# Light Pop Portrait > Light flat-vector single-character portrait — a hand-drawn child/tween on a fully saturated flat color background, with chunky black hair, big round eyes, a tiny red nose, and pink five-point-star sparkle blush. Trigger when the user says /light-pop-portrait, asks for a "light pop portrait", "flat-vector character portrait", "saturated color-block character", or briefs with expression + hairstyle + palette + prop. - Skill: `vm0-ai/light-pop-portrait` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 7 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add vm0-ai/light-pop-portrait` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/vm0-ai/light-pop-portrait/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Design & Media - Author: vm0-ai (https://skillmd.com/u/vm0-ai) - Updated: 2026-09-09 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/vm0-ai/light-pop-portrait --- # /light-pop-portrait — locked light hand-drawn character portrait style This style produces single-character portrait illustrations on a fully saturated solid color block. The *mood* is light and playful (chunky hair, big shiny eyes, star-sparkle blush, one expressive prop). The *format* is pop (one saturated solid color filling the canvas, ~5-color palette, no gradients). The line quality is **light** — thin, slightly wavy, hand-drawn — never thick or stamped. Each invocation swaps a small set of dials. The locked frame (character anatomy, line quality, surface, background-as-block, star-sparkle blush) never moves. ## Prompt interpretation The user will usually give a short brief — sometimes just an expression ("sleepy"), sometimes a pose plus a palette ("cheering arms up, magenta"), sometimes a near-complete mini-portrait ("zen androgynous kid with a beret holding a tiny bird, deep teal"). Translate that into a full portrait brief without stopping to ask: 1. **Pick an expression** — the emotional anchor of the piece (cheerful, sleepy, surprised, sly, laughing, zen, pouty, daydreaming, teary, embarrassed). 2. **Pick a hairstyle** from the catalogue (blunt bob + bangs, twin braids, fluffy afro curls, mushroom bowl cut, spiky bedhead, side-parted slick, high ponytail, double buns, side braid). 3. **Decide gender register** — girl, boy, or androgynous; always in the child-to-tween age range. 4. **Pick a pose** that fits the expression (head-and-shoulders, chest-up, leaning on hand, both hands up, hugging-prop, full-body seated, side profile). 5. **Pick one saturated background hue** — the single color filling the entire canvas behind the character. 6. **Optionally add headwear** (bucket hat, beret, hairband + bow, headband, glasses, none). 7. **Pick one signature prop** that the character interacts with (umbrella, popsicle, cherry, frog, bunny, bird, balloon, lantern, book, instrument). 8. **Pick the outfit register** (striped tee, overalls, sweater, pajamas, raincoat, sundress, hoodie). 9. **Honor the locked frame** — anatomy, line quality, flat fills, saturated background, star-sparkle blush — those never move. Bias toward playful character moments where one expression + one prop carry the whole composition. Avoid crowded scenes, multiple characters, or heavy environmental staging — this style is a portrait, not a scene. ## Locked style axes (NEVER vary) ### Character anatomy - **Single character per piece** — never a group, never a duo - **Child-to-tween proportions** — large head relative to body, shoulders and chest fit comfortably in the frame - **Round face shape** with a soft pointed chin; cheeks rounded but not exaggerated - **Big round shiny eyes** — black filled pupils with a single small white glint per eye, thin black lashes above (never below) - **Tiny round red nose** — a small red circle dot, centered between eyes and mouth, ~1/6 the size of an eye - **Small expressive mouth** — a short curved line for closed smiles, a small rounded shape for open mouths; teeth shown only for big laughing grins - **Hair is glossy chunky black** — solid black fill, never gradient, slight glossy highlight allowed as a thin lighter stroke on the crown - **Hair always has a small flyaway strand or two** — one or two stray wisps sticking out from the silhouette to keep it from looking stamped ### Line quality - **Thin delicate slightly-wavy black contour lines** — light hand-drawn feel, NOT thick, NOT bold, NOT uniformly stamped - Lines have small natural irregularities — the contour breathes; perfect arcs feel wrong here - No double-stroke, but minor variation in line weight along a single contour is welcome - The whole canvas should read as