Playing With Midjourney V4 is Like Improvising With Words and Pictures

This riff started by prompting red irises

All images were created by the author in Midjourney.

I thought I knew a lot about prompting for eye colour in the human eye. One of my previous articles was on that subject. Scrolling through an online AI art group, someone asked how to prompt for red eyes. That’s easy! Others pointed out that “red eyes” often refer to redness surrounding the eyes. So Mr Clever Prompter waded in confidently.
“Just prompt: red irises / white sclera”
As soon as I pressed enter, I had a strange feeling.
“Should I test that out?”

The pictures above are the result. That is different from what the poster was after. I rushed back, cap in hand, and we all laughed. Silly old MJ gave us the flower Iris and some actual red eyes in two senses of the word. It sent me off on a trail of different coloured irises and what other misunderstandings could arise.

I’m an improviser, a jazz pianist. I approach AI art like I approach playing the piano. I start with a seed idea, play around with it, and see where it leads. MJ becomes my bass player and…