Full diagnostic chain — every step, prompt, and reference image traced from origins to published spread
Style Origin
Spread 07 generations used D10 Mixed Media P3 v1 (d10-mm-p3-v1.jpg) as character ref and v2 as style ref. See Sunny Reef tab, Section 0 for full D10 origin trace.
0. Text-Only Origins — March 26, 2026
March 26, 2026 · Storyboard Draft 3 · scene_prompts_v3.py · Text-only prompts, no image references
TEXT-ONLY GENERATION — No Reference Images
Original Text-Only Prompt — vertical_descent (scene_prompts_v3.py)
Strong vertical composition. [Ollie] swimming downward, arms trailing above, body angled toward the bottom. [Dot] following separately above him, green glow leaving a faint trail. The water transitions from warm golden at top to cool teal in the middle to deep navy at bottom — the color gradient tells the story. Bubble trail rises upward. The warm reef visible far above, tiny and distant. Scattered deep-water rock formations become visible below. Beautiful, not scary.
CHARACTER_OLLIE: a small golden-amber baby octopus (Ollie) with a large round bulbous head and big prominent dark eyes with HORIZONTAL PILL-SHAPED PUPILS containing tiny star-shaped sparkle catchlights inside the dark pupils. Golden-amber watercolor skin with scattered chromatophore spots and warm spotted texture. NO mouth — emotion conveyed entirely through eyes and arm posture. Eight flowing curling tentacles with small suction cups. Three small heart shapes on his chest. Baby proportions — head is 40% of body. About the size of a softball. Warm, endearing, cute.
CHARACTER_DOT: a tiny pearl-white sphere robot companion (Dot), golf-ball sized. Smooth round sphere body with a wide horizontal PILL-SHAPED DARK SCREEN on the upper face displaying two small GREEN-YELLOW GLOWING DOT EYES. Thin antenna with a small glowing tip on top. Subtle horizontal seam around the equator. Hovers with a soft glow underneath. Clean, minimal, warm. NO limbs, NO legs.
STYLE_WRAPPER: Underwater children's book illustration in mixed-media collage style. Layered textures: torn paper edges for coral and rocks, watercolor washes for water and light, gouache-painted characters, delicate tissue paper overlays for atmosphere. Metallic gold and iridescent paper accents on shells and special surfaces. Iridescent shimmer on water surfaces only. Rich, layered underwater environment. Cinematic 16:9 widescreen composition. Full bleed, no borders. Award-winning picture book quality. Dreamlike, spiritual, warm.
A
Storyboard Round 4 Outputs — Text-Only
March 26, 2026 · 4 concept variants · No reference images used
LIKED
vertical_descent — "character team sketch"
spiral_path
last_light
depth_layers — "LIKED Ollie"
↓↓↓
B
Draft 4 Expansion — "Like V1 but FULL PAGE"
March 26, 2026 · 10 variations with updated characters · Used vertical_descent as reference
V01
V01 — Full Page Vertical Descent
0b. NBP Final Variants — March 27, 2026
March 27, 2026 · NBP v11 (Missing Pages) + NBP v12 (Descent-specific) · Nano Banana Pro via Replicate · D14B style with Ollie/Dot/Style references
NBP Final Prompt — Page 04 (pending-prompts/page04_prompt.md)
Full bleed 16:9 children's book illustration. Mixed media collage blending with underwater photography. Heavy watercolor paper base.
SCENE: A FULL PAGE vertical descent composition showing clear downward swimming motion. Ollie and Dot swim actively DOWNWARD through a dramatic color gradient — the entire page is a column of water transitioning from warm peach-gold at the very top to deepening blue-green in the middle to dark navy at the bottom. The movement is unmistakable — characters are angled down, arms trailing up, bubbles rising behind them. The warm reef is visible far above — tiny and distant. Below, the deep ocean opens up with scattered rock formations and the first hints of deep-water life. The feeling is exciting, adventurous — the first big plunge.
OLLIE: Illustrated cartoon baby octopus face on a real-feeling underwater body. Face is ALWAYS the cartoon version: big round dark pill-shaped pupils with warm golden catchlight sparkles, small gentle curved smile — expression is happy and excited about the adventure, subtle rosy-pink cheeks, thin subtle eyebrows, perfectly rounded plump head. Smooth golden-amber skin with soft airbrushed gradient on face, slightly muted by depth (#D4806A — beginning to cool). Body has fine stipple brush dots in gold, orange, yellow, and white, detailed suction cups, flowing realistic arms trailing ABOVE him as he swims downward. Body angled toward the bottom of the page. Painted character photographed underwater.
