Using Generative AI as a 3D Artist | Blog 05

As a 3D artist, I opened Midjourney to solve a problem.

I needed wall art. Details. The things in a scene that make it feel lived in.
Usually, I’d reuse my old digital paintings or renders. And that worked — I liked the circularity of it. But sometimes I needed something more. Something specific. Something I hadn’t made yet.

That’s where AI came in.

In The Quilter’s Room, I was knee-deep creating a 3D flower system - and it was taking time. Still, I wanted a framed cross-stitch to emphasise the character of the room. I tried using one of my earlier renders, but it never quite landed.

So I opened Midjourney.

It took a while, but I got there — not just something that worked, but something I felt elevated the whole scene.

Next was custom fabric. Usually you’d license a high-res photo, shot under perfect lighting, and map it to your model. But then you’re limited - not only by the exact colour and pattern, but by cost too. I wanted to create an intricate quilt - something you really don’t see in 3D scenes. And I needed a lot of material to work with.

Using Midjourney, I came up with my own patterns. And it freed me up to focus where it mattered most.

After that, there was wall art. Landscape paintings that would’ve taken hours to paint from scratch.

The hardest part by far was the vintage sewing machine.

I generated hundreds of stylised emblems. Nothing I generated was plug-and-play — it took a lot of manual work to bring the two worlds together.

But it was worth it. Because the result didn’t feel generic — it felt uniquely mine.
Faster than painting. Better than anything I could’ve drawn.

AI art has a reputation problem — and often, it’s deserved.

But I’ve seen artists using it with thought, intention, and originality. Completely different voices, workflows, and styles — all using the same tool.

We don’t talk about that enough.

If artists walk away from AI, it will be shaped by people who don’t care about craft, ethics, or vision.

But if we engage — treat it as a tool, guide how it’s used, show people what’s possible —

Can’t we shape it into something meaningful?