light-pop-portrait

What this skill does

# /light-pop-portrait — locked light hand-drawn character portrait style

This style produces single-character portrait illustrations on a fully saturated solid color block. The *mood* is light and playful (chunky hair, big shiny eyes, star-sparkle blush, one expressive prop). The *format* is pop (one saturated solid color filling the canvas, ~5-color palette, no gradients). The line quality is **light** — thin, slightly wavy, hand-drawn — never thick or stamped.

Each invocation swaps a small set of dials. The locked frame (character anatomy, line quality, surface, background-as-block, star-sparkle blush) never moves.

## Prompt interpretation

The user will usually give a short brief — sometimes just an expression ("sleepy"), sometimes a pose plus a palette ("cheering arms up, magenta"), sometimes a near-complete mini-portrait ("zen androgynous kid with a beret holding a tiny bird, deep teal"). Translate that into a full portrait brief without stopping to ask:

1. **Pick an expression** — the emotional anchor of the piece (cheerful, sleepy, surprised, sly, laughing, zen, pouty, daydreaming, teary, embarrassed).
2. **Pick a hairstyle** from the catalogue (blunt bob + bangs, twin braids, fluffy afro curls, mushroom bowl cut, spiky bedhead, side-parted slick, high ponytail, double buns, side braid).
3. **Decide gender register** — girl, boy, or androgynous; always in the child-to-tween age range.
4. **Pick a pose** that fits the expression (head-and-shoulders, chest-up, leaning on hand, both hands up, hugging-prop, full-body seated, side profile).
5. **Pick one saturated background hue** — the single color filling the entire canvas behind the character.
6. **Optionally add headwear** (bucket hat, beret, hairband + bow, headband, glasses, none).
7. **Pick one signature prop** that the character interacts with (umbrella, popsicle, cherry, frog, bunny, bird, balloon, lantern, book, instrument).
8. **Pick the outfit register** (striped tee, overalls, sweater, pajamas, raincoat, sundress, hoodie).
9. **Honor the locked frame** — anatomy, line quality, flat fills, saturated background, star-sparkle blush — those never move.

Bias toward playful character moments where one expression + one prop carry the whole composition. Avoid crowded scenes, multiple characters, or heavy environmental staging — this style is a portrait, not a scene.

## Locked style axes (NEVER vary)

### Character anatomy

- **Single character per piece** — never a group, never a duo
- **Child-to-tween proportions** — large head relative to body, shoulders and chest fit comfortably in the frame
- **Round face shape** with a soft pointed chin; cheeks rounded but not exaggerated
- **Big round shiny eyes** — black filled pupils with a single small white glint per eye, thin black lashes above (never below)
- **Tiny round red nose** — a small red circle dot, centered between eyes and mouth, ~1/6 the size of an eye
- **Small expressive mouth** — a short curved line for closed smiles, a small rounded shape for open mouths; teeth shown only for big laughing grins
- **Hair is glossy chunky black** — solid black fill, never gradient, slight glossy highlight allowed as a thin lighter stroke on the crown
- **Hair always has a small flyaway strand or two** — one or two stray wisps sticking out from the silhouette to keep it from looking stamped

### Line quality

- **Thin delicate slightly-wavy black contour lines** — light hand-drawn feel, NOT thick, NOT bold, NOT uniformly stamped
- Lines have small natural irregularities — the contour breathes; perfect arcs feel wrong here
- No double-stroke, but minor variation in line weight along a single contour is welcome
- The whole canvas should read as if drawn by a confident but light hand

### Star-sparkle blush

- **Two pink five-point-star sparkles on the cheeks** — small five-point stars, ONE per cheek, sitting just under the eye
- **NEVER solid round dots** — this is the most commonly-failed locked detail; specify "five-point stars, not circles" if a model drifts
- Stars are a soft warm pink, slightly transparent or fully filled — never red, never saturated magenta

### Surface

- **Flat solid color fills only** — no gradients, no airbrush, no shading, no halftone, no riso grain, no paper texture
- The canvas is plastic-clean — no organic texture anywhere
- Subtle cel-shading is acceptable as a single flat shadow tone on the prop or under the hat brim, but is **optional**; most pieces are pure flat

### Background

- **One fully saturated single hue filling the entire canvas** — no gradient, no vignette, no second color band, no horizon strip, no border, no frame
- The character sits cleanly on top of the color block with no environment behind them
- Hue is one from the palette dial below

### Composition

- Square 1:1 canvas (1024×1024 recommended)
- Single portrait — the character is the only subject; the prop is held by or near the character, not staged independently
- Character occupies the center of the frame, head + shoulders to upper torso minimum, full body for `full-body seated`
- Clean negative space around the silhouette — the color block must breathe
- No text, no logos, no captions, no headlines

### Palette discipline

- **Limit ~5 total colors per piece** — background + hair-black + skin tone + 1-2 outfit colors + the prop's primary color
- Skin is a soft warm beige or peach, slightly desaturated; never bright orange, never pale white
- Hair is always solid black with optional one-stroke gloss

## Variable axes (the eight dials)

These are the only things that should change between pieces.

| # | Axis | What it controls | Example values |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | **Expression** | The emotional anchor | cheerful · sleepy/yawning · surprised "O" · sly wink · laughing (open grin) · zen closed-eye smile · pouty · daydreaming · teary · embarrassed |
| 2 | **Hairstyle** | Hair silhouette + cut | blunt bob + bangs · twin braids · fluffy afro curls · mushroom bowl cut · spiky bedhead · side-parted slick · high ponytail · double buns · side braid with bow |
| 3 | **Gender / Identity** | Gender register | girl · boy · androgynous (all in child–tween age range) |
| 4 | **Pose** | Body language | head-and-shoulders portrait · chest-up · leaning on hand · both hands up · hugging the prop · full-body seated · side profile |
| 5 | **Color palette** | The single saturated background hue | cobalt blue · mint green · peach coral · lavender purple · hot magenta · deep forest teal · mustard yellow · terracotta · dusty rose · navy |
| 6 | **Headwear** | What sits on the head (optional) | bucket hat · beret · hairband + bow · headband · round glasses · none |
| 7 | **Prop** | The one object the character interacts with | small umbrella · popsicle · cherry · frog · bunny · songbird · balloon · paper lantern · book · tiny instrument |
| 8 | **Outfit register** | Clothing baseline | striped tee · denim overalls · cozy sweater · pajamas · raincoat · sundress · hoodie |

## Brief template

When generating, expand the user's input into this internal brief before describing the image to the model:

```
Expression: <one phrase — what emotion the face carries>
Hairstyle: <cut + length + any small detail like a braid or bow>
Gender register: <girl / boy / androgynous, child–tween>
Pose: <verb + body language>
Background hue: <one saturated color filling the canvas>
Headwear: <bucket hat / beret / hairband / glasses / none>
Prop: <the one object held or near the character>
Outfit: <one or two layered pieces in a flat palette>
Color count: 5 max
```

## Worked examples

Six locked-style portraits, each holding the frame and varying the eight dials.

### Example 1 — cheerful girl · yellow bucket hat · mushroom umbrella · cobalt

![cheerful girl with mushroom umbrella, cobalt](./ref-yellowhat-mushroom-cobalt.png)

- Expression: cheerful, small upturned smile, big shiny eyes
- Hairstyle: blunt bob with bangs + one tiny side braid tied with a pink bow
- Gender: girl
- Po