In this article we’ll use Midjourney to recreate 25 famous art styles. Midjourney is an AI-powered service developed by an independent research lab of the same name that transforms text into images, enabling users to generate a diverse array of art styles, ranging from lifelike representations to abstract forms.
Our aim here is to get complete beginners to Midjourney a headstart so they can create stunning art as quickly as possible. These prompts are short and simple but they are guaranteed to get your creative juices flowing and, with time, you will be creating art to meet your specific needs. ⭐️✨⭐️✨
For each style below you will see a short description and then the generated image.
Prerequisites
You will need register with Discord to create an account which you can do HERE. Once you have that set up, you will then need a Midjourney account. Find the instructions to set up a Midjourney subscription HERE as well as instructions on how to use Midjourney in their great Getting Started guide HERE. Once you are properly set up and ready to go, jump to the next section.
Style 1: Vintage Movie Poster
This style was made famous by in the 1980s as was used in promotional posters for movies like Star Wars and Indiana Jones. It is an art style that involves sketching on a special type of illustration board with a combination of airbrushed acrylic paints with highlights and details in colored pencils. The finished art looks like this:
Style 2: Pixar Style
Pixar is a renowned animation studio that has produced groundbreaking computer-animated films since its establishment in 1986. Known for its storytelling prowess and innovative animation techniques, Pixar has captivated audiences worldwide with memorable characters and emotionally resonant narratives, solidifying its status as a leader in the world of animated cinema.
Below is the recreation of a real life actress as a Pixar character, such as you would find in the Incredibles or Brave:
Style 3: Walt Disney Style
The Walt Disney Company (simply known as Disney) stands as a true entertainment juggernaut, captivating audiences worldwide with its unparalleled storytelling and iconic characters. It is known for creating iconic animated films, beloved characters such as Mickey Mouse and Cinderella. Many people will use Midjourney to create famous art styles such as the one Disney is known for.
We can recreate one of the many classic Disney looks below:
Style 4: Engraving
Engraving is a traditional art style that involves incising or carving designs onto a hard surface, typically metal or wood, using specialized tools. It is a meticulous and precise technique that has been practiced for centuries. Below is the recreation of the engraving style:
Style 5: Neo-Noir
Neo-noir is an art style that emerged in the late 20th century, inspired by the classic film noir genre of the 1940s and 1950s. It is characterized by a contemporary reinterpretation of the dark, atmospheric, and morally ambiguous themes found in traditional film noir. Neo-noir artworks often feature stylized visuals, intense shadows, high contrast lighting, and complex narratives that explore themes of crime, corruption, and existentialism.
Below is a recreation of that theme:
Style 6: Cubism
Cubism is an influential art movement that emerged in the early 20th century. It is characterized by the fragmentation and deconstruction of subjects into geometric shapes, often depicting multiple viewpoints simultaneously. Cubist artworks explore the concept of space and perspective, challenging traditional notions of representation. Midjourney can be used to create Cubism and many other famous art styles with fantastic results.
