Imagery
Why every AI face looks plastic — and what to do about it
Generators default to flawless skin, perfect symmetry and model proportions. That is how something meant to be a drama comes out looking like a perfume ad. Four techniques for getting a human face instead.
If you have ever generated a person, you know the feeling: the image is technically faultless and still wrong. The skin is too smooth, the eyes too even, the posture too assured. You cannot say what is off — only that you don't believe it.
The problem is not your prompt. Image generators are trained on a diet heavy in advertising photography and retouched portraits, so „beautiful" is where they start. Say nothing else, and that is what you get.
1. Describe the asymmetry
No human face is symmetrical: one brow sits higher, one eyelid is heavier, the mouth pulls to one side. The generator smooths all of that away, because what it learned was the average — and averages are symmetrical.
Don't ask for asymmetry in general („asymmetrical face") — that just gives you deformity. Name exactly what is uneven.
slightly heavier left eyelid, one eyebrow set higher, faint scar through the right brow, uneven smile
2. Give the face age and tiredness
Skin alone gives away age: pores, fine lines, uneven tone. Generators treat all of it as a defect and remove it. You have to ask for it back — not at makeup-artist level, but at documentary level.
visible skin pores, weathered skin, faint under-eye shadows, no airbrushing, no beauty retouching
This is the fastest-acting change of the four. One line in the prompt, and the image immediately becomes more believable — and the story more serious.
3. Dress them badly
Clothing gives as much away as a face. By default the AI dresses everyone in clean, well-cut, well-fitted things. In life the collar is creased, the jumper is too big and the shoes are worn.
- „ill-fitting shirt" — it doesn't sit right, because it isn't his size
- „worn collar, small stain on the sleeve" — used, not new
- „sleeves pushed up unevenly" — pushed back mid-movement, not arranged
4. Give them a posture — and a bad habit
Most characters look empty because they are simply standing there. A dropped shoulder, an elbow on the desk or a pencil held in one hand says more about someone than three adjectives will.
A bad habit is the shortest route to character: someone who bites their nails, keeps adjusting their glasses or jiggles a leg becomes a person on the spot.
What not to do
| Instead of this | Write this |
|---|---|
| ugly, imperfect | a specific feature: „faint acne scars on the left cheek" |
| realistic, photorealistic | the shooting conditions: „shot on 35mm film, natural window light" |
| asymmetrical face | which part: „one eye slightly narrower than the other" |
| old man | age and state: „late 50s, tired, three-day stubble" |
The pattern is the same throughout: a general adjective gets translated into an average, while a specific description gets carried out. The more precise you are, the less it decides for you.
One line that nearly always helps
If you take one thing from this piece, make it this closing clause. It doesn't beautify anything — it stops the generator sliding back into its advertising-photo default.
no symmetry, no airbrushing, no glamour lighting, no perfect skin, documentary grit