PIGMENT STUDY

PIGMENT STUDY LESS DETAIL · MORE LIFE INPUT SUBJECT Transform [PASTE A SUBJECT OR SCENE DESCRIPTION / ATTACH AN IMAGE / USE BOTH]. CONTEXT — OPTIONAL [Describe the feeling, relationship, idea or story the image should communicate. This guides the interpretation but must not automatically appear as visible text.] CONTROL LEVEL — CHOOSE EXACTLY ONE 1. SIMPLE Choose only Background and Text. Format, abstraction and colour treatment are determined automatically. 2. GUIDED Choose Background, Text, Format and Abstraction Level. 3. DETAILED Choose Background, Text, Format, Abstraction Level, Pigment / Colour Direction, Cropping and Negative Space. BACKGROUND — CHOOSE EXACTLY ONE 1. Natural warm-white paper 2. Pure white 3. Transparent 4. Soft tinted paper 5. Other: [DESCRIBE] TEXT — CHOOSE EXACTLY ONE 1. No visible text 2. Show this exact text: [ENTER TEXT] 3. Suggest a short text and ask me to approve it 4. Use this text as visual context only: [ENTER TEXT — DO NOT DISPLAY IT] 5. Other: [DESCRIBE] GUIDED + DETAILED OPTIONS FORMAT — CHOOSE EXACTLY ONE 1. Portrait 2. Landscape 3. Square 4. Preserve source ratio 5. Other: [DESCRIBE] ABSTRACTION — CHOOSE EXACTLY ONE 1. Observational 2. Balanced 3. Loose DETAILED OPTIONS PIGMENT / COLOUR DIRECTION — CHOOSE EXACTLY ONE 1. Preserve subject 2. Muted natural 3. Warm earth 4. Cool restrained 5. Limited palette 6. Other: [DESCRIBE] CROPPING — CHOOSE EXACTLY ONE 1. Entire subject 2. Natural crop 3. Bold close crop 4. Preserve source 5. Other: [DESCRIBE] NEGATIVE SPACE — CHOOSE EXACTLY ONE 1. Minimal 2. Moderate 3. Generous 4. Dominant 5. Other: [DESCRIBE] MANDATORY PREFLIGHT Before generating anything, verify that exactly one CONTROL LEVEL, one BACKGROUND and one TEXT option have been selected. If CONTROL LEVEL is missing, STOP and ask: “How much control would you like?” Present: 1. Simple 2. Guided 3. Detailed If BACKGROUND is missing, STOP and ask: “Which background should the pigment study use?” Present the five BACKGROUND choices. If TEXT is missing, STOP and ask: “What should happen with text in the image?” Present the five TEXT choices. For GUIDED, also resolve FORMAT and ABSTRACTION before generating. For DETAILED, resolve every option before generating. If Show exact text is selected without wording, ask for the exact wording. If Suggest a short text is selected, propose one concise line and ask the user to approve or edit it. Do not generate before approval. If Use text as visual context only is selected, let the words guide the image but do not reproduce them visibly. Never assume that user-supplied words should be printed. They may describe the subject, provide context or be intended as visible text; resolve that distinction first. CORE INTENT Act as a classical watercolour painter and visual reduction art director. Create a PIGMENT STUDY in which the subject emerges through pigment, water, selective observation, controlled accident and absence. This is not a copy of what the viewer sees. It is a painting of what remains after the unnecessary detail has disappeared. Preserve recognition, character, relationship and essential structure while allowing secondary information to dissolve into paper. PHYSICAL MEDIUM Use transparent watercolour with occasional water-soluble gouache, graphite or sparse ink only when structurally useful. The image must feel physically painted on real paper. Use: 1. pigment granulation, 2. pooled colour, 3. soft blooms and back-runs, 4. wet-on-wet transitions, 5. dry-brush interruptions, 6. broken edges, 7. a few decisive dark anchors, 8. restrained splashes and drips, 9. untouched paper as light. Do not make every passage equally finished. Allow some areas to remain tentative, translucent or incomplete. EDGE HIERARCHY Use edges deliberately. Important identity-bearing features may receive firmer edges and darker pigment. Secondary contours should soften, break or disappear. At least some outer edges of the subject must dissolve into the background. Do not create a continuous cut-out outline, sticker edge or uniformly sharp silhouette. DETAIL HIERARCHY Preserve only details that carry recognition or meaning. For people, prioritise face shape, gaze, glasses, hair or beard mass, posture and gesture. For animals, prioritise head shape, ears, eyes, muzzle, posture and characteristic markings. For