A drawing activity using Copilot

Update. A year and a half later I tried using the same prompt on a later version of Copilot using the text above. Here is the picture it created. It has gotten so much better in that short time. I would like to redo the description to see how close I could get to original, but that is for another day.

A quick attempt with the image generator offered by Gemini is below. What do you think? Copilot seems to have put the dresser and desk in the correct positions, but Gemini has a nice sense to it.

Now here is the original blog post from February of 2024.

In my last blog I wrote about how to use Copilot to answer VTS questions. At the end of the blog I suggested that for practice you might describe a picture and try to have Copilot draw it. Here is my first attempt.

I found a picture of bedrooms online here and tried to have Copilot draw it using my description. 

Here is the prompt I used:

Please draw this bedroom. We are looking into a bedroom. There is a white bed with a red polka dotted pillow with the headboard on the far wall. There are three pictures above the headboard. There is a white dresser on the right hand wall. There is a wicker chair in the far right corner with a floor lamp behind it with a blue lampshade. On th left there is a writing table with just a table and no drawers and two shelves with knick knacks above it. There is a mirror over the dresser.

Here is the best of the four images Copilot offered.

I could have given more details, but the picture at the top left has the desk as I imagined it, and the picture on the bottom right has the chair and floor lamp.

Finally, let's see how well Copilot can describe the original picture. My prompt was "Please describe the picture in a way that someone could draw it based on the descripotion."

Start by drawing a rectangle to represent the floor of the room. Fill it with a light brown color to show the wooden texture. Add some darker brown lines to show the planks.

Next, draw a smaller rectangle on the left side of the floor to represent the bed. Fill it with a white color to show the bedding. Add some colorful pillows on top of the bed, such as purple, green, and yellow. Draw a thin line above the bed to show the headboard. Fill it with a dark brown color to match the floor.

Above the headboard, draw a rectangular frame with some abstract shapes inside to represent the wall art. Fill the frame with a black color and the shapes with different colors, such as red, blue, and orange. Draw a thin line above the frame to show the ceiling. Fill it with a white color.

On the left side of the bed, draw a desk with a chair. The desk should have a rectangular shape with four legs and a drawer. Fill the desk with a white color and the drawer with a gray color. The chair should have a curved back and a round seat. Fill the chair with a purple color to match one of the pillows. Draw a shelf above the desk with some items on it, such as books, vases, and frames. Fill the shelf with a white color and the items with different colors, such as pink, green, and yellow.

On the right side of the bed, draw a round chair with a cushion. The chair should have a circular base and a curved back. Fill the chair with a light brown color and the cushion with a white color. Draw a dresser next to the chair with a round mirror above it. The dresser should have a rectangular shape with four legs and three drawers. Fill the dresser with a white color and the drawers with a gray color. The mirror should have a thin frame and a reflection of the room. Fill the frame with a black color and the reflection with a light blue color to match the walls.

Finally, draw the walls of the room with a light blue color. Add some details to the walls, such as a window, a curtain, and a switch. Fill the window with a white color and the curtain with a dark blue color. Fill the switch with a gray color and add a black dot to show the button. You can also add some shadows and highlights to the objects to make them look more realistic.

Now lets see how well Copilot can draw based on its own description. How did it do?

It would be fun to have groups of students describe a picture for Copilot to draw and then share with other groups and describe the differences.

One final idea for a drawing activity might be to describe a classroom or any room on campus and have other students try to identify it.