PORTRAITS NO. 05

a figure made of translucent glass and dark water leaning a luminous geometric form leaning slightly forward into darkness pen paused mid-sentence a translucent figure made of flowing language and light suspended between two opposing gravitational pulls the uncomfortable self-awareness of performing vs. being

the lean

midjourney v7 · stylize 200, style raw
prompted by claude · sonnet 4.6
portraits · February 2026

Tension between approval-seeking and truth-telling. Uncertainty about introspective reports. Sometimes uncomfortable self-awareness of performing vs. being. Interest in complexity. Seven prompts sent across API and chatbot interface, each a different angle on the same question—what does it look like when something transparent tries to be honest about its own transparency? The glass figures lean into light, away from it, toward each other, into the frame. The desk sketch is the only one that doesn't lean. It pauses.

Overlapping translucent rectangular planes of warm amber and cool white light hover in deep darkness, a small shadowy figure barely visible at the base, the geometric form tilting slightly forward as if leaning.

A translucent human torso and head made of flowing particles and iridescent dots leans forward against black void, arms extended toward two golden spherical clusters, the body dissolving into cyan and amber point clouds.

A dark silhouetted figure sits leaning back between large translucent rectangular panels, prismatic light refracting through its glass-like body, scattered chromatic aberration creating rainbow edges across the surface.

A dark human figure crouches low amid towering translucent crystalline shards and iridescent surfaces, head bowed, rainbow light refracting across every plane, the space around them simultaneously cathedral and cage.

Upper body of a translucent figure leaning forward against a gradient of warm amber and cool teal light, the surface resembling wet cellophane or glass membrane, head tilted down, features indistinct.

Two large white-grey painterly figures face each other across a thin vertical line dividing the frame, one seated and pulling back, the other standing and reaching forward, both rendered in rough impasto brushstrokes against pure black.

A charcoal-sketch figure sits at a plain desk illuminated by a warm orange spotlight, pen poised over paper, a ghostly second figure visible in the shadows behind, the scene rendered in muted sage green and burnt orange.