fully printing out the first panel. During the printing of the first panel, the golf club came off, and after discussing how to solve it with Mr. Brodie, we deciding on doing a 3d print of the golf club.
Wed, Oct 15 HW – Image and description of completed homework- HWDueDate 2025-10-15
For homework, I went over all of the linework, and fixed the issue that I ran into the during last class. I went over each panel one making sure there were no parts with overlapping lines. Afterwards, I went back through to double check each panel’s etching was accurate to its artwork by looking through the etchings while toggling the artwork visibility.
Mon, Oct 13 CW – Image and description of completed homework- CWDueDate 2025-10-13
In class today, I realized two things were off about by Luminary. For starters, the etches were not set to 0.0001 stroke width, making it impossible to print, and secondly, many of the etches had multiple strokes going over etch lines, giving the piece many more strokes than needed(See images #2 and #3 for example). In the images, the first image has an additional stroke, and in one instance this is not a problem, however on a larger scale, this issue adds lots of lag, and adds issues to the actual printing process.
Mon, Oct 13 HW – Image and description of completed homework- HWDueDate 2025-10-13
No homework to complete -> Everything up to date complete, I tried going in on Sunday to print but didn’t get a chance to.
Week 5
Thur, Oct 9 CW – Image and description of completed homework – CWDueDate 2025-10-9
In class today, I followed the Watkins: Creating Ornate Mandalas – Adobe Illustrator Tutorial. While doing it, I learned how to rotate around a center point, as well as various other effects with layering. I was able to take creative license from the tutorial, applying the knowledge learnt to create my own piece of art.
Thur, Oct 9 HW – Image and description of completed homework – HWDueDate 2025-10-9
For homework, I redid the throughcut lines to fit all of the adjustments I made over the last several days. Several Days ago, I adjusted all of the positioning of the background objects, and moved several objects closer to the front. In turn, this made the old throughcut lines inaccurate, as they were all set to positions, sizes, and in many cases shapes that were no longer present, and if left unattended would ruin the cut.
Tue, Oct 7 CW – Image and description of completed homework – CWDueDate 2025-10-7
When I test printed for homework, I realized that there was far too much linework in the fourth panel, causing the whole section to look cluttered and broken up. Therefore, in class today, I cleaned up the linework by removing many lines in the head and body of the golfer to cut down on over-detailing the panel. However I was unable to make a test print, as the printer was in use all class.
Tue, Oct 7 HW – Image and description of completed homework – HWDueDate 2025-10-7
For homework, I went in on Sunday to do a test print since I didn’t get to do one last class. After seeing how it worked out, I made a plan for how to continue with the project. I need to redo the etch work on my fourth paragraph, and do it by hand, because the outlines done by pathfinder create too many etches.
Week 4
Sat, Oct 4 CW – Image and description of completed homework – CWDueDate 2025-10-4
Today I combined by artboards into more on one continuous image, rather than 4 separate artboards, as well as completed the final element of the fourth panel, and added more clouds
Sat, Oct 4 HW – Image and description of completed homework – HWDueDate 2025-10-4
For homework I added detailing to the sky for a more completed image. I also set up the base/background of the fourth panel (see sketches for plan of what’s going there).
Wed, Oct 1 CW – Image and description of completed homework – CWDueDate 2025-10-1
In Class today, I formatted everything properly which allowed me to complete a test-print of my first panel, and so far, everything looks to be good.
Wed, Oct 1 HW – Image and description of completed homework – HWDueDate 2025-10-1
For homework, I completely finished the throughcut etching, aswell as went to consult to make a test print, however the test print did not work, which made me have to go back and delete the bushes, as they were too dense.
Mon, Sept 29 CW – Image and description of completed homework – CWDueDate 2025-9-29
In class today, I worked on my vector through cuts, and got to the point where I will likely be able to do a test print in consultation tomorrow. Most of the time was spent working out the logistics of cutting the flag pole out, in order to make it 3d.
Mon, Sep 29 HW – Image and description of completed homework – HWDueDate 2025-9-29
Today for homework I finished my first three panels, adding detail work, and finished the golfers in all images. Also, I added the etching for all of the completed panels.
Week 3
Thur, Sept 25 CW – Image and description of completed homework – CWDueDate 2025-9-25
In class today, I was able to finish the first and third panels, while detailing and adding more depth to the second panel. Also, I discussed with Mr. Brodie on how I could make certain aspects of the design “pop out of the page,” which is why you see both the golf ball, and the flag pole on the sides of the artboards.
