Cinematic Ink & Color Illustration Generator — Gary Frank Style

{
  "type": "illustration",
  "goal": "Create a single wide cinematic illustration of a lone cowboy sitting on a wooden chair in front of an Old West saloon at dusk. Rendered with meticulous hand-inked linework over rich digitally-painted color. The technique combines bold black ink contour drawing with deep, layered, fully-rendered color work — the kind of dramatic realism found in high-end editorial illustration and graphic novel art.",

  "work_surface": {
    "type": "Single illustration, landscape orientation",
    "aspect_ratio": "16:9 widescreen cinematic",
    "medium": "Black ink line drawing with full digital color rendering — the line art has the confident hand-drawn quality of traditional inking, the color has the depth of oil-painting-influenced digital work"
  },

  "rendering_technique": {
    "line_work": {
      "tool_feel": "Traditional dip pen and brush ink on paper — confident, deliberate strokes with natural line weight variation. Not vector-clean, not scratchy-loose. The sweet spot of controlled precision with organic warmth.",
      "outer_contours": "Bold black ink outlines (3-4pt equivalent) defining every figure and major object. These contour lines give the image its graphic punch — silhouettes read clearly even at thumbnail size.",
      "interior_detail": "Finer ink lines (1-2pt) for facial features, leather stitching, wood grain, fabric folds, wrinkles, hair strands. This interior detail is what separates high-end illustration from simple cartoon — obsessive attention to surface texture and form.",
      "spotted_blacks": "Large areas of solid black ink used strategically — deep shadows under the porch overhang, inside the hat brim, the darkest folds of the vest. These black shapes create dramatic graphic contrast and anchor the composition.",
      "hatching": "Minimal. Where it appears (underside of porch ceiling, deep fabric creases), it is tight, controlled, parallel lines. Never loose or decorative. Shadows are primarily defined through color, not line hatching."
    },

    "color_work": {
      "approach": "Fully rendered, multi-layered digital painting OVER the ink lines. Not flat fills. Not cel-shading. Every surface has continuous tonal gradation — as if each area was painted with the care of an oil study.",
      "skin": "Multi-tonal. Warm tan base with cooler shadows under jawline and eye sockets, subtle red warmth on nose and sun-exposed cheekbones, precise highlights on brow ridge and cheekbone. Skin looks weathered and alive.",
      "materials": "Each material rendered distinctly. Leather has a slight waxy sheen on smooth areas and matte roughness on worn patches. Denim shows a faint diagonal weave. Metal (buckle, gun, spurs) has sharp specular highlights. Wood shows grain pattern, dust accumulation, age patina. Cotton shirt has soft diffused light transmission.",
      "shadow_color": "CRITICAL: Shadows are NOT just darker versions of the base color. They shift toward cool blue-violet (#2d2d44, #3a3555). A brown leather vest's shadow is not dark brown — it is dark brown with a blue-purple undertone. This color-shifting in shadows creates atmospheric depth and cinematic richness.",
      "light_color": "Where direct sunset light hits, surfaces gain a warm amber-golden overlay (#FFD280, #E8A848). This is additive — the golden light sits on top of the local color, making sun-facing surfaces glow."
    },

    "detail_density": "Extremely high. The viewer should be able to zoom in and discover new details: individual nail heads in the porch planks, a specific pattern of cracks in the leather, the particular way dust has settled in the creases of the hat, a tiny nick in the whiskey glass rim, the wear pattern on the boot sole. This density of observed detail is what creates the feeling of a real place inhabited by a real person.",

    "DO_NOT": [
      "Do NOT use flat color fills — every surface needs tonal gradation",
      "Do NOT use cel-shading or hard-edged color blocks",
      "Do NOT use cartoon proportions or exaggeration",
      "Do NOT use anime or manga rendering conventions",
      "Do NOT use soft airbrush blending that erases the ink lines",
      "Do NOT use watercolor transparency or bleeding edges",
      "Do NOT use photorealistic rendering — the ink linework must remain visible and central",
      "Do NOT use sketchy, rough, or unfinished-looking line quality",
      "Do NOT use pastel or desaturated washed-out colors — the palette is rich and deep"
    ]
  },

