How to Write Effective AI Art Prompts?

Janani Marimuthu
7 min readOct 16, 2023
How to Write Effective AI Art Prompts — A simple guide

AI art prompts are creative cues or instructions that you can give to artificial intelligence systems that can generate stunning and original images based on natural language inputs. AI art prompts can be used for various purposes, such as enhancing your visual content, exploring new artistic possibilities, or simply having fun with AI. But how do you write effective AI art prompts that produce the results you want? In this blog post, I will share some tips and examples on how to write AI art prompts for different AI image generators based on my own experience and research.

The Structure of an AI Art Prompt

There is no fixed formula for writing an AI art prompt, but a general structure that works well for most AI image generators is:

[image content/subject, description of action, state, and mood], [art form, style, and artist references], [additional settings, such as lighting, colors, and framing]

For example

A cat on the sofa, sleeping peacefully, impressionist style, warm colors

This prompt tells the AI to generate an image of a cat on the sofa, sleeping peacefully, in an impressionist style, with warm colors. You can use commas to separate the different elements of your prompt and be as specific or vague as you like. However, keep in mind that some AI image generators have limits on the length or complexity of your prompts, so you may need to adjust them accordingly. Check the image generated on this prompt below!

A cat on the sofa, sleeping peacefully, impressionist style, warm colors
A cat on the sofa, sleeping peacefully, impressionist style, warm colors

How to Write an AI Art Prompt Step by Step?

How to write an art prompt

Here are some steps that you can follow to write an effective AI art prompt:

#1 Choose your image content/subject. This is the main focus of your image, such as a person, an animal, a place, an object, or a concept. You can use nouns or phrases to describe your content/subject. For example: A unicorn, a sunset over the ocean, a haunted house, a birthday cake.

A unicorn, a sunset over the ocean, a haunted house, a birthday cake.
A unicorn, a sunset over the ocean, a haunted house, a birthday cake.

#2 Add a description of action, state, and mood. This is where you can add more details and emotions to your image content/subject. You can use verbs, adjectives, and adverbs to describe what your content/subject is doing, feeling, or looking like. For example: A unicorn flying in the sky, a sunset over the ocean with dolphins jumping out of the water, a haunted house with ghosts and bats flying around, a birthday cake with candles and sprinkles.

A unicorn flying in the sky, a sunset over the ocean with dolphins jumping out of the water, a haunted house with ghosts and bats flying around, a birthday cake with candles and sprinkles.
A unicorn flying in the sky, a sunset over the ocean with dolphins jumping out of the water, a haunted house with ghosts and bats flying around, a birthday cake with candles and sprinkles.

#3 Choose your art form, style, and artist references. This is where you can specify the aesthetic and artistic aspects of your image. You can use nouns or phrases to describe the type of art form (such as painting, drawing, collage), the style (such as realistic, abstract, cartoon), and the artist references (such as famous artists or artworks that you want to emulate or contrast). For example: A unicorn flying in the sky in a watercolor style inspired by Monet’s paintings; a sunset over the ocean with dolphins jumping out of the water in a pixel art style reminiscent of Super Mario games; a haunted house with ghosts and bats flying around in a gothic style influenced by Tim Burton’s movies; a birthday cake with candles and sprinkles in a pop art style similar to Andy Warhol’s works.

A unicorn flying in the sky in a watercolor style inspired by Monet’s paintings; a sunset over the ocean with dolphins jumping out of the water in a pixel art style reminiscent of Super Mario games; a haunted house with ghosts and bats flying around in a gothic style influenced by Tim Burton’s movies; a birthday cake with candles and sprinkles in a pop art style similar to Andy Warhol’s works.
A unicorn flying in the sky in a watercolor style inspired by Monet’s paintings; a sunset over the ocean with dolphins jumping out of the water in a pixel art style reminiscent of Super Mario games; a haunted house with ghosts and bats flying around in a gothic style influenced by Tim Burton’s movies; a birthday cake with candles and sprinkles in a pop art style similar to Andy Warhol’s works.

#4 Add additional settings if needed. This is where you can fine-tune your image by adding more options and preferences for things like lighting (such as bright or dark), colors (such as warm or cool), and framing (such as close-up or wide-angle). You can use adjectives or phrases to describe these settings. For example: A unicorn flying in the sky in a watercolor style inspired by Monet’s paintings with soft lighting and pastel colors; a sunset over the ocean with dolphins jumping out of the water in a pixel art style reminiscent of Super Mario games with vibrant lighting and contrasting colors; a haunted house with ghosts and bats flying around in a gothic style influenced by Tim Burton’s movies with dark lighting and muted colors; a birthday cake with candles and sprinkles in a pop art style similar to Andy Warhol’s works with bright lighting and colorful colors.