Below is a recreation of that style:
Style 7: NeoClassicism
Neoclassicism is an art style that emerged in the late 18th century. Inspired by the art and architecture of ancient Greece and Rome, Neoclassicism sought to revive the classical ideals of order, reason, and restraint. It emphasized clean lines, symmetry, and clarity of form, often drawing upon mythological or historical themes. Neoclassical artworks aimed to convey a sense of moral virtue, heroic narratives, and intellectual rigor. Below is our recreation in Midjourney:
Style 8: Pixel Art
Pixel art is a digital art form that originated from the early days of computer graphics and video games. It is characterized by using small, square-shaped pixels as building blocks to create images. Artists painstakingly arrange and color these pixels to form intricate designs, often with a retro aesthetic reminiscent of 8-bit and 16-bit video games. Pixel art emphasizes simplicity, limited color palettes, and sharp edges, evoking a sense of nostalgia while showcasing the creativity and technical skills required to work within the constraints of low-resolution graphics. Below is our recreation:
Style 9: Oil Painting
Oil painting is a traditional art technique that involves using pigments mixed with oil as the primary medium. Artists apply layers of oil-based paints onto a canvas or other surfaces using brushes, palette knives, or other tools. The slow drying time of oil paints allows for blending, texture creation, and the building of rich, luminous colors. Below is the re-creation:
Style 10: Gouache
Gouache is a painting technique that utilizes opaque watercolors. It is characterized by its vibrant and flat appearance, often resembling a combination of watercolor and acrylic paint. Gouache is created by mixing pigment with a binding agent, typically gum arabic, resulting in a thicker consistency than traditional watercolor. Below is our Midjourney recreation:
Style 11: Anime
The anime art style, originating from Japan, is characterized by its distinctive and stylized visual elements. Anime often features large, expressive eyes, vibrant hair colors, exaggerated facial expressions, and simplified or exaggerated proportions. The art style encompasses a wide range of genres and themes, from fantasy and science fiction to romance and slice-of-life. In Midjourney, this is one of the famous art styles that will require the settings to be changed, we will explain how to do this in the Prompt Pack in the final section.
Below is our recreation:
Style 12: Low Poly
Low poly illustration is a style of digital artwork characterized by the use of geometric shapes and minimalistic polygonal forms to create a 3D effect. Instead of using smooth curves and intricate details, low poly illustrations utilize flat surfaces and sharp edges. The term “low poly” refers to the low polygon count, meaning the artwork consists of a relatively small number of polygons. This style often features bold colors and shading techniques to enhance the illusion of depth and volume. See the below recreation:
Style 13: Vector
This style is characterized by its sharp lines, crisp edges, and the ability to create smooth gradients and precise shapes. Vector illustrations are commonly used in graphic design, logos, icons, and illustrations. Below is a sample recreation:
Style 14: Comic
Comic art style, also known as comic book art or sequential art, refers to the visual style employed in comic books and graphic novels. Comic art often features bold and expressive linework, dynamic poses and action, exaggerated facial expressions, and vibrant colors. Comic art styles can vary greatly, from realistic and detailed to cartoony and stylized, catering to different genres, themes, and artistic preferences. A recreation would look like the following:
Style 15: Vaporwave
Vaporwave is a music and visual art genre that emerged in the early 2010s. It is characterized by its nostalgic and surreal aesthetic, drawing inspiration from 1980s and 1990s popular culture, consumerism, and electronic music. The visual art associated with vaporwave frequently features distorted and glitched imagery, retro computer graphics, pastel colors, statues, and elements of consumerism, creating a dreamlike and surreal atmosphere. Let’s recreate it below:
Style 16: Polaroid
A Polaroid refers to a type of instant camera and the photographs it produces. The Polaroid camera, first introduced in the late 1940s, is known for its unique ability to develop and produce physical prints immediately after capturing an image. Unlike traditional film cameras that require the film to be processed and printed separately, a Polaroid camera uses self-developing film that produces a finished print within minutes. The resulting photographs, called Polaroids, have a distinct vintage aesthetic, characterized by their square format, white borders, and often slightly faded or retro appearance. A recreation would look like the following:
Style 17: Product Shot
A product shot refers to a photographic image or visual representation that showcases a specific product, typically for marketing or advertising purposes. It is a carefully crafted image that highlights the features, design, and details of the product in an appealing and visually engaging way. A product shot is intended to showcase the product’s appearance, functionality, and quality, often capturing it in a well-lit and aesthetically pleasing setting. Below is our recreation:
Style 18: Nostalgic
Nostalgic photography refers to a style of capturing and presenting images that evokes a sense of longing, sentimental feelings, and a yearning for the past. It often aims to recreate the look and feel of vintage or retro photographs, drawing inspiration from earlier eras and their associated aesthetics. By capturing scenes, objects, or people in a nostalgic manner, this style of photography aims to elicit emotions and transport viewers to a bygone era, triggering memories and a sense of nostalgia for the past. In Midjourney, this is one of the famous art styles that can give you shockingly good results.
