The image you see here is intended to capture the moment I quit the studio and went in search of cheap AI-generated images. It was produced using the following prompt:

a deserted artist’s studio clutter half-finished paintings, paper, brushes, pots of paint, sign saying ‘gone fishing’

As it happened, the sign didn’t materialise or, to be accurate, it materialised but was written in incomprehensible lettering. But I expected that: it is one of midjourney’s little foibles. You can see an example on the mug. So, using Photoshop, I replaced the sign with a representation of one of my own still-life paintings and added a ‘gone fishing’ note of my own.

It doesn’t take long to note that weird lettering is only one of midjourney’s many eccentricities. Looking at the image above it is clear that, while the overall impression is fairly convincing, very few of the details are quite right. There’s a box of what looks like torn paper that it hovering in mid-air just beyond the edge of the table and that narrow triangular box resting on top of the stove – what is that exactly? It looks like a tapering box of paints or some sort of palette.

You begin to recognise these things after using midjourney for any length of time. They have a certain charm of their own, though they can be irritating also. Future image generators will, no doubt, eliminate such quirks. Right now, I am happy to live with them.