# Art

> Generates illustrations, diagrams, flowcharts, infographics, thumbnails, comics, and icons using multiple rendering backends, with workflows for various visual content types.

- Skill: `joshuashepherd/art` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 31 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add joshuashepherd/art`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/joshuashepherd/art/raw
- Safety review: CAUTION (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector FAIL)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Design & Media, Illustration & Graphics
- Tags: Diagram, Icon, Illustration, Image Generation, Infographic, Mermaid, Thumbnail, Visualization
- Author: JoshuaShepherd (https://skillmd.com/u/joshuashepherd)
- Updated: 2026-08-22
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/joshuashepherd/art

---


# Art Skill

Complete visual content system for creating illustrations, diagrams, and visual content.

## Customization

**Before executing, check for user customizations at:**
`~/.claude/PAI/USER/SKILLCUSTOMIZATIONS/Art/`

If this directory exists, load and apply:
- `PREFERENCES.md` - Aesthetic preferences, default model, output location
- `CharacterSpecs.md` - Character design specifications
- `SceneConstruction.md` - Scene composition guidelines

These override default behavior. If the directory does not exist, proceed with skill defaults.


## 🚨 MANDATORY: Voice Notification (REQUIRED BEFORE ANY ACTION)

**You MUST send this notification BEFORE doing anything else when this skill is invoked.**

1. **Send voice notification**:
   ```bash
   curl -s -X POST http://localhost:8888/notify \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"message": "Running the WORKFLOWNAME workflow in the Art skill to ACTION"}' \
     > /dev/null 2>&1 &
   ```

2. **Output text notification**:
   ```
   Running the **WorkflowName** workflow in the **Art** skill to ACTION...
   ```

**This is not optional. Execute this curl command immediately upon skill invocation.**

## 🚨🚨🚨 MANDATORY: Output to Downloads First 🚨🚨🚨

```
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
⚠️  ALL GENERATED IMAGES GO TO ~/Downloads/ FIRST                   ⚠️
⚠️  NEVER output directly to project directories                    ⚠️
⚠️  User MUST preview in Finder/Preview before use                  ⚠️
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
```

**This applies to ALL workflows in this skill.**


## Workflow Routing

Route to the appropriate workflow based on the request.

  - Remove background from image → `Workflows/RemoveBackground.md`
  - Brand wallpaper with logo integration → `Workflows/BrandWallpaper.md`
  - YouTube thumbnail checklist → `Workflows/YouTubeThumbnailChecklist.md`
  - Blog header or editorial illustration → `Workflows/Essay.md`
  - D3.js interactive chart or dashboard → `Workflows/D3Dashboards.md`
  - Visualization or unsure which format → `Workflows/Visualize.md`
  - Mermaid flowchart or sequence diagram → `Workflows/Mermaid.md`
  - Technical or architecture diagram → `Workflows/TechnicalDiagrams.md`
  - Taxonomy or classification grid → `Workflows/Taxonomies.md`
  - Timeline or chronological progression → `Workflows/Timelines.md`
  - Framework or 2x2 matrix → `Workflows/Frameworks.md`
  - Comparison or X vs Y → `Workflows/Comparisons.md`
  - Annotated screenshot → `Workflows/AnnotatedScreenshots.md`
  - Recipe card or step-by-step → `Workflows/RecipeCards.md`
  - Aphorism or quote card → `Workflows/Aphorisms.md`
  - Conceptual map or territory → `Workflows/Maps.md`
  - Stat card or big number visual → `Workflows/Stats.md`
  - Comic or sequential panels → `Workflows/Comics.md`
  - YouTube thumbnail (with existing assets) → `Workflows/YouTubeThumbnailChecklist.md`
  - Ad-hoc YouTube thumbnail (generate from content) → `Workflows/AdHocYouTubeThumbnail.md`
  - PAI pack icon → `Workflows/CreatePAIPackIcon.md`

---

## Core Aesthetic

**Default:** Production-quality concept art style appropriate for editorial and technical content.

**User customization** defines specific aesthetic preferences including:
- Visual style and influences
- Line treatment and rendering approach
- Color palette and wash technique
- Character design specifications
- Scene composition rules

**Load from:** `~/.claude/PAI/USER/SKILLCUSTOMIZATIONS/Art/PREFERENCES.md`

---

## Reference Images

**User customization** may include reference images for consistent style.

Check `~/.claude/PAI/USER/SKILLCUSTOMIZATIONS/Art/PREFERENCES.md` for:
- Reference image locations
- Style examples by use case
- Character and scene reference guidance

