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Kalighat 2026: The Machines Are the New Babus
Kalighat paintings were cheap bazaar watercolours sold in 1880s Calcutta, and they were satire: they mocked the city's new rich, dandies who aped their British masters and lounged while servants fanned them.
I trained a Recraft V4 Style on five anonymous Kalighat sheets from the Cleveland Museum of Art and Wellcome Collection, keeping the bold single outline, flat colour and empty paper ground.
Then I turned the satire on 2026: the machines are the new babus. Phones smoke hookahs on velvet chairs, robot vacuums ride in palanquins, and humans fan, carry and groom their devices. Same masters, new hardware.
Social post: https://lnkd.in/p/gXJn_FQQ
Appreciate it🙌
Such a clever way to connect traditional art with modern life! The satire makes you think while the visuals keep it playful. 👏
Exactly 🔥
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What if the future had been imagined a century ago?
I’m exploring the fascinating intersection of vintage science-fiction art and futuristic technology for the Recraft × Contra Design Challenge.
Inspired by antique illustrations, forgotten inventions, and surreal planetary landscapes, I’m developing “THE UNDISCOVERED FUTURE” — a fictional archive where yesterday’s artistic imagination meets tomorrow’s possibilities.
The goal is to transform a historical visual language into something unexpected, cohesive, and entirely new.
Sometimes, the most interesting vision of the future comes from looking into the past.
#Contra #Recraft #DesignChallenge #VintageIllustration #AIArt
🎨🔥 The Recraft Styles Challenge is almost here!
💰 $10,000 in cash prizes up for grabs!
Take vintage artwork from public archives, turn it into a custom Recraft Style, and use it to create something completely unexpected. 👀✨
🖼️ Old styles. New stories.
🤖 Build your own AI art style.
🚀 Create a series of 6–10 images that bring the past into the future.
🏆 1st place: $5,000
🥈 2nd place: $3,000
🥉 3rd place: $2,000
Plus, get one month of Recraft Pro 4K FREE when you enter! 🎁
Ready to remix history? Let's create something unforgettable. 🔥
Join now 👇
https://on.contra.com/cHW9rf
#recraftstyleschallenge @recraftai
The Unnatural History of Tomorrow
An illustrated archive of mechanical species
What if a naturalist from the 19th century discovered the technology of tomorrow?
This creative project transforms futuristic technology into extraordinary mechanical species, combining antique botanical illustration, scientific engraving, and speculative design.
From mechanical dragonflies to botanical-inspired devices, each artwork explores the unexpected relationship between historical illustration and imagined future technology.
Creative direction: Art Direction · AI-Assisted Illustration · Visual Storytelling · Speculative Design
Tools: Recraft Studio
Historical inspiration: Public-domain botanical illustrations from The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Recraft Project: [https://www.recraft.ai/project/362cdaa4-52f4-44b1-9611-de6aed2d9dc8 ]
Historical References: [https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/697703?utm_source=chatgpt.com ]
This is beautiful, it is giving some kinda feelings I can't really analyse hahaha 😊