Prayers for the Rain
A collaboration between man and machine, this project began as a college assignment that required the use of AI-generated imagery which was something I was initially resistant to. Instead of relying solely on an automated process for text-to-image generation, I chose to take the little control I had by providing the AI with my own original artwork as source material. The results were reinterpreted, distorted, and reimagined through re-editing, printing, and collaging, using mixed media. I then scanned and formatted this new imagery into a book using InDesign. After that, I printed and bound the book by hand.
The final product explores the intersection between human thought and artificial mimicry, focusing on the mind’s emotional patterns, cycles, and occasional fragmented logic. What started as a forced experiment transformed into an introspective study on authorship, repetition, and the blurred lines between organic and synthetic creation.
One key insight that resonated with me was something said by Bradley Walsh: "Times change, and if you don't change with them, you get left behind." This statement became a form of permission for me, not to surrender to technology but to engage with it on my own terms.
Concept & Goals
For this assignment, I was tasked with incorporating AI into a project. From the start, I knew I didn’t want to just use randomly generated images from a prompt. Instead, I fed Adobe Firefly my own artwork as a style reference, which helped me create something more unique. One of my biggest challenges was getting the AI-generated imagery to not look like AI, if that makes sense. Since the goal was to generate imagery and bind it into a book, I felt that overly “digital” and too clean AI visuals would look out of place. I wanted the images to feel like they had been touched by a human, with some sort of tactile quality, so they would sit naturally on a physical page.
Themes
Prayers for the Rain examines the shifting emotional states of manic depressive disorder, focusing on the dualities of mania and depression, clarity and chaos, and isolation and connection. Rain is used as a central metaphor in two ways: as a symbol of cleansing, and as something overwhelming, destructive, and renewing, mirroring the cycles of mental states. The work addresses vulnerability, the search for meaning, and the continual process of rebuilding the self, highlighting the tension between opposites and the imperfections of humanity.
Original Work
These two pieces of mine became the style guide for the generated imagery. I foudn that these pieces had a lot of elements and minut details that the ai could pick up on, as well as the texture in both od these works.
Image Generation
Prompt 01
“A collage featuring networks and the visualization of madness with images of increased activity, fiery emotions with lots of reds, pinks and warm colors and fast moving atoms and lots of motion”
Output 01
Output 02
Output 03
Prompt 02
“Networks and the visualization of madness and restlessness with a lot of bright red colors circulating all around with red faces, voices and sound waves drenched in red and maroon, with tall ocean waves of blood red, and tall red scarlet ocean tides hovering over faces”
Output 01
Output 02
Output 03
Further Image Generation Examples:
Image Refinement
Once I had generated enough imagery to fill the book, I then started going in woith Adobe Photoshop and cleaning up. Removing random unecessary objects, soemtimes fixing things that didnt quite make sense. I would soemtimes remove the background for a few and implement some negative space since most if not all were jame packed with details it was alot to take in at once.
Original
Edited
Book Binding
This stage was definitely a trial-and-error process for me. I quickly learned that printing so many spreads takes time, and I had to figure out how to troubleshoot a print job on a tight turnaround. After several versions of the book and countless X-Acto knife cuts, I found my rhythm and fell in love with both the process and print publication in general.
The book was originally planned to be about 8 x 10 inches in landscape format, but after some testing and failed attempts, it ended up smaller—around 4 x 5 inches landscape. In the end, I think that size worked perfectly for such a personal project.
The cover was built from double binder’s board, which allowed me to inset a front cover image between the layers. Using two layers of board also gave the book more structure, helping it stand on its own and feel more like a substantial work of art. The weight gives it an almost “expensive” presence.
I hand-sewed the pages together with wax-coated thread, then coated the spine with multiple layers of PVA glue made specifically for bookbinding. Finally, I added small strips of glue to the first and last pages to secure the black pastedown pages, which connect the hardcover to the interior spreads.
Outcome & Reflection
I definitely took on more than I could handle with this project, but in the end I’m satisfied with how it turned out, especially given the requirement to use AI. I’m still not the biggest fan of AI in the art and design world, but this process opened my mind to its potential as a tool. Personally, I prefer to keep it out of my work, but with the current explosion of AI it’s clear I’ll need to keep learning and experimenting with it so I can have these techniques ready when new opportunities arise or when its use is necessary.
