5 Best Midjourney Prompts: September 2024 (Carving & Sculpting)

Modifiers related to carving and sculpting techniques from around the world.

It’s the last Thursday of September, so I’m back with the monthly Midjourney modifiers. (All the previous ones are in this giant list.)

As always, I share simple descriptors for you to add to your prompts.

This month’s theme is carving and sculpting.

Today’s showcase subjects are:

• Gnome

• Palm tree

• Spaceship

Let’s go!

Prompt #1: “[subject], netsuke”

Netsuke was a decorative mini-sculpture attached to a small container called inrō carried by kimono-wearing Japanese men in the 17th century.

Aside from looking cool, the netsuke also prevented a small bead (ojime) that closed the inrō shut from sliding off the cord. Traditionally, netsuke was made of ivory, so that’s the look you tend to get in Midjourney with this modifier.

Sample images:

Prompt #2: “[subject], alebrije”

Alebrijes are types of colorful sculptures in Mexican folk art, typically of fantasy creatures. Alebrijes are usually carved from wet wood and left to dry for months. After that, they were finally painted.

In contrast to netsuke’s monochromatic look, alebrijes are bright and multicolored. Midjourney is quite good at mimicking their style, even when your subject isn’t a mythical beast.

Sample images:

Prompt #3: “[subject], haniwa”

Let’s return to Japan for a moment.

Haniwa are hollow terra-cotta sculptures that were placed at the burial sites of Japanese rulers. They started out as simple clay cylinders (“haniwa” means “circle of clay”) but later evolved to become humanlike sculptures.

Sample images:

Prompt #4: “Tiki carving of [subject]”

Tiki are figures carved out of wood or occasionally stone found in many Polynesian cultures. They date back to Māori mythology where Tiki was the first man created by god Tūmatauenga¹. (So Tiki is like Māori Adam, if you will.)

Midjourney tends to give images with this modifier human features, so don’t be surprised if your inanimate object suddenly grows a face.

Sample images:

Prompt #5: “Baule sculpture of [subject]”

Baule are the largest ethnic group in Ivory Coast. They create incredible art—from masks to sculptures—that many Westerners will instantly associate with Africa.

Note: Just as with tiki, Baule figurines traditionally depicted human form, so Midjourney may well get a bit creative when applying this modifier to objects.

Sample images:

The future of Midjourney prompts

After almost two years of doing these every month, I’m again considering retiring this tradition to make room for other posts.

The last time I ran this poll, you overwhelmingly voted to keep the Midjourney prompts.

Let’s see if anything’s changed:

Over to you…

Don’t forget to test these descriptors in other text-to-image generators. They might treat them very differently.

Want to share your own prompts and modifiers?

Leave a comment or shoot me an email at whytryai@substack.com.

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Here’s every Midjourney modifier I ever covered in one huge visual guide:

1. Other legends say it was the god of forests Tāne who created Tiki.