jade-blockprint

Imported from okou-ai/vm0-skills (illustration-template/jade-blockprint/SKILL.md). Install upstream with npx skills add okou-ai/vm0-skills --skill jade-blockprint. Copyright stays with the author.

/jade-blockprint — locked two-pass block-print style

This style produces editorial spot illustrations with a hand-pressed mid-century feel. Every piece is built from exactly two ink colors — one accent + chunky black — laid down as two separate "plates" the way a screen print or linocut would print them: color blob first, ink line art on top. The accent shape floats free with no black outline tracing it; the ink layer sits on top selectively, drawing detail rather than perimeter.

The locked frame (white surface, two-tone palette, two-pass layering, wobbly linework, linocut speckle) never moves. The dials (palette hue, scene metaphor, complexity, motion marks, speckle density) vary per piece. The skill also resolves abstract/vague briefs into concrete scene metaphors before generating, so a prompt like "growth" or "trust" becomes a real object on the page.

Prompt interpretation

The user may give:

• A concrete object — "a vintage rotary phone", "a campsite at dusk"
• An abstract concept — "growth", "trust", "freedom"
• A topical brief — "cover for our pricing-fairness announcement", "empty state for the audit log page"

Translate that into a full block-print brief without stopping to ask:

1. Resolve the scene metaphor. If the brief is abstract or topical, pick the most concrete story-bearing object or 2–3 element mini-scene that visualizes it (see the metaphor synthesizer table below). Never render abstract shapes, gradients, or word-art. The scene IS the metaphor — no generic icon catalogs of filing cabinet + megaphone.
2. Pick a palette. Either a named preset from the table, or honor a user-provided hex. If unspecified, choose the preset whose mood matches the brief.
3. Pick a complexity level (L1 / L2 / L3). L1 = single hero object. L2 = 2–3 element mini-scene. L3 = wider environmental vignette. Default L1 unless the brief calls for a scene.
4. Decide on motion marks. Small radiating hash lines around the subject if the metaphor implies motion / sound / energy / freshness. Skip for stillness, calm, repose.
5. Pick speckle density. Sparse for refined palettes (slate / rose / sage), medium otherwise. Dense only on explicit "rougher" / "hand-pressed" requests.
6. Honor the locked frame. White background, two-pass layering, free-floating color blobs, ink-on-top selective detail, wobbly linework, linocut grain. Those never move.

After resolving the metaphor, narrate the choice to the user in one short line ("rendered as a paper airplane mid-flight for freedom") so they can redirect if they had a different scene in mind.

Locked style axes (NEVER vary)

Surface

• Pure white background #FFFFFF. No cream, no off-white, no aged-paper tint. No background texture, no border, no frame.
• Canvas defaults to 1024×1024 square. Override to 1024×1536 (tall) or 1536×1024 (wide) only when the brief or use-case demands a non-square aspect.

Two-tone palette

• Exactly two ink colors per piece: one accent + chunky black. Never a third color, never shading gradients, never multiple hues.

Two-pass layering (CRITICAL — this is the defining rule)

• The accent color is the first plate: free-floating shapes laid down on white. The colored blobs have NO black perimeter outline tracing them. They stand alone as colored shapes.
• The black ink is the second plate, drawn on top: outlines of small details, hatching, motion marks, internal structure. The ink never traces around the color shapes themselves.
• Color and ink overlap imperfectly, the way a two-color screen print does when the colored plate is laid down before the key plate. Some inked elements have no color underneath. Some color blobs have no ink on top — they can stand alone.
• A common signature: a colored blob shape (a sail, a teapot body, a vinyl record body) sits free-floating while a fully-inked subject (the ship's hull, the spout, the record's grooves) is drawn on top of or beside it.

Linework

• Hand-drawn, wobbly, confident, with variable line weight. Never uniform stroke width.
• Occasional flooded solid-black masses for heavy shadow or dense detail (the inside of a camera body, the keys of a typewriter, a dense leaf cluster).

Texture

• Tiny black speckle dots inside the color fills for linocut grain. Sparse to medium density. Never dense enough to read as halftone or noise — these are individual ink dots, not a screen.

Composition

• Single hero object or compact 2–3 element mini-scene, centered on the field with a slight intentional tilt. Never axis-aligned.
• No border, no frame, no headline text, no decorative inset, no caption strip.
• Mid-century block-print / linocut / hand-pressed feel. Editorial, warm, made-by-hand.

Dials (vary per piece)

Palette (named preset OR custom hex)

If unspecified, infer:

• Warm / energetic / launch topic → coral or terracotta
• Cool / editorial / intellectual → cobalt or slate
• Calm / botanical / refined → sage or rose
• Moody / premium → plum
• Signature / fresh / launch context → jade

Custom accent: honor any hex the user provides verbatim.

Scene metaphor

Concrete object or mini-scene that carries the meaning. The scene IS the metaphor. Pick theme-native props. Never reuse the same metaphor across a series.

Complexity

• L1 — single hero object, tight crop (camera, teapot, bicycle, rotary phone, lightbulb)
• L2 — 2–3 element mini-scene (desk + lamp + mug; pitcher + olive branch; pen + notebook + ink well; perfume bottle + bloom cluster)
• L3 — wider environmental vignette (sailing ship on rolling waves; campsite with tent + pine + fire + moon)

Action / motion marks

Small radiating hash lines around the subject. Use for movement / sound / energy / freshness. Skip for stillness / calm / repose.