**Usage:** Before generating images, load relevant user-provided references to match their preferred style.

---

## Image Generation

**Default model:** Check user customization at `SKILLCUSTOMIZATIONS/Art/PREFERENCES.md`
**Fallback:** nano-banana-pro (Gemini 3 Pro)

### Model-Specific Size Requirements

Each model accepts different `--size` formats. Using the wrong format causes validation errors.

| Model | `--size` format | Valid values | Default |
|-------|----------------|--------------|---------|
| `flux` | Aspect ratio | `1:1`, `16:9`, `3:2`, `2:3`, `3:4`, `4:3`, `4:5`, `5:4`, `9:16`, `21:9` | `16:9` |
| `nano-banana` | Aspect ratio | `1:1`, `16:9`, `3:2`, `2:3`, `3:4`, `4:3`, `4:5`, `5:4`, `9:16`, `21:9` | `16:9` |
| `nano-banana-pro` | Resolution tier | `1K`, `2K`, `4K` (also accepts `--aspect-ratio` separately) | `2K` |
| `gpt-image-1` | Pixel dimensions | `1024x1024`, `1536x1024`, `1024x1536` | `1024x1024` |

**Note:** `nano-banana-pro` uses `--size` for resolution quality and a separate `--aspect-ratio` flag for aspect ratio (defaults to `16:9`).

### 🚨 CRITICAL: Always Output to Downloads First

**ALL generated images MUST go to `~/Downloads/` first for preview and selection.**

Never output directly to a project's `public/images/` directory. User needs to review images in Preview before they're used.

**Workflow:**
1. Generate to `~/Downloads/[descriptive-name].png`
2. User reviews in Preview
3. If approved, THEN copy to final destination (e.g., `cms/public/images/`)
4. Create WebP and thumbnail versions at final destination

```bash
# CORRECT - Output to Downloads for preview
bun run ~/.claude/skills/Media/Art/Tools/Generate.ts \
  --model nano-banana-pro \
  --prompt "[PROMPT]" \
  --size 2K \
  --aspect-ratio 1:1 \
  --thumbnail \
  --output ~/Downloads/blog-header-concept.png

# After approval, copy to final location
cp ~/Downloads/blog-header-concept.png ${PROJECTS_DIR}/YourWebsite/cms/public/images/
cp ~/Downloads/blog-header-concept-thumb.png ${PROJECTS_DIR}/YourWebsite/cms/public/images/
```

### Multiple Reference Images (Character/Style Consistency)

For improved character or style consistency, use multiple `--reference-image` flags:

```bash
# Multiple reference images for better likeness
bun run ~/.claude/skills/Media/Art/Tools/Generate.ts \
  --model nano-banana-pro \
  --prompt "Person from references at a party..." \
  --reference-image face1.jpg \
  --reference-image face2.jpg \
  --reference-image face3.jpg \
  --size 2K \
  --aspect-ratio 16:9 \
  --output ~/Downloads/character-scene.png
```

**API Limits (Gemini):**
- Up to 5 human reference images
- Up to 6 object reference images
- Maximum 14 total reference images per request

**API keys in:** `${PAI_DIR}/.env`

## Examples

**Example 1: Blog header image**
```
User: "create a header for my AI agents post"
→ Invokes ESSAY workflow
→ Generates charcoal sketch prompt
→ Creates image with architectural aesthetic
→ Saves to ~/Downloads/ for preview
→ After approval, copies to public/images/
```

**Example 2: Technical architecture diagram**
```
User: "make a diagram showing the SPQA pattern"
→ Invokes TECHNICALDIAGRAMS workflow
→ Creates structured architecture visual
→ Outputs PNG with consistent styling
```

**Example 3: Comparison visualization**
```
User: "visualize humans vs AI decision-making"
→ Invokes COMPARISONS workflow
→ Creates side-by-side visual
→ Charcoal sketch with labeled elements
```

**Example 4: PAI pack icon**
```
User: "create icon for the skill system pack"
→ Invokes CREATEPAIPACKICON workflow
→ Reads workflow from Workflows/CreatePAIPackIcon.md
→ Generates 1K image with --remove-bg for transparency
→ Resizes to 256x256 RGBA PNG
→ Outputs to ~/Downloads/ for preview
→ After approval, copies to ${PROJECTS_DIR}/PAI/Packs/icons/
```