Lets Talk About Ai
Recently, almost every tattoo request I receive includes an AI-generated design. While these are helpful for brainstorming, relying on AI for the final design presents major problems:
Poor Composition & Readability: AI creates cluttered details and elements far too small to tattoo properly, ignoring balance, flow, and contrast.
No Awareness of Form: Ask AI for a "sleeve," and it packs every idea onto the outer arm photo instead of designing a wrap around your limb.
Anatomy Violations: AI ignores human physics, distorting body proportions to cram everything in. I can’t stretch your body to make those fit!
However, I do use AI as a tool in my own process:
Truly Unique References: Instead of pulling stock faces off Pinterest, I generate custom reference imagery for your piece.
Portrait Enhancements: Blurry, poorly lit photo references of loved ones can be restored and re-lit while keeping an accurate likeness.
Pose & Lighting Adjustments: Instead of redrawing a complex figure from scratch to shift a hand position or test light sources, I can adjust references seamlessly.
I’ll gladly look at your AI-generated ideas, but please expect me to redesign them using my real-world tattooing experience. I don't use AI to generate an entire final tattoo; I use it like a limitless custom image search for individual elements, which I then draw, paint over, and refine into a cohesive, long-lasting piece.
(And yes—this article was edited with Ai)
For the fully detailed article see the post on my site at https://brianulibarri.com/so-lets-talk-about-ai
Check out my work here at Real Gone Denver
Changing the lighting can change everything…
