PRE-ORDER. THIS RECORDING IS RELEASED ON THURSDAY 1 OCTOBER 2026.
 
THIS PRODUCT PROVIDES ACCESS TO THE RECORDING FOR 12 MONTHS FROM RELEASE - YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO DOWNLOAD.
 
You have made an image you love. It sits there, perfectly still, and part of you wonders what it would look like if the wind moved through the grass, or the bird took flight.
 
Not long ago that was a job for an animator. Now you can do it by typing a sentence. The catch is the sentence. Writing a prompt that gets a good still image is a skill. Writing one that gets the movement you pictured, in the right direction, at the right moment, is a different skill again, and most of us find that out the first time we press the button.
 
In this recorded session Sandra Dann shows you how she does it, step by step, in Leonardo.Ai. She works with her own AI art, and she explains that the same tools work with your own photographs too.
 
Ordering ahead
It goes live on Thursday 1 October 2026 and I will email you the link that day. Order before then and it is £9.60. From 1 October it is £12.
 
Your 12 months starts on release day, not the day you order, so there is nothing to lose by ordering early.
 
What happens in the session
 
Choosing what to animate. Sandra starts in her own library, with the pictures she has brought to life and the ones she has left alone. A girl holding an oversized flamingo stays a still image, and she explains why. A girl with an owl is a much better candidate.
 
The first build, from start to finish. Create Video, choosing a model, five seconds or ten, and which shape to pick: square, letterbox, or tall for a reel. Then the prompt. The owl spreads its wings and flies off to the right. The girl's hands drop to her side. Her head drops as the bird leaves. Every line is short and gives the AI a direction. Then she changes one line and runs it again at ten seconds.
 
A fox walks home. A longer model, and fourteen seconds this time. The fox walks up the path, the flowers sway, and the cottage door opens. Sandra shows how quality and length change the cost in credits before she commits, and what she would add to the prompt to get the timing right.
 
Breaking a picture into parts. A figure with a red umbrella walks through the rain. Before she types anything, Sandra breaks the image into pieces: the walker, the rain, the lamps, the grass, the umbrella. Then she adds a bolt of lightning, just to see what happens.
 
Telling a story. A woman turns towards the parrot on her shoulder and bows her head. Sandra asks for tears as well. They do not appear, and she talks through why. It may be the length of the clip, or the order of the words, which matters as much as the words themselves.
 
The quick way. Leonardo's Instant Animate blueprint, which animates an image with no prompt at all. Useful when you just want some movement.
 
And the results that did not go to plan. A burst of light nobody asked for. Clouds that were not in the prompt. A sunset that came out looking like a sunrise. Sandra keeps them in and talks them through, and a lot of the learning is in those moments.
 
Along the way she shows where she looks for ideas in Leonardo's public gallery, how she would take a finished clip into another program to add music and words, and why any music you add must be royalty free.
 
In Sandra's words
"This is where it's like Christmas. You really don't know what's going to happen."
"If you think that you can get an image looking like this with three to four words, good luck."
"It's fun, it's challenging. But it's also another way of expressing yourself creatively."
 
What you will take away
How to judge whether an image will animate well, and when to leave it as a still
A simple way to write a motion prompt: split the picture into parts and give each one a direction
Why the order of your words changes the result
How the model, length, quality and sound change what a clip costs in credits
Which shape to choose for a post, a reel or a letterbox
A quick route to movement with Instant Animate, with no prompt needed
Ideas for turning a short clip into a story, with music and text
 
Worth knowing
This is a walkthrough of image-to-video in Leonardo.Ai. Sandra is part of Leonardo's creator programme, which gives her a generous credit allowance. She is open about that and she warns how quickly credits run out on both free and paid accounts. A free Leonardo account has a limited allowance. The video models change often, so some menus may look a little different when you try it yourself. The thinking behind the prompts stays the same.
 
Who it is for
Anyone making AI art who would like to see it move. Photographers and composite makers who want a short moving clip for social media. And anyone curious about AI video who would like to watch someone try it properly before spending their own credits.
 
Why we love this one
Sandra gets excited, trips over a word, laughs at a result that went wrong, and carries on. It is the same thing that made The Creative Eye so enjoyable: you watch someone work it out, not someone who already has every answer.
 
About Sandra
Sandra Dann is a digital artist and Photoshop educator based in Australia. She started out in landscape photography and now loves a whimsical, storybook style. Through SandraD Imagery she teaches Photoshop, digital art and creative storytelling, and she is part of Leonardo.Ai's creator programme.
 
See more of Sandra's work
Website: https://www.sandradimagery.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SandraDImagery
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SandraDImagery
 
What you get
The full recorded session, about an hour, with three of Sandra's finished animations included at full quality. Watch it as often as you like for 12 months from release day.
 
£9.60 to pre-order. £12 from 1 October 2026. Access for 12 months from release, streaming only, no downloads.