if drawn by a confident but light hand ### Star-sparkle blush - **Two pink five-point-star sparkles on the cheeks** — small five-point stars, ONE per cheek, sitting just under the eye - **NEVER solid round dots** — this is the most commonly-failed locked detail; specify "five-point stars, not circles" if a model drifts - Stars are a soft warm pink, slightly transparent or fully filled — never red, never saturated magenta ### Surface - **Flat solid color fills only** — no gradients, no airbrush, no shading, no halftone, no riso grain, no paper texture - The canvas is plastic-clean — no organic texture anywhere - Subtle cel-shading is acceptable as a single flat shadow tone on the prop or under the hat brim, but is **optional**; most pieces are pure flat ### Background - **One fully saturated single hue filling the entire canvas** — no gradient, no vignette, no second color band, no horizon strip, no border, no frame - The character sits cleanly on top of the color block with no environment behind them - Hue is one from the palette dial below ### Composition - Square 1:1 canvas (1024×1024 recommended) - Single portrait — the character is the only subject; the prop is held by or near the character, not staged independently - Character occupies the center of the frame, head + shoulders to upper torso minimum, full body for `full-body seated` - Clean negative space around the silhouette — the color block must breathe - No text, no logos, no captions, no headlines ### Palette discipline - **Limit ~5 total colors per piece** — background + hair-black + skin tone + 1-2 outfit colors + the prop's primary color - Skin is a soft warm beige or peach, slightly desaturated; never bright orange, never pale white - Hair is always solid black with optional one-stroke gloss ## Variable axes (the eight dials) These are the only things that should change between pieces. | # | Axis | What it controls | Example values | |---|---|---|---| | 1 | **Expression** | The emotional anchor | cheerful · sleepy/yawning · surprised "O" · sly wink · laughing (open grin) · zen closed-eye smile · pouty · daydreaming · teary · embarrassed | | 2 | **Hairstyle** | Hair silhouette + cut | blunt bob + bangs · twin braids · fluffy afro curls · mushroom bowl cut · spiky bedhead · side-parted slick · high ponytail · double buns · side braid with bow | | 3 | **Gender / Identity** | Gender register | girl · boy · androgynous (all in child–tween age range) | | 4 | **Pose** | Body language | head-and-shoulders portrait · chest-up · leaning on hand · both hands up · hugging the prop · full-body seated · side profile | | 5 | **Color palette** | The single saturated background hue | cobalt blue · mint green · peach coral · lavender purple · hot magenta · deep forest teal · mustard yellow · terracotta · dusty rose · navy | | 6 | **Headwear** | What sits on the head (optional) | bucket hat · beret · hairband + bow · headband · round glasses · none | | 7 | **Prop** | The one object the character interacts with | small umbrella · popsicle · cherry · frog · bunny · songbird · balloon · paper lantern · book · tiny instrument | | 8 | **Outfit register** | Clothing baseline | striped tee · denim overalls · cozy sweater · pajamas · raincoat · sundress · hoodie | ## Brief template When generating, expand the user's input into this internal brief before describing the image to the model: ``` Expression: Hairstyle: Gender register: Pose: Background hue: Headwear: Prop: Outfit: Color count: 5 max ``` ## Worked examples Six locked-style portraits, each holding the frame and varying the eight dials. ### Example 1 — cheerful girl · yellow bucket hat · mushroom umbrella · cobalt ![cheerful girl with mushroom umbrella, cobalt](./ref-yellowhat-mushroom-cobalt.png) - Expression: cheerful, small upturned smile, big shiny eyes - Hairstyle: blunt bob with bangs + one tiny side braid tied with a pink bow - Gender: girl - Pose: chest-up, holding the prop in front of her - Background hue: cobalt blue - Headwear: mustard-yellow bucket rain hat with a tiny white duck patch - Prop: small red mushroom-shaped umbrella with curly handle - Outfit: green-and-cream horizontal-striped collared shirt ### Example 2 — surprised boy · spiky bedhead · frog · mint ![surprised boy with frog, mint](./ref-surprised-boy-frog-mint.png) - Expression: surprised "O" mouth, eyebrows up - Hairstyle: spiky messy bedhead, clumpy black tufts - Gender: boy - Pose: chest-up, both palms raised near the face in surprise - Background hue: muted mint green - Headwear: none - Prop: tiny green frog perched on one palm - Outfit: tomato-red short-sleeve