Uncommon Atlas is an experiment in world-building that is the result of an early experiment in AI prompting. An initial skeptical exercise in prompting to test its capabilities turned into a sort of quasi-collaboration that enabled me to create form to my thoughts and ideas (however imperfectly) where there had otherwise only been void, largely due to my lack of painting skills, illustrative skills, Photoshop/Procreate skills, etc.
However, rather than letting AI take the wheel entirely, I have used it to simply keep track of notes and create digital sketches to visually conceptualize this world…but never take the creative lead, because its habit is to always revert to something that has already been created.
All visual models are based on two antique atlas illustrations from the public domain that were used to establish a style reference. I wanted the visual components of this world to be as specific to themselves and the original source material as possible (and what may evolve from those initial seeds), not a copy of others or their styles.
