Favourite Google Streetview paintings from 2015

 Jones Bridge, Manilla, Philippines

Market Square, Tallinn, Estonia

View from the Castle Garden, Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic

Sarqaq, Greenland

Nazimuddin Rd. Dhaka, Bangladesh 

Lemon Hill Dr., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
 

Putting DeepSeek to work improving my blog (or not)

Original Hellebore painting
watercolour, ©2025 Charlene Brown

My computer had been offering me various AI programs every day for months, but I hadn’t really followed up on any of them  ̶  until DeepSeek hit North America and I signed up along with millions of others.

After DeepSeek asked how it could “help me today,” I made the rookie mistake of requesting: 

“Add content, improve composition, colour combinations and value contrasts in a watercolour painting”

I was planning to feed it the Hellebore painting above, and see what it could do with it.  However, my request caused it to reply: 

“Okay, the user wants to improve their watercolor painting in terms of composition, color combinations, and value contrasts. Let me start by breaking down each of these elements”… followed by 1077 well-organized, straightforward words instructing me how to do it myself. 

It crossed my mind that this particular Artificial Intelligence program was a little more intelligent than I was,or maybe it was simply more devious.  Then I decided I'd better go back to my Plans for myBlog for 2025 “AI Training: learning more about the AI capabilities on my computer, as well as training that AI to understand my way of thinking in order to refine my ideas and, possibly, my paintings.” I noticed that the first step I should have taken was "learning more about the AI capabilities on my computer" and realized I had been reading about DeepSeek’s latest model  ̶  Janus Pro, which features “Vision AND Image Gen In ONE Model” 

That was not what I had.  My version of DeepSeek is apparently untrainable in the image-fixing field. 

As I was only going to be able to refine my text, I gave it some notes on ‘the time of year hellebores bloom’ and received this reply:

“Hellebores, known as Lenten roses or Christmas roses, are perennial plants prized for their early blooming period and ability to thrive in cooler climates.  In temperate climates, their blooming season is usually February to April, but can begin as early as late December in milder areas.  They are among the first plants to bloom, often emerging through snow or frost.”  

To this I added:

“In the (sometimes) Mediterranean climate here on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, hellebores  have been blooming since Christmas.  And they seem to be coping with the surprising dump of snow we’re getting right now better than most of us.”

I would have to use other AI programs to fix my pictures.  It came down to a choice between Adobe Photoshop’s Generative AI capabilities and Adobe Firefly.  I’ve been using Photoshop for almost thirty years, having taken my first lesson in Dubai in 1996, but this was my first try at using its Generative AI function.

Here is what I got when I selected the foreground and asked it to “improve value contrasts and add budding mauve crocus bulbs”:

First try with AI, Not one budding mauve crocus to be found

And here’s what I got when I selected the whole picture and asked it to “add 10 cm of snow on the ground, trees and flowers.”

Second try with AI

So I’m conceding that Photoshop Generative AI won the first two rounds.  But I will try to ‘train’ it again, after I’ve done some more reading.

I’ll keep you posted…

Favourite Google Streetview ‘location’ paintings from 2016

 Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh, Scotland 

Bodhiraja Mawatha, Sri Lanka    

Napa Valley, California, USA  

 Bleiksv, Norway                 

Favourite Virtual Paintout locations from 2017

Plaza Naciones Unidas - Floralis generica, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Temple of the Jaguar, Tikal, Guatemala

St. Peter’s Cathedral Basilica, Kumasi, Ghana

 'Serpentinata caribeña,' sculpture by Guy Rougemont, Univesidad de Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico 

   

  

Virtual Inspiration

The most recognizable harbour in the world

watercolour

©2016 Charlene Brown

I'm participating in a 21 day challenge on Instagram which began January 2. The instruction for Day 8 was to illustrate 'Inspiration' and I used Google Streetview.

I first heard about painting locations found on Google Steetview on a blog called Virtual Paintout, which ran from 2009 to 2018. This is one of the paintings I painted on the Virtual Paintout when the area in which to find a view to paint was the Australian state of New South Wales. Participants were required to provide the link to the location chosen. In this case Streetviewfrom Milson Road on Cremorne Point. 

Google Streetview came in handy during the pandemic, when we weren't able to travel much, and I again referred to it for inspiration. And I used it last summer, describing it as the Ultimate Multi-viewpoint Presentation

Next week I'll post a few of my favourite Virtual Paintout locations from 2017. Maybe in the future (not the near future but when I'm about ninety-five) I'll be using it instead of air travel for all my location painting...

Decluttering art and art supplies

Cannibalized picture file

(very) mixed media

©2009 – 2015 Charlene Brown

Last week, I listed my Plans for 2025.  One was "Decluttering computer and hardcopy files"

I’ve just come across the following in Plans for 2015:

“What to let go of to start the year anew?  

Old projects that never got past the background info-gathering stage, or what’s left of those that have been excerpted for better projects." 

At the time I mentioned that would be a lot of paper to be recycled out of binders and files, and a lot of MBs of computer memory to be cleared.  

In my Review of 2015 a year later, decluttering wasn’t even mentioned. And it’s quite possible I could have a GB of jpegs I can get rid of by now.  Plus dozens more works on paper...  

However, I have now begun the project. The cannibalized picture file above contains some of the remnants (now deleted) of the files I used in my book, The Fine Art of Physics.  And I’ve made a small start on cutting or tearing up watercolour paintings and sketches for cards or collage…

The Plan for 1150 Words in 2025

Front cover: Visualization of the Anthropocene

                        Crowfoot Glacier, Canadian Rockies (1910, 1960, 2010)
watercolour, Photoshop™ and InDesign™
©2023 Charlene Brown

1. Visualization of the Anthropocene: I will complete this series of essays and illustrations of the increasingly drastic climate effects of the Anthropocene, with emphasis on Arctic warming. 
2. Travel painting: I have two painting trips planned, one to an artist colony, and the other to see my great-grandchildren.  Neither will include the Seattle airport.

3. Decluttering computer and hardcopy files.  And art supplies. 

4. AI Training – learning more about the AI capabilities on my computer, as well as training that AI to understand my way of thinking in order to refine my ideas and, possibly, my paintings.  (Apparently this can be done!)