Portrait in Monochrome

Step 1

Prompt: "Illustration in the expressive, gritty style of Ashley Wood: sketch-driven linework layered over painterly washes, rough textures, visible brush streaks, ink splatters, and controlled distortion. High-contrast lighting, muted yet punchy palette, and a raw, graphic finish that blends realism with stylized exaggeration. The mood is edgy, surprising, and darkly playful. Top-down perspective (camera looking straight down). A young adult Irish woman kneels on the floor in a formal seiza position, viewed from above. Her posture is upright but constrained, with both hands held behind her back. She has a voluminous double bun hairstyle, messy and sculptural, with vivid red hair rendered in bold strokes and broken highlights. Her skin is fair and freckled, freckles scattered across cheeks and nose, emphasized with textured shading. Her facial features are expressive and slightly exaggerated in the style: full, fleshy lips; mouth open in surprise; tongue extended dramatically downward toward the chin. Her expression reads as startled and caught off guard, eyes wide and alert, eyebrows raised. The face is splattered with glossy vinyl glue, streaks and droplets crossing the cheeks, nose, lips, chin and tongue The glue is semi-translucent, catching sharp highlights and contrasting with the matte skin and rough brushwork. The splashes feel spontaneous and chaotic, reinforcing the warning tone. The background is minimal and subdued, suggested rather than detailed, allowing the figure and expression to dominate. Shadows fall unevenly around the knees and shoulders, enhancing the downward viewpoint and tension of the pose. Top caption, centered near the upper edge of the image: “Don’t play with glue” Bottom caption, centered inside the image: © Emiliano Girina"