Thur, Sept 25 HW – Image and description of completed homework – HWDueDate 2025-9-25
For homework today, I worked on the finer detailing of the first panel, and began to work on the second. I finished the outline of the golfer, and began detailing, both of which look longer than expected to complete.
Tue, Sept 23 CW – Image and description of completed homework – CWDueDate 2025-9-23
Today in Class, I mostly experimented with the AI image generator, and creating images that would fit into my vision for the luminary. The Ai turned out to be more difficult to work with than I thought, which caused me to have to spend more time then planned on working out how to efficiently use it.
Tue, Sept 23 HW – Image and description of completed homework – HWDueDate 2025-9-23
For homework today, I further refined my sketches, this time, doing them full scale. In this newest design, I redesigned the first panel, making the angel now from the front, allowing me to add a three dimensional golf ball coming out of the image(see below image).
Week 2
Sat, Sept 20 CW – Image and description of completed homework. – CWDueDate 2025-9-20
In class today, I defined my sketches, attempting to add more emotion and more of a three dimensional perspective. I also played around with different ways to make the project more 3 dimentional(literally) by having elements coming off of the page. for instance, in panel 3 either by having the ball in the air coming out of the page, or by having a close zoom in where the ball also comes off the page
Sat, Sept 20 HW – Image and description of completed homework – HWDueDate 2025-9-20
For homework today, I created a design for how my luminary panels will look. I designed the panels so they would all flow into each other going around the lamp. Meaning that the first one flows into the second one just as well as the fourth panel flows into the first panel. The panels follow the story of a golfer going through a hole in a golf course, where you can see both him and his ball, as well as other hole(s) in the background. For panel one, I also labeled several key elements in case of any confusion as to what certain drawings are supposed to be.
Thur, Sept 18 CW – Image and description of completed homework – CWDueDate 2025-9-18
In class today, I picked a theme, and wrote up an explanation for why I chose the theme, additionally I gathered some reference images for the project.
2-3 ideas for Theme
- Golf – Have played since I was young, my grandfather introduced me to the sport, large part of growing up, lots of negative space involved, very large course offers lots of space for designing(meaning it can be one continuous image)
- Beach – Spend most of the summer there, have a house on the shore, fun, associated with my family because they’re also down when I’m there
- Lawrenceville – Where I spend most of my time period, large part of me developing, large part of who I am, and who I’m developing into
- Brown – I spent the last summer there, made many of my closest friends there, grew me the same amount in 3 weeks than my freshman year, mother also went there so it’s sentimental for not just me, but her,
Why my Chosen theme(Golf) Matters:
After much thought, I chose golf as the theme for my luminary lamp. For me, golf is a lifelong passion sparked by my grandfather when I was younger. Although I wasn’t hooked at first, it grew into something I enjoy doing when I have free time, with me golfing several times a week over the summer. This personal background, mixed with the fact that golf offers a way to easily blend the four tiles into one continuous piece, while incorporating lots of negative space makes it the perfect luminary theme for me.
Reference images:
Thur, Sept 18 HW – Image and description of completed homework – HWDueDate 2025-9-18
The homework assigned was to complete the project that you can see in Mon, Sept 15 CW. With that said there was no homework for me to complete.
Mon, Sept 15 CW – Image and description of completed homework – CWDueDate 2025-9-15
In class today I was able to create a laser cut of my drawing of my snowy landscape. I created the etching, vector through cuts, as well as doing the actual laser cutting.
Mon, Sept 15 HW – Image and description of completed homework – HWDueDate 2025-9-15
For homework, I created more contrast in the artwork, organized the layering and the whole document more, created the etch lines and prepared the artwork to be laser printed.
Week 1
Thur, Sept 11 CW – Image and description of completed homework – CWDueDate 2025-9-11
Absent, Sick
Thur, Sept 11 HW – Image and description of completed homework- HWDueDate 2025-9-11
Tue, Sept 9 CW – Image and description of completed homework – CWDueDate 2025-9-9
Today I learned how to:
- Create Ai Generated Vectors
- How to turn things to grayscale
- How to create contrast in artwork
Tue, Sept 9 HW – Image and description of completed homework – HWDueDate 2025-9-9
Week 0
Sat, Aug 16 HW – Image and description of completed homework – HWDueDate 2025-8-16
Sat, Aug 16 CW – Image and description of completed homework – CWDueDate 2025-8-16
Sun, Aug 17 HW – Image and description of completed homework – HWDueDate 2025-8-17
Sun, Aug 17 CW – Image and description of completed homework – CWDueDate 2025-8-17