Speckle density

• Sparse — refined editorial mood, light hand-pressed feel (default for slate, rose, sage)
• Medium — default for everything else; visible but not noisy
• Dense — rough / heavily hand-pressed feel (only on explicit ask)

Metaphor synthesizer (vague-prompt handling)

If the brief is an abstract concept or topical phrase rather than a concrete object, resolve it to a concrete scene before generating. Never render abstract shapes, gradients, or word-art for a fuzzy brief.

If the concept isn't listed, pick the most concrete, story-bearing object available. Default to a single L1 hero unless the brief asks for a scene.

After picking, narrate the chosen scene in one short line so the user can redirect.

Prompt template

When generating, build a prompt of this shape:

Two-pass hand-drawn block-print illustration. Pure white background (#FFFFFF, no cream tint). Two-tone palette: {PALETTE_NAME} ({PALETTE_HEX}) flat color shapes AND chunky black ink line art. CRITICAL RULE: the {PALETTE_NAME} color is painted FIRST as free-floating shapes — the colored blobs have NO black perimeter outline tracing them. The black ink line art is drawn on top as a separate layer (outlines of small details, hatching, motion marks), but never traces around the color shapes. Color and ink overlap imperfectly, like a two-color screen print where the colored plate was laid down before the key plate. Subject: {SCENE_DESCRIPTION}. The {KEY_COLORED_ELEMENTS} are free-floating {PALETTE_NAME} blobs (no perimeter outline around them). Ink lines on top draw {INK_DETAILS}. {ACTION_MARKS_IF_ANY}. Tiny black speckle dots inside the {PALETTE_NAME} for linocut grain. No frame, no headline text. Centered subject, slight tilt. Mid-century linocut hand-printed feel. {SIZE_WORD} canvas.

Substitute every field. Be specific about which elements are colored blobs and which are ink-only — this is what the layering rule depends on.

Model guidance

The style was developed against gpt-image-1.5 (square 1024×1024, medium quality). The two-pass layering rule lands cleanest when:

• The CRITICAL RULE phrasing is repeated verbatim in the prompt.
• Specific colored elements are named as "free-floating blobs (no perimeter outline)" rather than letting the model decide.
• The "two-color screen print" / "color plate laid down before the key plate" metaphor is included — it nudges the model toward the right mental model.

Other image models with sufficient prompt fidelity should work, but expect drift on the perimeter-outline rule unless the prompt is explicit. Lower-fidelity models may add a thin outline to color shapes; if that happens, regenerate with stronger emphasis on the free-floating rule, or post-process to remove the residual outline.

The model does not need image-to-image references — text-only prompts using this template produce on-style results.

Example briefs

Brief 1 — concrete object

a vintage rotary telephone with a ringing handset

Palette: default jade. Complexity: L1. Scene: rotary phone, receiver lifted, coil cord trailing, small motion hashes near the bell. Speckle: medium.

Brief 2 — abstract concept

growth, palette=sage

Metaphor synthesis: growth → small terracotta pot with a single fresh sprout breaking through the soil, two heart-shaped leaves on a tender stem. Motion hashes around the sprout for freshness. Palette: sage (calm/botanical). Complexity: L1. Narrate the choice.

Brief 3 — topical brief

cover for our pricing-fairness announcement, palette=slate, complexity=L2

Metaphor: pricing fairness → balance scales with two equal stacks of coins. Palette: slate (intellectual/neutral). Complexity: L2. No motion marks (stillness).

Brief 4 — custom accent + tall canvas

a single paper airplane mid-flight, accent=#3F704D, size=1024x1536

Custom forest-green accent. L1 paper airplane with motion-streak hashes trailing behind. Tall portrait aspect.

Reference pieces

• ref-coral-turntable-l1.png — Coral L1, vinyl record on a free-floating coral body; the cleanest example of the layering rule
• ref-cobalt-ship-l2.png — Cobalt L2, sail and waves are free-floating blobs; hull + rigging are pure ink
• ref-sage-teapot-l1.png — Sage L1, refined teapot with decorative band
• ref-rose-perfume-l2.png — Rose L2, perfume bottle + bloom cluster
• ref-slate-pen-notebook-l2.png — Slate L2, fountain pen + notebook + ink well still life
• ref-terracotta-pitcher-l2.png — Terracotta L2, ceramic pitcher + olive branch
• ref-mustard-monstera-l1.png — Mustard L1, monstera leaves as free-floating blobs with ink veins on top
• ref-sage-sprout-l1.png — Sage L1, growth metaphor smoke test

Anti-patterns

• Cream, off-white, or aged-paper backgrounds — always pure white.
• Black perimeter outlines tracing the colored shapes — the color must float free; ink draws detail, not perimeter.
• Three or more colors in a piece — strictly two-tone (one accent + black).
• Smooth uniform stroke width — linework breathes.
• Headline text, framed borders, caption strips — never.
• Returning purely abstract shapes / word-art / gradient blobs for a fuzzy brief — always resolve to a concrete scene metaphor first.
• Generic icon-catalog metaphors (filing cabinet + megaphone with relabeled tabs) — pick theme-native props.
• Reusing the same scene metaphor across a series — vary it; the scene is a per-piece dial.
• Dense halftone / noise patterns inside color fills — speckle is individual visible ink dots, not a screen.