This project is an exploration into playing with watercolour imagery using Machine Learning. I have no idea where this will end up, but here goes....
I started off by getting almost 2000 watercolour paintings. I fed them into StyleGAN2 using RunwayML and generated these beautiful abstract watercolour artworks.
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![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/f6cbc80a-c652-4044-b5d7-216b75f3fd2e_rw_1200.jpeg?h=fce74a69cb10cc9fd2158476a156273b)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/25946cdb-f673-4ad9-a179-582de4729e86_rw_1200.jpeg?h=ff6d0a27753c8284dffd49f4f58c67ba)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/1993132c-4175-461d-9513-a17c24d2b57c_rw_1200.jpeg?h=7ffe575cbe0e9618cabb80c7cdc2c77c)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/c4a0bfd5-984d-424c-98f4-b9808fe7abf5_rw_1200.jpeg?h=7629eb1d775f96e5efccc3bc494715a0)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/1bfa2da0-cfc8-4648-9789-c98f65222500_rw_1200.jpeg?h=80547e6943a4c09ff88cdd2ee4039073)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/81844f7a-b66a-4853-a5be-22c00e06301c_rw_1200.jpeg?h=0f08af9daca27071c06e68f86d9d4b47)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/04de8f7d-a438-4f15-a79c-96f9478d794d_rw_1200.jpeg?h=4d873a2cc22e3e40c2b37a654f785c6a)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/e77bba0f-6e1a-47b3-8385-dc331d495c27_rw_1200.jpeg?h=02108b99958b834851e51b8122249fe3)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/678a43c0-397d-40fd-b48a-7cefa854c9e7_rw_1200.jpeg?h=75080c8b66151a189435e4cdec598630)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/e0bc3030-e41b-4182-be26-4c34d18dc817_rw_1200.jpeg?h=ccee6d5d1001ce77fb3d20cb224d6c5c)
I asked the AI what does it see in the abstract watercolour paintings it created (using annotation algos) . Interestingly enough it said that it sees some forms in the abstracts, which I previously never saw. But when read them, I did see some of them too. I think I might have something going on in this dance with the AI.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/9538a737-83ee-44c1-adb6-ad97a822fe7d_rw_1200.jpg?h=c6fc53ae592f412ecc34f5d809ff0e71)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/dcee2ef3-4fe6-49e0-af76-3779d87a7148_rw_1200.jpg?h=bb5477507bee10d2eedafc0b4317d878)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/3a0bc8cf-f420-4489-b331-80702634220f_rw_1200.jpg?h=25891ab45d7cc8dce94cfd4e92926921)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/a146c012-cd3d-4b4c-abc1-777a14924dc6_rw_1200.jpg?h=d8f6e65d0fda99ef1e90d96e3c6e2a5b)
What I did next was to feed the text back to the machine using AttnGAN to find out "is that what you are really seeing machine? Or do you have a preconceived notion in mind". The machine did have a similar yet different ideas about them. I love this dance!
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/91ddb344-60b9-4b88-818d-db4894d25e9b_rw_1920.png?h=d749254ef1a9d7dc8267c9ef284e3cd3)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/a91bccb1-a085-45c2-b844-fa747cce9361_rw_1920.png?h=25be6ff59719703d0a95e58c62ad5987)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/d2da19d0-7b48-4c4d-afdf-32db215a9f9b_rw_1920.png?h=d80fed0911b3a3324debbe3a6d5e9e78)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/a166e1b7-f10e-4b9e-b975-30e4d7f38bc7_rw_1920.png?h=7d1d07ddee123178cc669cfa97a655e2)
My friend and Georgia Tech Professor Devi Parikh used some of the abstracts to have a conversation with a bot to find out what exactly it sees. Check these out:
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/8faa0305-233d-49f1-8d37-b6964855b390_rw_1200.png?h=abe55798f4533148bd6a684044020064)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/e4fc1a8d-4601-4790-b970-9b211bec5694_rw_1200.png?h=48cea34786e1f2d0515e6ec8b8cd64c0)
I tried feeding one of the watercolour abstracts as a seed image and then running a loop image-text-image-text. Some of them generated interesting results after sometime:
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/6201f9e1-955e-4c2f-9db5-b8b89d102a9b_rw_1200.png?h=9f4e1e4571a62c9b763fcc299a89e637)
While others went in an infinite loop
I started generating some interesting artworks out of the system, by cherry picking what looked best
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/cad7b920-4230-4949-b78b-4cd42ca790c3_rw_1200.jpeg?h=8ae8be1f982dfb2a9cd5ea957909db19)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/d6b9b5de-e1bf-437c-8866-0ab692651986_rw_1200.jpeg?h=4f065db81b4f32154cb6ceaf55248d9f)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/f0a2bdc0-3874-42e8-8d11-55d7d0865bf9_rw_1200.jpg?h=ef63b5685f7d724d30d97ec474a77f9a)
Making some beautiful rocks in Watercolour
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/c95e7e45-e179-4eec-bba5-62db05ae31ca_rw_1200.jpeg?h=27ad9e388e3bfd4a1d83421e11bc12ca)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/367d5702-25f9-43b1-b7c0-8f3a155e0cb5_rw_1200.jpeg?h=ca868ff5794607a9268ec383142cb254)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/1b986a6f-2544-4892-a035-aaf54efb23f7_rw_1200.jpeg?h=b89f808249aee52fb87758b9bda81e3c)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/c5c48512-15fb-45ef-87f9-b14aa811eff0_rw_1200.jpeg?h=fd13fbcc265bdb32be027b54f744aa27)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/7d621219-b69c-44f4-b9d8-7d7deb51bdfc_rw_1200.jpeg?h=4313b65ba02df060be6f18e47a5d93f5)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/74c27338-f489-4843-adf2-6bcbf9ac2606_rw_1200.jpeg?h=228e5bd470b8fd3abc3734e74fc23bd8)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/014e924c-c0de-446c-bf08-42447864134f_rw_1200.jpeg?h=7ccab08db9453a080896021879721841)
