Process Skills

Process skills teach AI agents studio workflows and creative methodologies. Load these via the load_skill tool.

Available skills

creative-constraints

Use deliberate limitations as creative drivers. Constraints force inventive solutions:

• Palette constraints — limit to 2-3 colors to force inventive color relationships
• Tool constraints — restrict to a single brush or shape type
• Time constraints — impose time limits to encourage spontaneous mark-making
• Format constraints — work within unusual aspect ratios or tiny canvases
• Rule-based constraints — define algorithmic rules that restrict placement or movement

load_skill({ skill: "creative-constraints" })

iterative-refinement

Work from general to specific — block-in first, then refine, then add detail:

• Block-in phase — establish major shapes, values, and proportions
• Refinement phase — develop form, adjust relationships, strengthen composition
• Detail phase — add texture, fine lines, accents, and finishing touches
• Evaluation — step back after each phase to assess before continuing

load_skill({ skill: "iterative-refinement" })

thumbnail-studies

Fast small-scale explorations to test ideas before committing to full pieces:

• Value thumbnails — 3-value (dark/mid/light) compositions at tiny scale
• Composition thumbnails — test focal point placement and visual flow
• Color thumbnails — rough palette studies with limited color counts
• Process — create 6-12 thumbnails before choosing one to develop

load_skill({ skill: "thumbnail-studies" })

layering-strategy

Choose deliberate building order for your composition:

• Dark-to-light — establish darks first, build up to highlights (watercolor approach)
• Light-to-dark — start with lightest values, add shadows last (oil approach)
• Alla prima — complete in one pass, wet-into-wet
• Glazing — build transparent layers for optical color mixing and depth

load_skill({ skill: "layering-strategy" })

mixed-media-workflow

Combine multiple media in a canonical 7-layer stack:

1. Texture base — paper or canvas texture
2. Watercolor wash — transparent color foundation
3. Oil/gouache body — opaque color and form
4. Ink line work — structural line and definition
5. Charcoal/pastel — soft value and atmosphere
6. Detail accents — highlights, fine marks
7. Post-processing — grain, vignette, color grading

load_skill({ skill: "mixed-media-workflow" })

Related

• load_skill — load a skill for the current session
• list_skills — list all available skills
• suggest_skills — get skill recommendations
• Composition — composition skills
• Color Theory — color theory skills
• Painting — painting and illustration skills