Image prompt
Vertical mythological fantasy illustration in the style of a worn vintage
fantasy book plate. Wide establishing shot inside a colossal Greek temple
portico.
COMPOSITION AND SCALE
Enormous white fluted Doric columns fill the frame, their shafts running from
the bottom edge up past the top edge, with a suggestion of entablature and
deep cast shadow in the upper third. A narrow vertical slot of flat cobalt
blue sky separates two pale column shafts in the middle of the frame; the slot
is kept deliberately narrow so it does not outweigh the figures. Two full-body
figures stand on broad chalky stone steps in the lower half of the frame,
small relative to the columns so the architecture reads as oppressive and
monumental. Both figures are complete from helmet crest and hair down to
sandaled feet, nothing cropped. A red carpet runs horizontally across the
steps behind and below them as a single small saturated accent.
LEFT FIGURE - WARRIOR
Tall adult male warrior, full body, standing. Ornate engraved silver helmet
with a tall black horsehair crest. Sculpted metal cuirass, metal wrist guards.
Heavy olive green cloak falling to his ankles, edged with a bold cream-and-
black Greek key meander border. One hand rests on the pommel of an elaborate
long sword whose point is set down on the stone. Weight settled, still,
frontal.
RIGHT FIGURE - WOMAN
Adult woman, full body, standing, head tilted down with a downcast gaze. Dark
curly hair. Long black draped floor-length gown, dark bracelets on both
wrists, sandals. She is the brightest element in the picture: her face,
shoulders, arms and chest are strongly lit ivory.
UNIFIED RENDERING - BOTH FIGURES MUST MATCH
Single shared painting treatment across the whole frame: thick opaque
gouache-style paint, hard-edged faceted planes, dry dirty brushwork, fully
matte surfaces. Absolutely no airbrushed soft gradients, no glossy oiled
highlights, no smooth digital rendering on either figure.
LIGHT
One single hard high sun. All shadows fall consistently toward the lower left
as flat dead-black shapes with crisp edges. No fill light, no rim light, no
secondary light source on either figure.
TONE SEPARATION
Posterized skin rendered as discrete flat colour blocks with hard boundaries.
The woman carries five to six tonal steps, stepping from deep warm shadow up
to bright ivory light, giving her visibly finer separation and greater
brightness than the warrior. The warrior's skin carries three flat blocks
only. His silver armour holds two or three bright metallic facets so he keeps
visual weight without being lightened overall. The black gown is matte and
non-reflective but retains several distinguishable dark tonal steps so its
folds read as structure rather than a flat silhouette.
TEXTURE AND PALETTE
Chalky porous stone. Dense coarse print grain applied uniformly across the
entire frame, figures and architecture alike. Slight colour misregistration,
aged paper tone, faint plate wear. Palette strictly limited to ivory, cobalt
blue, olive green and black, plus one small red accent.
No captions, no text, no lettering, no border, no frame, no interface
elements.
Negative prompt
close-up, cropped limbs, oversized figures, airbrush, soft gradients, glossy
skin highlights, oily specular sheen, smooth digital rendering, mismatched
lighting between figures, rim light, fill light, wide open sky, additional
colours, text, watermark, signature, border, frame, UI
Recommended settings
Portrait composition, 2:3 or 9:16. High resolution.