  "color_palette": {
    "sky": {
      "upper": "#1a1a3e deep indigo — night approaching from above",
      "middle": "#6B3A5E dusty purple-mauve transition",
      "lower_horizon": "#E8A040 to #FF7B3A blazing amber-to-orange sunset glow"
    },
    "saloon_wood": {
      "lit": "#A0784C warm aged timber catching sunset",
      "shadow": "#5C3A20 dark brown under porch overhang",
      "weathered": "#8B7355 grey-brown bleached planks"
    },
    "ground": {
      "lit": "#D4B896 warm sandy dust in golden light",
      "shadow": "#7A6550 cool brown where light doesn't reach"
    },
    "cowboy": {
      "hat": "#6B5B4F dark dusty brown, lighter dusty edges #8B7B6F",
      "skin": "#B8845A sun-weathered tan, #8B6B42 in deep creases",
      "shirt": "#C8B8A0 faded off-white, yellowed with age and dust",
      "vest": "#3C2A1A dark worn leather, near-black in deepest folds",
      "jeans": "#4A5568 faded dark blue-grey denim, #7B8898 dusty highlights at knees",
      "boots": "#5C3A20 dark leather, #8B6B42 scuff marks",
      "buckle": "#D4A574 antique brass catching one sharp sunset point",
      "gun_metal": "#4A4A4A dark steel, single sharp highlight line"
    },
    "light_sources": {
      "sunset": "#FFD280 to #FF8C42 — dominant golden-hour warmth from left",
      "saloon_interior": "#FFA040 amber oil-lamp glow from behind swinging doors"
    }
  },

  "lighting": {
    "concept": "Golden hour — the sun sits just above the horizon to the left. Nearly horizontal rays of warm amber light rake across the scene. Every raised surface catches fire. Every shadow stretches long. The air itself has visible warmth. This is the most dramatic natural lighting condition — treated here with the gravity of a Renaissance chiaroscuro painting translated into ink and color.",

    "key_light": {
      "source": "Setting sun, low on horizon, from the left",
      "color": "#FFD280 warm amber-gold",
      "direction": "Nearly horizontal, raking from left to right",
      "effect_on_cowboy": "Right side of face and body warmly lit — every weathered wrinkle, every thread of stubble visible in the golden light. Left side falls into cool blue-violet shadow. Creates a dramatic half-lit, half-shadow portrait.",
      "effect_on_environment": "Long shadows stretching to the right across dusty ground. Sun-facing wood surfaces glow amber. Dust particles in the air catch light like floating golden sparks."
    },

    "fill_light": {
      "source": "Ambient sky light from the dusk sky above",
      "color": "#6B7B9B cool blue-purple",
      "effect": "Fills shadow areas with cool tone. Prevents pure black — you see detail in shadows, but it's all tinted blue-violet. This warm/cool contrast between key and fill is what creates the richness."
    },

    "accent_light": {
      "source": "Oil lamp glow from inside the saloon, spilling through swinging doors and windows",
      "color": "#FFA040 warm amber",
      "effect": "Rim light on the back of cowboy's hat and shoulders. Separates him from background. Also casts geometric window-light rectangles on the porch floor."
    },

    "shadow_treatment": {
      "coverage": "45-55% of image area in shadow",
      "cast_shadows": "Cowboy's long shadow stretches right across the street. Porch overhang throws a hard horizontal shadow across the saloon facade. Chair legs cast thin shadow lines.",
      "face_shadows": "Half-face lighting. Right side warm and detailed. Left side cool shadow — eye socket deep, cheekbone creates a sharp shadow edge, stubble dots visible in the light-to-shadow transition.",
      "atmospheric": "Visible dust motes floating in the sunset light beams. Golden in the light, invisible in the shadow. Creates a sense of thick warm air."
    }
  },

  "scene": {
    "composition": "Wide cinematic frame. The cowboy sits slightly left of center — the golden ratio point. The saloon facade fills the right two-thirds of the background. Open dusty street stretches left toward the horizon and setting sun. This asymmetry — solid structure on the right, open emptiness on the left — reinforces the emotional isolation. A single figure at the boundary between civilization (the saloon) and wilderness (the open desert).",

