> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.summerengine.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Concept art skill for AI agents > Explore art direction with 3-4 rough concept variants of a character, environment or prop. A Summer Engine skill for AI agents. `concept-art` is a skill from the [Summer skill library](/mcp/skills): a guide your AI agent reads when the task matches, so it builds the good version on the first try. Explore art direction with 3-4 rough concept variants of a character, environment or prop. | | | | - | - | | Status | Stable | | Domains | 2D art, Asset pipeline | | Version | `1.0.2` | | Engine version | `>=4.6` | | Recommended set | Yes, installed by `--recommended` | ## When your agent uses it * Exploring art direction with rough variants before committing to a final asset * The user wants a mood board, rough sketches, or 'what could this look like' ## Install `summer setup` installs every skill for your agent. To add only this one: ```bash theme={null} npx -y summer-engine@latest skills install concept-art --agent claude-code ``` Swap `claude-code` for your agent, such as `codex` or `cursor`. See [Skills](/mcp/skills#quick-start) for every option. ## The skill 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 `character-portrait`. The `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 → `character-portrait`. * The user wants pixel art specifically → `pixel-art`. * The user wants a UI icon or HUD element → `ui-graphics`. * The user wants a tileable wall/floor texture → `tileable-texture`. * The user wants an image-to-3D reference → `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 `character-portrait`. If "explore" → continue. ### 2. Search for prior concepts ``` assets.search({ query: " concept", assetType: "2d_image", scope: "all" }) ``` 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. ``` assets.generate_image({ prompt: ". . concept art, evocative, rough painterly, atmospheric lighting, wide cinematic framing", model: "nano-banana-2", style: "none" }) ``` `style: "none"` is intentional: only `cartoon` and `anime` append anything to the prompt, `realistic` and `none` append nothing, and any other value is coerced to `none`. So the preset cannot override the prompt's stylistic direction — it just contributes nothing, which is what concept art wants. All four variants' divergence has to come from the prompt. For a shape other than square, pass `aspectRatio` (`"16:9"`, `"9:16"`, ...) or `width` + `height`; the result reports the real width and height and the model that ran. Exploration images are thrown away, so square is usually fine. Background removal is the `removeBackground` argument (there is no `options` object). Four variants are four charges: `dryRun: true` on one call shows its credits. ### 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. * **Treating `style` as the variant axis.** The presets are `realistic | cartoon | anime | none`, and only two of them append anything. Four "stylization" variants have to differ in their prompt text, not in the `style` argument. * **Skipping the disambiguation question.** If you don't ask, you may generate four rough variants when 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. Pass `aspectRatio: "16:9"` (or `width: 1920, height: 1080` for store key art) and bias toward atmospheric. * **User wants the final to be 3D.** After they pick a direction, route to `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. ## Without Summer Engine In a session without Summer Engine tools (the assets profile; the `summer-assets` skill has the whole loop), every step works. Pass `out` with the person's folder so the batch lands there (the `summer-assets` skill says how), and skip `summer_import_from_url`. ## Fallback (no MCP) Print the 4 prompts and the call for each: ``` assets.generate_image({ prompt: "", model: "nano-banana-2", style: "none" }) assets.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** → `character-portrait` (use the picked variant as `referenceImageUrl`). * **3D model from this concept** → `asset-strategy` (regenerate a 3D-ready reference; concept art is not 3D-ready as-is). * **Tileable texture from this mood** → `tileable-texture`. * **Pixel-art version** → `pixel-art`. * **Lock the visual direction** → write the choice into `.summer/GameSoul.md` under `## Visual style` so future asset skills inherit it. ## See also * `asset-strategy` — meta-router that delegates here vs other 2d-assets skills. * `character-portrait` — the polished single-image counterpart. * `summer_docs_read` id `reference/mcp-tools-reference` — how to call `assets.generate_image`. ## From a shell No Summer MCP tools in this session? Run each one as a command; when `summer --version` is missing or below 4.0, use `npx -y summer-engine@latest` in place of `summer`. Fields are flags in kebab-case (`--scene-path res://main.tscn`) or one `--input ''`, and `summer ops describe ` prints the exact input. The `summer-cli` skill has the rest. | In this skill | Command | | - | - | | `assets.generate_image`, `summer_assets_generate_image` | `summer assets generate-image` | | `summer_assets_search` | `summer assets search` | | `summer_docs_read` | `summer docs read` | | `summer_import_from_url` | `summer engine import-from-url` | ## Related skills * [`character-portrait`](/skills/character-portrait): Generate one polished character bust for dialogue UI, character select, lore cards or codex entries. * [`pixel-art`](/skills/pixel-art): Generate pixel-art sprites, items, tiles and portraits at a set resolution with a limited palette. * [`tileable-texture`](/skills/tileable-texture): Generate a seamless tileable texture for walls, floors or terrain, wired as a StandardMaterial3D albedo. * [`ui-graphics`](/skills/ui-graphics): Generate game UI art (icons, buttons, panels, frames, HUD widgets) flat, on a transparent background. * [`asset-strategy`](/skills/asset-strategy): Route any 'I need a \[thing]' asset request to the right skill: 2D, 3D, audio, video, VFX or animation. * [`create-asset-sheet`](/skills/create-asset-sheet): Generate a pack of 2D assets from one prompt (tile sheet, UI kit, character pack, biome), sliced. *** Source: [`library/skills/concept-art/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/SummerEngine/summer/blob/main/library/skills/concept-art/SKILL.md), rendered from `summer-engine@4.3.0` on npm. 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