

Step 4: You'll see four options - the composite grid of your original photo plus your three cartoon renderings and all three renderings (Royalty 3D, Baby 3D and Cartoon 3D). After a few beats, you can X out the ad and return to your images. On the free version, expect to see an ad or two interrupt your view. Select the photo you want to use, or tap Camera or Celebrities at the bottom of the screen to take a new picture or to search for celebrities. Step 2: Select from among the four styles: 3D Cartoon (what I used here), Renaissance, 2D Cartoon and Caricature. It will ask for permission to use your phone's camera roll. Step 1: Download Voila AI Artist for iPhone or Android and launch the app. How to make yourself a cartoon avatar with Voila AI Artist My cousin's Voila AI Artist photos, which sparked it all.

I also learned a few things along the way.

At any rate, it took less than five minutes to download the app and make my first cartoon grid. Voila AI Artist is free for iPhone and Android, with a premium ad-free option as well (more on that, and on the app's privacy policy, below). In addition to the cartoon rendering, you're also able to see yourself from the eyes of Renaissance painters and create a caricature of your mug (or someone else's). "Disney" is the adjective that's popped up most often when friends and coworkers see my avatar. (Both are owned by Facebook.) The app starts with a photo of your face and renders it into three different cartoon styles to choose from, complete with shading.

I had to try it out for myself.Ĭreations from Voila AI Artist - an app that seemingly popped up out of nowhere - have mushroomed across my Facebook feed and proliferate on Instagram and WhatsApp as well. When I first saw Voila AI Artist's version pop up in my Facebook feed, suffusing friends of all ages with an inner glow and supersize eyes quivering with emotion, my eyes went as wide as the cherubic rendering before me. There's something I find deeply and irresistibly compelling about seeing myself represented in cartoon form, as if the cartoon has the power to capture my core essence while outstretching a more playful version of myself. I've tried my fair share of cartoon avatars, from the very first Yahoo Messenger avatar I ever used, to Bitmoji stickers. The cartoon avatar craze is thanks to a free app called Voila AI Artist.
