Ormus Illustrator

Multi-provider AI illustration engine with an LLM-first philosophy.

"LLMs are the chill, reliable grown-up in the room."

The Core Philosophy

Image generators wake up each morning with a new personality. Even the best ones struggle with consistent personal style. Midjourney has taste, but also a temper.

The solution: Use Claude as a thinking partner before touching any image tool.

This creates stability in an inherently chaotic process.

Phase 0: Think Before You Generate

Before jumping into any provider, have a conversation with Claude about:

1. Context Building

Ask yourself (or let Claude help you articulate):

• •What am I creating? (illustration, icon, character, scene?)
• •Who is it for? (children, developers, myself?)
• •Tone — playful, serious, ethereal, scientific?
• •Colors — specific palette or mood-driven?
• •References — what existing work feels "right"?

2. Personal Design Scaffold (Optional but Powerful)

Write down how you think when designing:

• •What do you look at first?
• •How do you choose a direction?
• •What do you avoid?
• •How do you explore ideas?

Once Claude knows your logic, prompts feel surprisingly aligned.

3. Example Conversation Opener

I'm creating illustrations for [project].
Target audience: [who]
Feeling I want: [adjectives]
Colors I'm drawn to: [colors]
Things I want to avoid: [anti-patterns]
References that feel right: [links or descriptions]

Help me think through this before we generate anything.

The Positive Loop

This is where the magic happens:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                                      │
│   Claude      →     Prompt     →    Image Tool      │
│     ↑                                    │          │
│     │                                    ↓          │
│   Tell Claude    ←   Mood Board   ←   Output       │
│   "we evolved"                                      │
│                                                      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

1. •Chat with Claude about what you're making
2. •Share references from your mood board
3. •Let Claude build prompts that match your logic
4. •Run them in the appropriate provider
5. •Take good results → add to mood board
6. •Tell Claude "Look, we just evolved the style!"

After a few rounds, your style becomes surprisingly stable.

Mood Board Workflow

Your mood board is your visual anchor.

Collect things you love:

• •Colors and gradients
• •Textures and patterns
• •Photography/illustration styles
• •Small visual cues that feel "right"

Keep it clean. A cluttered board = unclear direction.

Storage suggestion: ~/projects/[project]/mood-board/

Evolve it. As you generate good outputs, add them back. The board grows with your style.

When This Skill Activates

• •User says "illustrate", "draw", "create an image", "generate a picture"
• •User requests visual content for any project
• •User needs graphics, artwork, or rendered images
• •User mentions "midjourney" for artistic/hand-drawn styles
• •User wants "pixel art", "animation", "sprite", or "animate"

Available Providers

Provider 1: Gemini (Default)

cd ~/.claude/plugins/ormus-illustrator && python3 generate.py "PROMPT" --style STYLE --name FILENAME

Style presets: botanical, scientific, alchemical, minimal, none

Auth: ~/google-cloud-sdk/bin/gcloud auth application-default login

Provider 2: Replicate (Images & Video)

cd ~/.claude/plugins/ormus-illustrator/providers && python3 replicate.py "PROMPT" --model MODEL --name FILENAME

Image Models

List image models: python3 replicate.py --list-models

Video Models (NEW)

List video models: python3 replicate.py --list-video-models

Video Generation Examples

Image-to-Video (animate a still image):

python3 replicate.py --video --model svd --image my-character.png --name character-animated

Text-to-Video (generate from description):

python3 replicate.py "a robot walking through a forest" --video --model minimax --name robot-walk

Animate with motion prompt:

python3 replicate.py "gentle breathing motion" --video --model animate-diff --image portrait.png --name breathing

Provider 3: Midjourney (Discord Automation)

Best for: childlike, hand-drawn, artistic, crayon-style illustrations.

cd ~/.claude/plugins/ormus-illustrator/providers && python3 midjourney.py "PROMPT" --name FILENAME

Single image:

python3 midjourney.py "childlike crayon drawing of a happy sun, wobbly lines, bright colors --v 6.1 --s 200" --name happy-sun

Batch generation (JSON file):

python3 midjourney.py --batch prompts.json --output ~/project/assets/

Batch JSON format:

[
  {"name": "sun", "prompt": "childlike crayon sun --v 6.1"},
  {"name": "heart", "prompt": "hand-drawn heart, marker style --v 6.1"}
]

Midjourney parameters:

• •--v 6.1 - Latest version (default)
• •--niji 6 - Anime style
• •--style raw - Less stylization
• •--s 0-1000 - Stylization amount (lower = more literal)
• •--ar 1:1 - Aspect ratio

First-time setup:

1. •Run the script - browser window opens
2. •Log into Discord manually
3. •Session is saved for future use

Quick Decision Guide

Images

Video & Animation

Output Locations

• •Default: ~/.claude/plugins/ormus-illustrator/output/
• •Per-project: Use --output "PATH" flag

Troubleshooting

Example: La Gran Obra Childlike Style

For hand-drawn, crayon-like, blob-shape illustrations:

# Midjourney prompt for childlike style
python3 midjourney.py "childlike crayon drawing, wobbly organic blob shape, bright yellow color, hand-drawn imperfect lines, no background, simple joyful character, marker texture --v 6.1 --s 150 --ar 1:1" --name yellow-blob --output ~/projects/01-ACTIVE/la-gran-obra/public/assets/shapes/

Style keywords for childlike aesthetic:

• •"childlike crayon drawing"
• •"hand-drawn imperfect lines"
• •"wobbly organic shapes"
• •"marker texture"
• •"finger-paint style"
• •"simple joyful"
• •"no background" or "transparent background"

Provider 4: PixelLab (Pixel Art & Animations)

Best for: pixel art animations, sprite sheets, walk cycles, idle animations, retro-style game art.

cd ~/.claude/plugins/ormus-illustrator/providers && python3 pixellab.py "ACTION" --image REFERENCE.png --name OUTPUT

Generate animation from reference:

python3 pixellab.py "walking" --image turpi.png --name turpi-walk --size 64 --frames 4

Generate idle animation:

python3 pixellab.py "breathing idle" --image turpi.png --name turpi-idle --frames 8

Generate waving animation:

python3 pixellab.py "waving hello" --image turpi.png --name turpi-wave --size 32

Parameters:

Estimate skeleton from image:

python3 pixellab.py --skeleton turpi.png

List animation templates:

python3 pixellab.py --list-templates

Available templates: backflip, breathing-idle, cross-punch, die-and-revive, falling, hook-punch, idle-to-crouch, idle, jump-kick, jump, run, slash, slide, smash-with-sword, spin-kick, walk, wave, wings-flap

API Key: Stored in script or set PIXELLAB_API_KEY environment variable.

MCP Integration: PixelLab MCP server available at https://api.pixellab.ai/mcp (configured in project)

Gentle Iteration (No Need to Grind)

Early results might feel rough — totally normal.

But as the loop continues:

• •Your prompts become sharper
• •The tool begins to "understand" your vibe
• •Your mood board gains personality
• •A unique style emerges

You'll notice something special:

• •Claude handles structure
• •The image tool handles aesthetics
• •You handle taste

The Anti-Patterns

Final Wisdom

This workflow is not about being technical. It's about:

• •Reducing guesswork in an inherently chaotic process
• •Building a stable creative backbone with Claude as the consistent partner
• •Letting AI understand your taste through conversation
• •Growing your style slowly, naturally, one prompt at a time

It's simple, really. Just a conversation between you and your tools.

No pressure. No heavy theory. Just a path that helps your visual voice grow.

v4.0.0 | Philosophy integrated from LLM-first image generation workflow