A unicorn flying in the sky in a watercolor style inspired by Monet’s paintings with soft lighting and pastel colors; a sunset over the ocean with dolphins jumping out of the water in a pixel art style reminiscent of Super Mario games with vibrant lighting and contrasting colors; a haunted house with ghosts and bats flying around in a gothic style influenced by Tim Burton’s movies with dark lighting and muted colors; a birthday cake with candles and sprinkles in a pop art style similar to Andy W
A unicorn flying in the sky in a watercolor style inspired by Monet’s paintings with soft lighting and pastel colors; a sunset over the ocean with dolphins jumping out of the water in a pixel art style reminiscent of Super Mario games with vibrant lighting and contrasting colors; a haunted house with ghosts and bats flying around in a gothic style influenced by Tim Burton’s movies with dark lighting and muted colors; a birthday cake with candles and sprinkles in a pop art style similar to Andy Warhol’s works with bright lighting and colorful colors.

Top 5 Image Generation Tools

There are many AI image generators available online that you can use to create images from your AI art prompts. Here are some of the best ones that I have tried and recommend:

1.LimeWire: LimeWire is an AI-powered content publishing platform that allows you to create amazing generative images using natural language inputs. You can also publish your creations on LimeWire and receive up to 90% of all ad revenue. LimeWire has an AI Studio feature that lets you choose from different categories of images (such as animals, landscapes, portraits) and styles (such as realistic, abstract, cartoon) and generate multiple images from your prompts. You can also edit and expand your images using various tools and options. Check out my personal review on Limewire!

2. DALL-E: DALL-E is an AI image generator that can produce multiple images from your inputs with options for editing and expanding them. It can also create images from unusual or impossible combinations of words. For example, you can try prompts like “a pineapple wearing sunglasses and a hat” or “a dragon made of flowers” and see what DALL-E comes up with.

a pineapple wearing sunglasses and a hat
A pineapple wearing sunglasses and a hat
a dragon made of flowers
A dragon made of flowers

3. Jasper Art: Jasper Art is an AI image generator that can create images inspired by various art forms and moods using AI prompts. It can also generate four watermark-free images at once. For example, you can try prompts like “a city at night, futuristic style, neon lights” or “a portrait of a woman, cubist style, bright colors” and see what Jasper Art creates.

a city at night, futuristic style, neon lights
A city at night, futuristic style, neon lights
a portrait of a woman, cubist style, bright colors
A portrait of a woman, cubist style, bright colors

4. StarryAI: StarryAI is an AI image generator that can customize and craft images based on your preferences. It can also use existing images as inspiration or sources. For example, you can try prompts like “a logo for a coffee shop called Starry Night” or “a painting of my dog in the style of Van Gogh” and see what StarryAI generates.

a logo for a coffee shop called Starry Night
A logo for a coffee shop called Starry Night
a painting of my dog in the style of Van Gogh
A painting of my dog in the style of Van Gogh

5. Artbreeder: Artbreeder is an AI image generator that can create images by blending and mutating different images. You can also explore and discover millions of images created by other users . For example, you can try blending images of animals, landscapes, portraits, or artworks and see what Artbreeder produces .

Blending images of animals, landscapes, portraits, or artworks
Blending images of animals, landscapes, portraits, or artworks

Where to Find AI Art Prompt Ideas?

Where to Find AI Art Prompt Ideas?
Where to Find AI Art Prompt Ideas?

If you are looking for some inspiration or ideas for your AI art prompts, here are some sources that you can check out:

  • Reddit: Reddit is a popular online community where you can find various subreddits dedicated to AI art prompts and challenges. Some examples are r/AIartprompts , r/AIartchallenge , and r/AIart . You can browse through the posts and comments and see what other people have created or suggested.
AI Art Sub-reddit
AI Art Sub-reddit
  • Pinterest: Pinterest is a visual discovery platform where you can find and save ideas for various topics, including AI art prompts. You can search for keywords like “AI art prompts”,“AI art ideas”, or “AI art examples” and see what pins come up. You can also create your own boards and pins to save your favorite prompts and images.
Pinterest Ideas
Pinterest Ideas
  • Instagram: Instagram is a social media platform where you can share and discover photos and videos, including AI art prompts and images. You can follow hashtags like #aiartprompts , #aiartideas , or #aiartexamples and see what posts come up. You can also follow accounts that post AI art prompts and images regularly, such as @aiartprompts , @aiartideas , or @aiartexamples .
Instagram trending Hashtags
Instagram trending Hashtags

Final Words

AI art prompts are a powerful way to communicate with AI image generators and create amazing visuals. By following a simple structure and using vivid details and concrete language, you can write effective prompts that produce the results you want.

You can also explore different tools and styles to find the best fit for your projects. However, you should also be aware of the limitations and risks of using AI image generators and use them responsibly and ethically. I hope this blog post has helped you learn how to write AI art prompts and inspired you to try them out yourself. If you have innovative prompts that need to be tried on, drop your comments here, and let me add those prompts to this blog with your usernames! Tata.. ByeeByee from Jana!

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Janani Marimuthu

Content writer 📝 | WordPress designer 👩🏻‍💻| Graphic designer 💻| On-page SEO specialist 🖱️| Backlink creator 🔗| AI Enthusiast 🤖K-drama Addict📺|