Let’s recreate a nostalgic photograph:
Style 19: Isometric
Isometric view is a perspective used in art and design that portrays three-dimensional objects or scenes in a way that maintains equal dimensions along the x, y, and z axes. In isometric view, objects appear as if they are viewed from above and slightly tilted, creating a sense of depth and dimension. This style is commonly used in technical drawings, architectural illustrations, and video games to represent objects or environments with accuracy and clarity. Below is the Midjourney recreation:
Style 20: Post Apocalyptic
Post-apocalyptic art refers to artworks that depict a world or setting in the aftermath of a catastrophic event, often envisioning a devastated or altered environment. It is a genre that explores the consequences of major disasters, such as nuclear war, natural disasters, pandemics, or technological collapse. Post-apocalyptic art often presents a bleak and desolate landscape, with ruined buildings, abandoned cities, overgrown nature, and a sense of decay. The art style may include elements of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, with themes of survival, isolation, and the human condition. See the recreation here:
Style 21: Photos with HDR, UHD, 4K, 8k
These are photos whose prompts include the specific terms HDR, UHD, 4K and 8k in the prompt. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range in photography. It refers to a technique where multiple exposures of the same scene are captured at different exposure settings, then combined to create a final image with a broader range of tonal values and enhanced detail.
UHD stands for Ultra High Definition in photography. It refers to an image resolution that exceeds the standard high-definition (HD) resolution. In the context of photography, UHD generally refers to an image resolution of 3840×2160 pixels or higher, also known as 4K resolution.
8K in photography refers to an image resolution that is extremely high, offering a remarkable level of detail and clarity. It specifically refers to an image resolution of 7680×4320 pixels, which is four times the resolution of 4K UHD and sixteen times the resolution of Full HD.
Only one of these terms need be used to create the effect, not all three at the same time. Adding these will allow Midjourney to generate high quality AI generated photography like the one below:
Style 22: Highly Detailed, Studio Lighting, Professional
These are photos whose prompts include the specific keywords Highly Detailed, Studio Lighting and Professional. These keywords can be included together or one at a time as needed. These terms can be combined with any prompt to give better results. Below is a sample of the type of beautiful art it creates:
Style 23: Surrealism
Surrealism is an art movement that emerged in the early 20th century, primarily in Europe. It sought to explore the realm of the subconscious mind and unleash the power of the imagination. Surrealist artworks often depict dreamlike and fantastical scenes, combining seemingly unrelated or bizarre elements to challenge conventional logic and reality. Below is a recreation of this style:
Style 24: Biomechanical Art
Biomechanical art is a genre that blends elements of biology, mechanics, and futuristic or mechanical aesthetics. It often portrays organic forms combined with mechanical or industrial elements, creating intricate and surreal compositions. Biomechanical art typically features highly detailed and intricate designs, with an emphasis on the fusion of organic and mechanical components. Below is the recreation:
Style 25: Pop Art
Pop art is an artistic movement that emerged in the mid-1950s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. It was a reaction against the prevailing art movements of the time and sought to bridge the gap between high art and popular culture. Pop art drew inspiration from the imagery and symbols found in mass media, advertising, consumer products, and popular icons of the time.They incorporated familiar imagery, such as Campbell’s soup cans, comic strips, celebrities, and everyday objects, often employing techniques of repetition, collage, and irony. Below is an example of this art style recreated:
How Do I Get the Actual Prompts?
If you’d like the actual the Midjourney Prompts that we used to generate the above art styles, you will find them in the Prompt Pack on My Patreon. The Prompt Pack will contain all the additional instructions you need to use Midjourney to recreate the 25 famous art styles we just discussed. We were sure to make the prompts as simple and straightforward as possible.
All prompts have been tested and guaranteed to work on Midjourney Version 5.1. Because it’s generative AI, you won’t get the same exact results as you see below, but they will be close enough. Be sure to check it out!
Thanks for reading and happy prompting!🔥🔥🔥