Up next I used one of the watercolour abstracts as a seed to redraw it with my own human imagination. No drastic changes though.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/6081c61e-9106-45dc-b40c-90c101bb1084_rw_3840.jpg?h=7665fe19c9693be3c695c908151945ee)
Then, I tried using the watercolour abstracts in a 3D inpainting algorithm. Here are few results:
One of the reasons I cherry pick images is because this was trained on the pre-trained faces dataset. So there is an amount of noise in some images. I hope to get more GPU capacity to get better results. But as of now, even these noisy images are interstinig.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/cd1c0e10-b503-47f7-a22e-811aaafd015d_rw_1200.jpg?h=32b71d5cb845b082f7b2fd96fa72c23a)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/5ae384cc-63a1-40b9-baeb-ac2c1f9a62e0_rw_1200.jpeg?h=0858a4160e02021e62aaf9079fd0f92f)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/0847661c-8f25-43c3-9b86-62a6419136c9_rw_1200.jpg?h=520a1276ab55527155e8de6b340f9560)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/d3636132-78e5-47b4-89ff-3b52708acef8_rw_1200.jpeg?h=b3b0de87a246c51181a80d4aea935d52)
I reverted to a model in the earlier stages of the transfer learning cycle and got these interesting Faces + Watercolour mashups.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/721fa06f-a9ed-4874-9bda-b8d6d6ea33a3_rw_1200.jpeg?h=ded10c9f7b356bb53fb65c016482ca5e)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/09292bd0-c43c-488c-bbd9-cde7cb420ba7_rw_1200.jpeg?h=1b069f0bad90ca92959a96ad9cca56cf)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/836da6ef-1c83-4293-80a8-f8b2511bfd5f_rw_1200.jpeg?h=37fa0f344536a2f3f9bbbdfa98f83ffb)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/5fcce56c-3f37-4214-b47f-18aad9437640_rw_1200.jpeg?h=ff2164344346b27be4adb17cd53d8b18)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/841c9326-9f70-4a89-9378-f69aaecaca2f_rw_1200.jpeg?h=4f07a1887dcec61f65cb8d79e9129a58)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/ba86a776-d61b-438e-acd9-7a8477ed0697_rw_1200.jpeg?h=f3b4362195a516b960e79dfaf2a4923d)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/6b79c227-2d7c-4693-bfec-58e04a0a172b_rw_1200.jpeg?h=82808e4f428ecd1024fa85505db0619d)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/767d6301-6f2e-4caa-a81e-962a253916dd_rw_1200.jpeg?h=21232ec558ac575e8c95ea5acf6291b1)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/bcb48aa7-252d-46b3-8df9-0f0147928fda_rw_1200.jpeg?h=7434605ec3fa172d0aa0faae09be01f7)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/2656cf5e-2298-40f4-ad81-30265496f186_rw_1200.jpeg?h=3b3b22e11cedf43920972e15b1f2acf9)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/c4e4ca95-ab04-4257-9b27-c0a86e08d98f_rw_1200.jpeg?h=d6c4e69975cb36b29c679066f1a9c466)
Midnight Falls - yet another series of abstracts. (Or are they new fashion jeans?)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/1345f5a5-ef3f-42b2-a2b9-063c1d92df71_rw_1200.jpeg?h=13b673ec857f22ebf2585cabe8da2f5f)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/91b4fba8-2e16-4ecf-9714-dee9bd70c604_rw_1200.jpeg?h=4876ef971ec0e3a69301f9b763e304d8)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/3b8a6b27-0dcc-4f07-8c11-cc7f3a227966_rw_1200.jpeg?h=4bc5f0a17f326bbcc3d5e12aaf83d0ff)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/8e8052d1-79d4-4cae-a66c-d52915b0fac4_rw_1200.jpeg?h=0e51fe33eb76db8375ef74024322f968)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/97da3cac-fbd9-49a6-aeff-b2b61b9b3113_rw_1200.jpeg?h=eac96201f23af4b0d816cd43547b23ad)
And finally a deep swim in the latent waters of colors:
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/40d9db37-9fdf-4c40-a09f-a86ceeabbd78_rw_1200.jpeg?h=ccde827c2890342bc58c241bfef012c5)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/ae6626d3-9cef-4a8b-9736-67d728566834_rw_1200.jpeg?h=1b0870314fbb81c40931dc94fc8b28d4)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/ae7c250e-9ba4-4a9a-aa7d-6eaec50f6926_rw_1200.jpeg?h=84685acb26484f189334fa93ced4e813)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/01d2b1cb-6491-4c63-b4ba-16469774f1df_rw_1200.jpeg?h=0c7b1d89c9a2f4578d73fd74dd490520)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/48974fe3-e4e0-4138-a30e-093fccb79862_rw_1200.jpeg?h=19dcebab161b0abee8ff70ca3df292a9)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/d6bc0358-f44e-4486-bed4-50b0ec1f2de1_rw_1200.jpeg?h=824f8f5b74386b2c36d20a9ecb8bf77f)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/297972ec-d84c-42f7-91f2-69c302b673d6_rw_1200.jpeg?h=243aea4591feb6da2514193da3e6678b)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/02c5201375c3706250b26cf840ace79c/b0d8c897-1c38-49c0-84ee-a7bf3e2a5704_rw_1200.jpeg?h=f1ce3ea848ba78fee7034f20947a26be)