Tradition Meets Celestial Elegance

Nihonga Stardust (日本画 スターダスト) is a LoRA that reimagines the timeless beauty of Nihonga (日本画), a traditional Japanese painting style, through a modern, celestial lens. Nihonga (literally meaning Japanese painting) is distinguished by its use of traditional Japanese techniques, materials, and aesthetics. Inspired by nature, the seasons, and classical Japanese literature, it emphasizes simplicity, harmony, and balance, often exploring motifs such as landscapes, flowers, animals, and more abstractions like emotion. Nihonga Stardust elevates these principles, blending the grounded elegance of Japanese tradition with ethereal, starlit brilliance.

The first published version of this LoRA is deeply influenced by the works of Noriyuki Kobayashi, a contemporary Nihonga painter whose signature style intertwines delicate golden lines into intricate, woven patterns that celebrate the interconnectedness and vitality of all living things. Kobayashi’s mastery of translucent layers and shimmering details inspired the creation of this model, which imbues its outputs with glowing, intricate compositions full of life and energy. The inclusion of "Stardust" in the name reflects this luminous quality — a celebration of both the brilliance of earthly forms and the infinite vastness of the cosmos.

Art generated with Nihonga Stardust evokes the timelessness of traditional Japanese aesthetics, including wabi-sabi (finding beauty in imperfection) and mono no aware (an awareness of the ephemeral nature of existence). Its luminous compositions allow you to create serene scenes under glowing moons, radiant birds perched in ethereal starry skies, or fantastical landscapes that seamlessly blend tradition with fantasy. This LoRA serves as both an homage to the Nihonga tradition and an exploration of its possibilities in a new, dreamlike context.

Usage

Version 3.2 has a much stronger, predictable style with heavily saturated colors and high contrast being light and dark lines.

To use the most recent version of the LoRA, use the following settings:

• Trigger word: dinhng, as in "a dinhng style painting"

• The LoRA was trained with the following tokens. Using them will enhance the intended style -- without adding some, the style may not trigger: translucent, luminous, atmosphere, ethereal, sky, delicate, mystical, starry, intricate, flowers, moon, night, glowing, golden, serene

• Usage notes: The LoRA will create a wide range of imagery but is ideal for images with natural themes, such as landscapes, animals, plants, etc.

• Lora Strength: A strength between 0.4 and 1.0 is recommended. Higher strengths will add to the ethereal nature of generations, while lower strengths will increase coherence and give the subject a more solid appearance. Toning down the strength to between 0.6 to 0.8 is similar to Version 2.5, but with better color saturation.

• For truly amazing images, combine this LoRA with Best of Flux. It adds incredible detail and deeper, richer colors while keeping the effects of the Nihonga Style.

For differences in previous versions, see the version notes to the right.