tee ### Example 3 — sleepy girl · fluffy afro · stuffed bunny · peach ![sleepy girl with bunny, peach](./ref-sleepy-girl-bunny-peach.png) - Expression: sleepy half-lidded droopy eyes mid-yawn, one hand softly covering the mouth - Hairstyle: big fluffy round black afro - Gender: girl - Pose: chest-up, hugging the prop against her - Background hue: warm peach coral - Headwear: none - Prop: small white stuffed bunny held to her chest - Outfit: pastel pink pajamas with tiny stars ### Example 4 — sly boy · mushroom bowl cut · popsicle · lavender ![sly boy with popsicle, lavender](./ref-sly-boy-popsicle-lavender.png) - Expression: sly smirking smile, one cheek pulled up - Hairstyle: glossy mushroom bowl cut with blunt straight bangs - Gender: boy - Pose: chest-up leaning sideways with chin propped on one hand - Background hue: lavender purple - Headwear: none - Prop: half-eaten orange popsicle dripping slightly - Outfit: navy striped overall over a white tee ### Example 5 — laughing girl · twin braids · cheering · magenta ![laughing girl with twin braids, magenta](./ref-laughing-girl-braids-magenta.png) - Expression: huge joyful open laughing grin showing the top row of teeth, eyes squeezed into happy crescent curves - Hairstyle: two very long thick black twin braids tied with red ribbons - Gender: girl - Pose: chest-up, both arms thrown up in a cheering pose with fists in the air - Background hue: hot magenta pink - Headwear: none - Prop: implied (no physical prop — the celebration itself is the focus) - Outfit: sunny yellow dress with a white collar ### Example 6 — zen androgynous kid · beret + bird · deep teal ![zen androgynous kid with songbird, teal](./ref-zen-kid-bird-teal.png) - Expression: peaceful serene closed-eye zen smile - Hairstyle: side-parted neat black hair - Gender: androgynous - Pose: full-body seated cross-legged, one hand raised - Background hue: deep forest teal - Headwear: small dark green beret tilted on top of the head - Prop: tiny yellow songbird perched on the index finger - Outfit: cream turtleneck with a tiny gold pin ## Anti-patterns - ❌ Solid round dots for blush — must be **five-point pink stars**, this is the most commonly-failed detail - ❌ Thick, bold, stamped, or uniform-weight outlines — must be thin, delicate, slightly wavy - ❌ Multiple characters in the foreground — one character per piece, always - ❌ Gradient background, vignette, second color band, scenery photo — the field must be a single flat saturated hue - ❌ Photorealism, 3D modeling, soft airbrush, halftone, riso grain, paper texture, pencil shading — flat only - ❌ Crowded composition with no negative space — the color block must breathe around the character - ❌ Headlines, captions, in-image text, or logos — never any baked-in typography - ❌ Adult proportions — the character is always in the child-to-tween age range - ❌ Open mouths with full teeth detail unless the expression is a big laughing grin - ❌ Stamped, perfectly symmetric hair silhouettes — there should always be one or two small flyaway strands ## Output evaluation checklist Before declaring a piece done, verify: - [ ] A single character is present in child-to-tween register - [ ] Hair is glossy solid black with at least one small flyaway strand - [ ] Big round shiny eyes with a single white glint each, tiny round red nose, expressive mouth - [ ] Pink **five-point star** sparkle blush on each cheek (NOT solid dots) - [ ] Thin delicate slightly-wavy black contour lines, hand-drawn feel - [ ] Background is one fully saturated solid color filling the canvas edge-to-edge - [ ] Flat solid fills only — no gradients, no texture, no shading - [ ] One signature prop interacts with the character; no second character - [ ] Color count stays at roughly five total - [ ] No text, no logos, no captions in the image - [ ] Composition has breathable negative space around the silhouette ## Portability note This style is described at the semantic level — *what the image must look like*, not which model produces it. It generates cleanly on broad-distribution image models when given the anchor reference plus the brief expansion above. Models with strong character-anatomy coherence (nano-banana edit, GPT-Image-2 with reference, Seedream 5) tend to preserve the star-sparkle blush and the light line quality most reliably. If a model drifts the blush into solid pink dots, repeat the constraint twice in the prompt ("**five-point star sparkles, not solid dots**"). If a model drifts the line weight thicker, repeat "thin delicate slightly-wavy hand-drawn lines, NOT thick or stamped" near the end of the brief.