# Concept Art

> Use when the user is exploring art direction — wants 3-4 rough variants of a character, environment, or prop to pick a vibe before committing to a final asset. Generates a batch of evocative concept images, not finals. Trigger on "concept art", "art direction", "explore the look", "give me some variants", "what could this character look like", "mood board", "rough sketches".

- **Type:** Skill
- **Install:** `agentstack add skill-summerengine-summer-engine-agent-concept-art`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [SummerEngine](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/summerengine)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [Agent Skills](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/agent-skills)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** MIT
- **Upstream author:** [SummerEngine](https://github.com/SummerEngine)
- **Source:** https://github.com/SummerEngine/summer-engine-agent/tree/main/skills/2d-assets/concept-art
- **Website:** https://summerengine.com/

## Install

```sh
agentstack add skill-summerengine-summer-engine-agent-concept-art
```

Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent.

## About

# concept-art — Batch-of-Variants for Art Direction

This skill produces **3-4 rough concept images** of the same subject under different stylistic interpretations. The goal is not the final asset — the goal is to give the user something visual to react to so they can lock a direction. Variants are deliberately divergent (different palette, mood, framing, era) so the user has real choices, not four near-identical takes.

If the user wants ONE polished image (a dialogue portrait, a hero card), this is the wrong skill — route to `summer:2d-assets/character-portrait`. The `summer:asset-pipeline/asset-strategy` meta-router uses the disambiguation phrase **"Quick check — exploring the look (3-4 variants for art direction) or generating a final character portrait for dialogue UI?"** to send users to one of the two. If you arrived here without that question being asked, ask it before generating.

## When to use

- "I'm not sure what this character should look like — give me some options."
- "Show me 3-4 directions for the witch."
- "I want a mood board for the swamp level."
- Early-project art direction, before the GameSoul.md visual style is locked.
- The user describes a vibe ("dark fantasy", "Ghibli-esque", "Mobius") and wants to see it rendered.

## When NOT to use

- The user wants a single locked portrait for a dialogue UI → `summer:2d-assets/character-portrait`.
- The user wants pixel art specifically → `summer:2d-assets/pixel-art`.
- The user wants a UI icon or HUD element → `summer:2d-assets/ui-graphics`.
- The user wants a tileable wall/floor texture → `summer:2d-assets/tileable-texture`.
- The user wants an image-to-3D reference → `summer:asset-pipeline/asset-strategy` (the 3D pipeline has its own prompt suffix).

## Steps

### 1. Confirm exploration vs final

Before generating, ask once:

> Quick check — exploring the look (3-4 variants for art direction) or generating a final character portrait for dialogue UI?

If "final" → hand off to `summer:2d-assets/character-portrait`. If "explore" → continue.

### 2. Search for prior concepts

```
summer_search_assets(query=" concept", filter={ kind: "image" })
```

If something already exists, ask if the user wants to riff on it (img2img via `referenceImageUrl`) or start fresh.

### 3. Pick a variant axis

Variants must differ on **one explicit axis**, not noise. Pick one:

| Axis | Use when |
|---|---|
| Palette / mood | "Should this feel grim or hopeful?" |
| Era / setting | "Medieval, sci-fi, modern, post-apoc?" |
| Stylization | "Painterly, anime, photoreal, Mobius line-art?" |
| Silhouette / proportions | Character design — slim/bulky/childlike/monstrous |
| Time of day / lighting | Environment — dawn/noon/dusk/night |

State the axis to the user before generating: "I'll vary on **stylization** — painterly, anime, line-art, photoreal. OK?"

### 4. Generate the batch

Issue 3-4 calls in parallel, one per variant. Use the same subject phrasing across all four; only the style-modifier changes.

```
summer_generate_image(
  prompt=". . concept art, evocative, rough painterly, atmospheric lighting",
  model="nano-banana-2",
  style="none",
  options={ image_size: "landscape_16_9" }
)
```

`style: "none"` is intentional — concept art doesn't want the default "realistic" or "cartoon" preset overriding the prompt's stylistic direction.

### 5. Present the batch

After all 4 return, show the user the thumbnails (link `thumbnailUrl` for each) and ask:

> Which direction lands? I can generate variants on the chosen one, or hand off to `character-portrait` for a final.

Do NOT import any of these as `res://` assets yet. Concept art is reference, not shipped art. Only import once the user picks a winner — then either it goes to `character-portrait` for a polished version or directly to `summer_import_from_url` if they want to use it as-is as a reference.