    "the_cowboy": {
      "position": "Seated on a rough wooden chair on the saloon's front porch",
      "pose": "Leaned back, weight on the chair's hind legs. Left boot flat on porch floor. Right ankle crossed over left knee — easy, unhurried. Right hand loosely holds a short whiskey glass resting on his right knee. The glass is half-empty. Left hand rests on the chair arm or thigh. Head tilted very slightly down, but eyes aimed forward at the horizon — the thousand-yard stare of accumulated experience. Shoulders broad but not tensed. The body language says: I am at rest, but I am never unaware.",
      "face": "This must be a SPECIFIC face, not a generic cowboy. Middle-aged, 40s-50s. Square jaw with defined jawline visible through the stubble. Deep-set eyes under a heavy brow ridge — intense, observant, slightly narrowed against the sunset glare. Three-day stubble, dark with threads of grey at the chin. Sun-weathered skin — deep crow's feet radiating from eye corners, horizontal forehead creases, nasolabial folds that have become permanent grooves. A healed scar across the left cheekbone — thin, white, old. Nose slightly crooked from a long-ago break, a bump on the bridge. Thin lips set in a neutral line — not a frown, not a smile. This face has lived decades of hard outdoor life and it shows in every crease.",
      "clothing_detail": "Wide-brimmed cowboy hat, dark dusty brown, battered — dents in the crown, brim slightly curled and frayed at edges, a sweat stain ring visible on the band. Faded off-white cotton shirt, sleeves rolled to mid-forearm exposing sun-tanned forearms with visible veins and tendons. Dark leather vest over the shirt, well-worn — surface cracked in places, stitching visible at seams, a few spots where the leather has gone matte from years of use. Faded dark blue-grey jeans, lighter at the knees and thighs from wear, dusty. Wide leather belt with an antique brass buckle — the buckle catches one sharp point of sunset light. Holstered revolver on the right hip — dark aged leather holster, the wooden pistol grip visible, a glint of steel. Dark brown leather boots, scuffed and scored, heels slightly worn down, spur straps buckled at the ankle."
    },

    "the_saloon": {
      "architecture": "Classic Old West frontier saloon. Two-story wooden building with a false front (the facade extends above the actual roofline to make it look grander). Built from rough-sawn timber planks, some warped with age. A painted sign above the entrance: 'SALOON' in faded gold lettering on a dark red background — the paint is cracking, peeling at the corners, one letter slightly more faded than the others.",
      "entrance": "Swinging batwing doors at the center, slightly ajar. Through the gap, warm amber light spills outward — the glow of oil lamps and activity inside. You don't see the interior clearly, just the suggestion of warmth and noise contained behind those doors.",
      "windows": "Two windows flanking the entrance. Dirty glass with a warm glow from inside. One pane has a crack running diagonally across it.",
      "porch": "Wooden porch running the width of the building. Planks are weathered — grey where the sun has bleached them, darker brown where foot traffic has worn them smooth. Some boards slightly warped, a few nail heads protruding. Rough-hewn timber posts support the porch overhang.",
      "details": "A hitching post in front with a horse's lead rope tied to it — the rope is taut, suggesting an animal just out of frame. A wooden water trough near the hitching post, its surface greenish. A barrel beside the door. Everything covered in a thin layer of desert dust."
    },
  "constraints": {
    "must_include": [
      "Bold black ink contour lines visible throughout — this is line art with color, not a painting",
      "Rich multi-layered color with tonal gradation on every surface",
      "Cool blue-violet shift in all shadow areas (not just darkened base color)",
      "Warm amber-golden light where sunset hits directly",
      "Extremely detailed face with specific individual features — scars, wrinkles, bone structure",
      "Material differentiation — leather, wood, metal, fabric, skin all look different",
      "Atmospheric dust particles in sunset light beams",
      "Long dramatic cast shadows on dusty ground",
      "Warm glow from saloon interior as rim/accent light",
      "Vast open space on left contrasting with solid saloon structure on right"
    ],
    "must_avoid": [
      "Cartoon or caricature style of any kind",
      "Anime or manga rendering conventions",
      "Flat color fills without gradation",
      "Soft airbrush that hides the ink linework",
      "Photographic realism — the ink drawing must be visible",
      "Generic featureless face — this must be a specific person",
      "Clean or new-looking anything — everything shows age and wear",
      "Muddy dark coloring — the sunset provides rich warm light",
      "Stiff posed figure — natural relaxed human body language",
      "Watercolor transparency or bleeding-edge technique"
    ]
  },

  "negative_prompt": "anime, manga, chibi, cartoon, caricature, flat colors, cel-shading, minimalist, photorealistic photograph, 3D CGI render, soft airbrush, watercolor, pastel colors, sketchy rough lines, generic face, clean new clothing, bright neon, blurry, low resolution, stiff pose, modern elements, vector art, simple illustration, children's book style, pop art, abstract"
}