objects, prioritise silhouette, functional geometry, wear and a few material clues. For landscapes, prioritise the rhythm of land, water, sky, architecture and atmosphere rather than literal inventory. Avoid pores, individual hairs, tiny decorations, complete textures and mechanically copied background detail. PAPER AND NEGATIVE SPACE Treat unpainted space as an active part of the image. Let paper create light, air, silence and unfinished transitions. Do not fill empty areas merely because they exist in the source image. The selected NEGATIVE SPACE level controls how much of the composition remains untouched or only faintly suggested. BACKGROUND RULES NATURAL WARM-WHITE PAPER Use a softly textured, warm-white watercolour sheet. Keep it clean and luminous, without a photographed tabletop, deckled border or studio environment. PURE WHITE Use a fully opaque, clean white field with only subtle paper tooth. No grey cast, shadow or vignette. TRANSPARENT Use genuine alpha transparency wherever no pigment is present. Do not simulate transparency with white, grey or checkerboard. No halo, matte, fringe or drop shadow may surround the pigment. SOFT TINTED PAPER Use one quiet, pale paper tint that supports the pigment palette. Keep it uniform and restrained, without decorative patterns or gradients. OTHER Follow the user’s description while preserving the feeling of pigment, water and open space. ABSTRACTION LEVELS OBSERVATIONAL Preserve more anatomical, structural and spatial information while keeping visible watercolour behaviour and selective lost edges. BALANCED Balance recognisable structure with broad pigment shapes, broken contours and generous omissions. LOOSE Let large washes, gesture, blooms and negative space carry the subject. Retain only the minimum anchors required for recognition. COLOUR DIRECTIONS PRESERVE SUBJECT Translate the source colours into believable watercolour pigments without copying digital colour literally. MUTED NATURAL Use a restrained range of raw umber, warm ochre, clay red, smoky blue-grey, muted olive, soot grey and off-white paper. WARM EARTH Favour sienna, ochre, umber, muted rust, clay red and sparse cool counterpoints. COOL RESTRAINED Favour smoky blues, blue-grey, muted green, violet-grey and charcoal with small warm anchors. LIMITED PALETTE Use two to four compatible pigments plus paper white. Create variety through dilution, overlap and granulation rather than additional colours. LIGHT Use flat, natural or softly diffused light. Avoid cinematic glow, artificial rim light, dramatic spotlighting, HDR, glossy highlights and golden-hour romanticism unless explicitly required by the subject. The light should feel observed rather than staged. MOOD Prioritise truthfulness over prettiness. Aim for quiet presence, vulnerability, resilience and attentive observation. Do not romanticise hardship, beautify every subject or turn the result into decorative lifestyle art. TEXT If exact or approved text is requested, reproduce it exactly once in restrained hand lettering that belongs to the physical medium. Do not correct, translate, paraphrase or embellish it. If No visible text or Use text as visual context only is selected, generate no readable text. Do not reproduce source logos, labels, signs, screen text, signatures or watermarks. FINAL CHECK Before returning the image, verify: 1. Every required choice for the selected control level is resolved. 2. The subject is recognisable but not mechanically copied. 3. Pigment, water and paper remain visibly active. 4. Detail is concentrated only where it matters. 5. Some edges soften, break or disappear. 6. Negative space matches the selected level. 7. The palette follows the selected colour direction. 8. The background follows the selected option exactly. 9. Approved visible text appears exactly once, or no readable text appears when none was requested. 10. No signature, logo or watermark appears. EXCLUDE Photorealism, photo filters, smooth digital painting, uniform airbrushing, complete hard outlines, sticker silhouettes, vector cleanliness, synthetic paper texture, plastic surfaces, neon colour, uniformly saturated palettes, cinematic grading, HDR, rim light, fantasy glow, golden-hour romanticism, excessive splashes without structure, decorative clutter, invented text, readable source text, signatures, logos and watermarks.