## Prompt patterns

The structure: **subject + axis variant + "concept art" + lighting/atmosphere**. Keep prompts under 30 words.

| Goal | Prompt that works | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Character — palette axis | `young witch with raven familiar. . concept art, painterly, atmospheric` | Locked subject + four explicit palettes |
| Character — silhouette axis | `goblin warrior. . concept art, full body, rough painterly` | Forces real shape variation |
| Environment — mood axis | `swamp village at dusk. . concept art, wide shot, atmospheric` | Mood drives composition |
| Environment — stylization axis | `mountain temple. . concept art, wide establishing shot` | Names real reference styles the model recognizes |
| Prop — era axis | `royal sword. . concept art, three-quarter view, neutral background` | Era as the only varying dimension |
| Creature — physiology axis | `forest spirit. . concept art, atmospheric, painterly` | Forces real morphological divergence |

### Bad prompts (and why)

| Bad | Failure mode |
|---|---|
| `cool fantasy character` | No subject, no axis. All 4 variants will look interchangeable. |
| `make 4 different witches` | Model doesn't render "4 of"; you must call 4 times. |
| `epic concept art masterpiece trending on artstation` | Adjective soup. Trending-on-artstation is a 2022 cliche; modern models render it as bland slop. |
| `same character but different` | "Different" is undefined. Pick an axis and name it. |

## Anti-patterns

- **Generating 4 near-identical variants** because you didn't pick a real axis. The user can't choose between four images that all look like the same painting.
- **Importing concept art as final assets.** These are exploration. The polished version comes from `character-portrait` after a direction is picked.
- **Using `style: "realistic"` or `style: "cartoon"`** — the preset fights the prompt's stylistic direction. Use `style: "none"` for concept art.
- **Skipping the disambiguation question.** If you don't ask, you'll get yelled at when you generate 4 portraits and the user wanted one polished bust.
- **Generating before the GameSoul.md is written.** If `.summer/GameSoul.md` exists, read it first — its visual-style section narrows the axis.

## Edge cases

- **User says "just one" after you propose 4.** That's a `character-portrait` job. Hand off.
- **User wants 8+ variants.** Generate 4 first; if the user wants more on the same axis, generate 4 more. Don't dump 8 at once — overload paralyzes choice.
- **Subject is a fully described scene, not an asset.** You're producing key art, not asset reference. Use `image_size: "landscape_16_9"` and bias toward atmospheric.
- **User wants the final to be 3D.** After they pick a direction, route to `summer:asset-pipeline/asset-strategy` — concept-art images are not 3D-ready references (they have backgrounds, scene context, dramatic lighting baked in). The 3D pipeline needs its own clean white-background reference.

## Fallback (no MCP)

Print the 4 prompts and the call for each:

```
summer_generate_image(prompt="", model="nano-banana-2", style="none", options={ image_size: "landscape_16_9" })
summer_generate_image(prompt="", ...)
...
```

Tell the user to run via the Summer dashboard, then come back and `summer_import_from_url` the winning variant.

## Handoff

Once the user picks a direction:

- **Character / NPC final** → `summer:2d-assets/character-portrait` (use the picked variant as `referenceImageUrl`).
- **3D model from this concept** → `summer:asset-pipeline/asset-strategy` (regenerate a 3D-ready reference; concept art is not 3D-ready as-is).
- **Tileable texture from this mood** → `summer:2d-assets/tileable-texture`.
- **Pixel-art version** → `summer:2d-assets/pixel-art`.
- **Lock the visual direction** → write the choice into `.summer/GameSoul.md` under `## Visual style` so future asset skills inherit it.

## See also

- `summer:asset-pipeline/asset-strategy` — meta-router that delegates here vs other 2d-assets skills.
- `summer:2d-assets/character-portrait` — the polished single-image counterpart.
- `references/mcp-tools-reference.md` — `summer_generate_image` parameter schema.

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [SummerEngine](https://github.com/SummerEngine)
- **Source:** [SummerEngine/summer-engine-agent](https://github.com/SummerEngine/summer-engine-agent)
- **License:** MIT
- **Homepage:** https://summerengine.com/

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.

## Pricing

- **Free** — Free

## Security capabilities

Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access:

- **Network access:** no
- **Filesystem access:** no
- **Shell / process execution:** no
- **Environment & secrets:** no
- **Dynamic code execution:** no

*"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.*


## Versions

- **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source.

## Links

- Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-summerengine-summer-engine-agent-concept-art
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/summerengine
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

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