Mr. Darcy Riding a Motorcycle? Elizabeth Battling Darth Vader? These Cover Reveals Will Knock Your Stockings Off!

AI image of angry-faced man in a leather jacket on a motorcycle

(This post originally published in 2023, the early days of AI art.)

Do you like the above photo?  I don’t want to brag (I TOTALLY want to brag), but I designed it myself.  New AI software means that people like me, who think stick figures are high art, can type a few words into a search box and create masterpieces like, well, mine.  This will revolutionize art—and cover design.  How does the AI do it?  It’s all very complicated, but the short answer is that highly trained gerbils are involved. 

The big controversy right now is that Jason M. Allen of Pueblo West, Colorado, created art with Midjourney, one of these AI programs, and won the blue ribbon for digital art in the Colorado State Fair. 

Here’s his creation:

Jason Allen's Théâtre D'opéra Spatial

You can imagine the reactions of other entrants.  THIS GUY WON BY TYPING A COUPLE OF LINES INTO A COMPUTER??  But Allen says that he was upfront about his entry, stating that he used Midjourney to create it.  (The judges didn’t know what Midjourney was, but they say they still would have selected his art for first prize even if they’d known.)  Allen also says that he spent over 80 hours editing his piece, so it was more than just typing in a couple of lines.  His supporters note that artists were pretty hacked off when photography hit the scene, claiming that didn’t count as real art, and AI tools are just the next step in the evolution of art.

Well.  I don’t mean to make Allen jealous, but I used DALL-E 2, one of these fancy gerbil programs, to create more than just that stellar piece I already showed you.  Please note that I spent a touch less than 80 hours on my creations. 

For this first one I typed: Mr. Darcy on a motorcycle in a leather jacket driving to Pemberley.  Check out my Bad Boy Darcy cover.

AI image of a man, partially winking, on a motorcycle with a colored wood behind him.

Is he winking at us?  Darcy, you sly dog, you!  And do you like the Into the Woods-style forest in the background?  It makes me think the Big Bad Wolf is about to pop out.  Oooh, Austen/ fairy tale mash up, anyone? 

FYI, the title picture came from the same prompt.

AI image of an angry-faced man in a leather jacket on a motorcycle

Why does this Darcy look ready to punch someone?  Maybe Elizabeth just rejected him, and he hopped on his Harley to blow off some steam.

My next one: Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth on a beach drinking English tea in fancy teacups. 

AI image of man and woman holding tea cups, beach in background

I love the large teacup in front.  Is that one for me?  I’ve always wanted to have tea with Darcy and Elizabeth!  Thank you, gerbils!  I also like how Elizabeth isn’t looking at Mr. Darcy, as if she’s thoroughly uninterested in him.  (She’s not looking at her teacup either, and she’s about to spill hot tea all over Mr. Darcy, but maybe there’s potential in that scene.)

The AI will extend the image for me to fill in the rest of the picture, so I asked it to extend Mr. Darcy.  Here’s what I got.

Same AI image, but now the man has a much larger head and small arm

Now he looks even broodier and angrier, and Elizabeth’s intrigued.  Either that or she’s fascinated by his T. Rex arm. 

OK, let’s shake it up a bit.  How about an Austen sci fi?  Coming up: Elizabeth Bennet dancing with Mr. Darcy in space suits on Mars, cartoon style.

AI image of woman in a dress, and a man in a space suit holding hands on a planet, space in the background

Gotta love Elizabeth’s anti-gravity dancing.  But I’m a little worried about her.  Why didn’t she get a space suit?  Society is so cruel in dictating women’s fashion, forcing them to wear pretty dresses even when it means their blood will boil and vaporize in alien atmospheres. 

Do you like their faces?  This must be the natural evolution of Earth-Martian intermarriages. 

My next masterpiece: Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth as Lego figures battling Darth Vader. 

AI image of female Lego minifigure battling Darth Vader minifigure, both with light sabers

Huge mystery solved here: Elizabeth’s light saber color is gray!  There’s a decades long debate that’s finally resolved.  Also, I like her fashion choices of a dress, bonnet, and cape. 

From the same prompt, the AI also generated this.

AI image of Lego minifigure Darth Vader holding hands with female Lego minifigure, red light saber between them

Aaaah!  Why does it look like Elizabeth is JOINING THE DARK SIDE???  Are they getting married?  Is Mr. Darcy under that Vader mask?  What does the AI know that we don’t? 

We’d better move on.  Next up: Mr. Collins proposing to Elizabeth Bennet, both inside a volcano, pointillism.  (I am very fancy, doing my Seurat-inspired artwork, aren’t I?  No stick figures in sight.)

I hope you’re sitting down for this one.  It’s even more of a shocker than the last one.

AI image of man and woman holding hands, erupting volcano and red earth in background

Can you believe it?  Lizzy Bennet, accepting Mr. Collins!  I was aghast, but then I decided to cut Elizabeth some slack.  They are standing in the middle of a volcano, after all, and the absence of other people suggests an apocalypse.  Here we have definitive proof that, if Mr. Collins were the last man on Earth, Elizabeth Bennet would marry him.  Thank you, Lizzy, for sacrificing your integrity and principles to keep the population alive.  Also, I hope your feet are okay.

I’m not sure why Allen wasted his time with those 80 hour touch ups when it’s clear our images are pretty comparable.  Or maybe I’m just a natural at this.  But, Allen, yours was also…good.

What do you think of this new, AI generated art?  Is this an exciting new revolution for cover design—and art at large?  Or is it a threat and insult to the art world and traditional art?

I’d also love to hear what YOU would have typed into that text box.  What Austen inspired covers would you make?