Greetings, Marcus!
Talented creative from Berlin--a place he says is the most dog-friendly metropolis in the world.
Marcus uses a wide range of tools in his craft including, but not limited to: Notes, Midjourney, Adobe Premiere, Adobe Lightroom, Adobe After Effects, Node Video, CapCut Pro, and ProCreate.
“It depends on if I’m making an image, animation, or clip,” he says. “Currently, I try new animation techniques, some you can see on my page, and others I haven’t shared yet because I don’t think they’re good enough. They’ll be really different and awesome, though. I’m in the learning process and eager to develop my skills!”
The Common Thread that Binds Us
Marcus started his Instagram account in early November of 2022.
“It was just a fun project, an experiment to play with AI, out of curiosity. I work in the creative industry, and I’m also a bit nerdy,” he says.
“You’ll only see cats and dogs on my gallery. My last dog, a golden retriever, passed away two years ago. The first sticky post on my page is dedicated to her. Now I have two Bengal cats and a goldendoodle. They love each other and they’re my daily inspiration. Every single picture is inspired by at least one of them,” he says.
While every piece is a part of Marcus’ soul, the image above is the most near and dear. He says, “I’m always learning and trying to tell stories that bond. I tell stories that come from my heart. Always, when I make someone happy or reach some person’s soul, it’s an incredible gift to me.”
GET-THE-PROMPT
wide angle shot zoomed out, side photo, an adorable brown Golden Retriever is sleeping peacefully on an infinite lush meadow with thousands of sunflowers, seen from the side, sunset, farewell, peaceful, relaxed, infinite, mythical, with dazzling details, light silver hues, intricate details, no blur, Light particles, highly detailed, Dynamic pose, dimension, dynamic, highly intricate, realistic, photorealistic, radiant, serene, landscape, vibrant, Unreal Engine 5, 32k, contrast, cinema 4k —q 2 —ar 2:3 —upbeta —v 4
“Nearly 2,000 persons follow my cats and dogs. My pets don’t really care, but I do. The stories about my pets and the way I present and tell them is something that connects us and bonds us together. Many had similar experiences with their pets—suffering from a loss, a decision to get a new one, to laugh daily, to not only save a life, but realizing your pet has saved yours. This drives me daily, and I’m happy about how many awesome people I’ve met,” he says. “There are many other creatives who also have a pet or more, they may be more interested in how I take my pictures and clips.”
A Message to Our Viewers and His
We resonate with Marcus’ message—his words are something we think about near daily.
“In the end, I have something to say, a very naive but for me personally a strong message: we all need more cuteness in our lives, giving love, being loved, trust, being able to let go. And what I show you are little stories about the animals that love you more than anything in the world, that are part of your life, of your families. I do this with my imagination, my creativity, artificial intelligence tools, and a few tweaks here and there,” Marcus says.
Storytelling in Motion
On generative art, Marcus says he’s able to, “tell stories with the help of AI that were not possible before I had access to this kind of technology. I write a lot, and most of my creativity ends as text. Generative art let’s me dig deeper, helps me reach another level of communication.”
“I’m no artist, I’m a storyteller. And AI really adds a new layer to my creative process by allowing me to see things above the horizon or behind, or besides, that I haven’t seen before,” he says. “It’s generative in a sense that it sometimes leads me another way and forces me to be more flexible with my conceptual ideas.”
“These are moments when I say AI has a mind of its own,” he jests.
“I’m more of an entertainer than an artist,” Marcus says. “Sometimes, I really try to be an artist. There are some pieces I’m proud of because they are unique and contain a lot of my personality. But over 90 percent are for entertainment, just fun. I hope you can see and feel this fun in every single picture and clip. In the end, I am extremely inspired by my cats and dog. Every single post is dedicated to them.”
Learning, learning, learning.
We love Marcus’ learning-forwarded mentality.
“I’ve learned a lot about concept, and my own perfectionism. In my work-life, I set clear goals and define steps how to get there. Working with AI is much more creative as it forces you to be flexible and adopt process that also helps you to free yourself from perfectionism,” he says. “For some ideas, I generate about 200 images and then realize I have to leave my path and go another direction, generate an insane number of new pictures and in the end, I hopefully publish one of them.”
“On the other hand, sometimes I just publish more raw versions. They are not perfect, the proportions aren’t right, the cats may have five legs or so,” he adds. “Just let the pressure go. It’s interesting, I often get more engagement for my images that I don’t like as much, versus the perfect one I posted before. In the end, I submit them all for myself. Perhaps I will make an album for pictures I’d never post on Instagram.”
“Oh, I’ve also learned, I spend too much time on Instagram! I’ve been on the platform since the early days of Instagram with a very private account on which I only have a double-digit number of followers,” he says. “I had strong preconceptions about Instagram. My new account focuses much more on creativity, and interaction. And now I realize how strong, how supportive, and how awesome the AI community is. I am very grateful for that and try to give back more than I get.”
Long-term Planning
“I want to reach as many cat and dog lovers as possible and give them a place where they can forget their daily life, they can laugh and love and see their pets in another, maybe more artsy way,” he says.
“Don’t be afraid to get in contact with me. I always love to be in an exchange. Whether it’s a nice chat, or if you need an open ear to hear your suffering from the loss of a beloved pet, or help you out when it comes to AI,” he adds. “Please, share my work! So that others like you can enjoy cats and dogs in a different way than memes and photos.”
Join in on the fun, love, and storytelling on Instagram: @catsndogs.ai
Marcus's Instagram is one of my favorite accounts to follow. I love its entire vibe. Thanks for the look "under the hood. "