AI Nouveau

Based in Idaho, USA, fine artist Toby Davis combines traditional painting techniques with digital editing and Artificial Intelligence to create truly unique pieces of art. Using A.I. as a starting point, he digitally collages the images together and reinterprets the final image in oil paint.

The results are stunning works in Toby's own vibrant style that benefit from every step of the creative process. Whether taking inspiration from Parisian design movements like Art Nouveau, using Polaroid pictures of local buildings, or reflecting on the beauty of nature and water.

Why do you create?

I feel like painting, creating, must be part of my psyche because when I don’t do it for a while, I’m miserable. My nights turn into imsomniatic nightmares, my days are sleep deprived and irritable. After a day of painting (or working on anything creative) my life goes back to normal.




In the 80’s I worked in the warehouse store industry, and in the beginning I loved it. It was all new - everything was a new problem looking for creative solution. I feel like I thrived in that environment. Eventually, everything got kind of cookie cutter, and there just wasn’t room for a creative person anymore. I was miserable, and although I was good at it, I felt like a fish out of water. I left, spent a few years raising my two sons, and when I had the opportunity to try to live as a professional artist, I decided I needed to at least try it. I haven’t looked back. This is what I’m supposed to be doing.

How and where do you work?

I have a small studio space in my house, and it’s small, but I’m grateful to be able to work from home. It’s nothing fancy. I paint on a heavy, old, tilting architect’s table that was given to me by a great professor I had in college. It’s not the best easel, but I’ve been using it for maybe 17 years now, and it’s become comfortable. There are no other unusual things in my studio, just paint, brushes, panels, and racks of finished work.

Where do you get your inspiration?

In the past, I was doing a lot of cityscapes, and my inspiration came from hitting the streets with my camera, taking photos, etc.

In early 2023, a friend made an image in Midjourney, and I was both skeptical and intrigued. I decided to see what it was all about, and I have been using that as inspiration for the last year. I started by trying to trip it up, and I found that when you could confuse it, and it had to make things up (because it didn't know what to make), it made the most amazing things.




I hesitate to say anything about A.I. because it’s become such a taboo in the art world. I get it - there are a lot of people using it in a lazy way. It’s easy to type in a prompt and get art from your favorite artist- I don’t understand why you would do that. But, like Newton’s third law - for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, I feel like if you can use A.I. to create art that looks like it came from a certain artist, you can equally use it to create something completely unique. Playing around in A.I. has really opened my creativity to things that I hadn’t imagined before.

I usually look for things that work against each other. A.I. isn’t great at resolving conflict. That’s usually when you get the most interesting images and ideas. (What would French Rococo hieroglyphics look like? What would a butterfly made by NASA look like?)




I recently painted a series of art nouveau-“esque” portraits, that when examined, closely and thoughtfully, aren’t really art nouveau at all. The basis of each piece is about what the A.I. thought art nouveau was and how it tried to adapt when I intentionally tried to trip it up. Even though a lot of it is wrong, there is something interesting, bizarre, and beautiful in some of the choices it made. The idea that art nouveau is a style based in nature, and some of pieces are completely un-natural, give them an interesting juxtaposition.




The interesting thing about these paintings, is that viewers almost always accept them as art nouveau pieces. I think it’s because we are living in a very image-saturated society and these programs are pulling from billions of images. The amalgam created from all those images become a vision of our shared knowledge, and it all looks familiar in the end.

All that said, I’ve never created something in Midjourney that I decided to paint - as is. Midjourney is just a jumping off space, a start. I usually collage things together, and make changes both digitally and in the painting process. To take it right off the screen and print it out as art, doesn’t seem as creative to me. I’ve certainly seen some very creative concepts come out of some of these programs, but I’ve also seen some of the most uncreative things too.

What influences your work?

I’ve always wanted to create work that stood out in some way and was a challenge to create. When I was working in cityscapes, I would paint reflections in shop windows. They were a clash of interior images, signage on the glass, and the reflection of the outside world. It was difficult to paint, but I loved the challenge.

How do you promote yourself and your work?

I sell art at local art fairs, on Etsy, and in Capitol Contemporary Gallery in downtown Boise. I’m on many platforms as “@tobydavisart”. I try to post on all of them, but really I usually only have time to post on Instagram and Facebook. Occasionally, I will try to get my work included in an art magazine. Being your own publicist is hard and time consuming, and I always just want to be in the studio painting.

What are your future ambitions?

I have many things that I want to try to accomplish - new series ideas that are on the horizon. But, I’m very superstitious about putting them out into the world before I know they are going to be successful. On the business front, I wouldn't mind finding some representation in few bigger cities. I think I’ve reached the point that I could make enough new work to support a couple more galleries if they were the right fit.

Do you have any advice for other artists?

I would say be true to yourself, and take chances. Know exactly what you want to create, and just make a plan. Don’t be discouraged because the art you want to make seems out of reach. Just plan it out in tiny bites, and if there is some piece missing, some skill you don’t quite have yet, just push forward and learn how to do it.


Many thanks to Toby Davis for answering our questions. To see more of Toby’s unique creations, just visit his Etsy store or follow him on Instagram and Facebook.