Okay, so yesterday I was messing around with some AI image generation stuff, right? And I got this wild hair to try and make some pics of… get this… female Roman soldiers. I know, sounds kinda goofy, but I was curious what the AI would spit out.
First thing I did was hop onto my usual AI image generator. I ain’t gonna name names, but you know the kind. Typed in something basic like, “female Roman soldier, wearing armor, realistic”. Hit generate and… well, it wasn’t great. Lots of weird anatomy, armor that looked like it was made of plastic, and faces that were just… off.
So, I started tweaking the prompt. Added stuff like “highly detailed,” “photorealistic,” “ancient Rome,” and even threw in some art style keywords like “Greg Rutkowski” (apparently that guy’s a big deal in the AI art world). Still, the results were kinda hit or miss. Some were okay, but nothing that really screamed “badass female legionary”.
Then I figured, maybe the AI was struggling with the whole “female” thing combined with “Roman soldier”. So I tried separating it out. First, I generated a bunch of male Roman soldiers, focusing on getting the armor and weapons right. Then, I tried generating realistic female faces and figures. My thinking was, I could somehow Frankenstein the two together in Photoshop or something.
That didn’t really work either. The styles were all wrong, and trying to blend them just looked… janky. Plus, I’m no Photoshop wizard. I can do basic stuff, but not like, seamlessly merge AI-generated images.
Finally, I stumbled onto this forum where people were sharing their AI art prompts. And I saw this tip about using negative prompts. Basically, you tell the AI what not to generate. So I added stuff like “deformed,” “mutated,” “bad anatomy,” “plastic armor,” “unrealistic,” and a bunch of other negative keywords.
And that actually made a HUGE difference! The AI still wasn’t perfect, but the images were way more consistent and believable. The armor looked more like metal, the faces were less wonky, and the overall quality just went up.
I ended up generating a whole bunch of variations, playing around with different armor styles, weapons, and poses. Some of them looked pretty cool, even if they weren’t 100% historically accurate. I mean, it’s AI art, not a documentary, right?
One of the things I learned is that the more specific you are with your prompt, the better the results. Don’t just say “armor.” Say “lorica segmentata” (that’s the segmented Roman armor). Don’t just say “sword.” Say “gladius.” The AI seems to respond well to that kind of detail.
I also found that adding emotional keywords helped. Like, “determined,” “fierce,” “courageous.” It gave the images more of a narrative feel.
- Experiment with different prompts. Don’t be afraid to get weird and try things you wouldn’t normally think of.
- Use negative prompts. They’re a lifesaver for getting rid of unwanted elements.
- Be specific with your keywords. The more detail you give the AI, the better.
- Don’t expect perfection. AI art is still evolving, so be prepared for some imperfections.
All in all, it was a fun little experiment. I didn’t create anything groundbreaking, but I learned a lot about how to use AI image generators to get the results I want. And hey, I got some cool pics of female Roman soldiers out of it. Not bad for an afternoon’s work!