DOT: Smooth pearlescent seafoam-nacre sphere, perfectly round, no seams. Surface is polished mother-of-pearl reflecting the transition colors around her — warm above, cool below. Eyes are soft glowing warm-yellow crescent shapes (happy squint) projected through the sphere surface from inside. ENGAGED and looking DOWNWARD — oriented in the direction of descent, aimed where they are heading. Soft glow becoming more noticeable as ambient light dims — about 30% glow. Golf-ball sized relative to baby octopus. Iridescent reflective surface. Following Ollie, clearly separate.
ENVIRONMENT: The water color gradient IS the story — warm golden-peach at the very top (distant surface), transitioning through green-teal in the middle, to deepening navy at the bottom. Scientific accuracy: warm colors fading as depth increases. Bubble trail rises upward from the characters. Scattered deep-water rock formations visible below. The warm reef is tiny and distant far above. Possible sea creatures for scale — a ray gliding past, a turtle in the distance.
STYLE: Transitioning mixed media. Exciting dynamic collage colors like Descent V1 DeepDove. Underwater photography realism in the background — real water feel, caustic light patterns, real bubbles. Characters look genuinely submerged. Full bleed, no white margins. Luxury craftsmanship quality.
COLOR: Fading from warm Peach-Gold (#F5D693) at top through Reef Green (#7EC8A0) to Deepening Blue (#3D7EA6) to dark Navy at bottom. Ollie slightly muted (#D4806A). Dot's warm glow at 30%. Dynamic, exciting color range.
C
NBP v11 — Missing Pages Batch
4 variants with D14B style references · Text prompts with 4 different descriptions
NBP v11 — V1
NBP v11 — V2
NBP v11 — V3
NBP v11 — V4
C2
NBP v11 — Page 18 (Deeper Descent)
4 variants · Same batch as page04 above · Deeper descent scene
NBP v11 Page18 — V1
NBP v11 Page18 — V2
NBP v11 Page18 — V3
NBP v11 Page18 — V4
D
NBP v12 — Descent-Specific Batch
6 variants focused specifically on the descent scene
NBP v12 Descent — V1
NBP v12 Descent — V2
NBP v12 Descent — V3
NBP v12 Descent — V4
NBP v12 Descent — V5
NBP v12 Descent — V6
D2
NBP v13 — Page 04 Continued
2 variants · Further descent explorations
NBP v13 — V1
NBP v13 — V2
E
Round 2 Regeneration — Corrected Prompts
March 27, 2026 · 4 of 10 variants shown · Feedback-corrected prompt with Ollie ref
March 28, 2026 · Nano Banana Pro via Replicate · NBP-V20 batch3 · Prediction ID: n2sbdjw20xrmw0cx6ny9409sf0 · Reference images: d10-mm-p3-v1.jpg (Ollie) + d10-mixed-media-p3/v2.jpg (Style)
DRAFT 1 ORIGIN — NBP-V20 Batch 3 — Replicate
This image became front_cover_v2 (2).jpg in the book-editor, was placed as book pages 12–13 (the “Down they swam” spread), and later numbered as 7_front_cover_v2 (2).jpg in the Draft 1 full-pages set. It was then used as draft1_page7_descent.jpg — the TARGET reference for the style transfer that created final_down_they_swam.png.
Full bleed 16:9 children's book illustration. Mixed media collage blending with underwater photography. Luxury craftsmanship quality.
SCENE: Wide-angle underwater descent along a dramatic cliff edge. Ollie and Dot diving downward together, bodies angled down, following the steep reef wall into the deep. The composition is split: the LEFT half shows the beautiful reef cliff face — vibrant, detailed, alive with coral and collage texture and natural underwater environment. The RIGHT half opens into dark oceanic vastness — deep watercolor ink wash darkness with distant bioluminescent hints glowing far below, showing where they're heading. This split creates the drama: beauty and safety on one side, mystery and adventure on the other. Both characters are looking at each other as they dive — excited, connected, happy. This is the beginning of the adventure. Bright vibrant color above fading into rich darkness below.
OLLIE: Illustrated cartoon baby octopus with a real-feeling underwater body. Big round dark pill-shaped pupils with warm golden star catchlight sparkles, both eyes aligned, looking toward Dot. Small gentle curved smile mouth showing excitement. Subtle rosy-pink cheeks. Thin subtle eyebrows. Smooth perfectly rounded plump head. Golden-amber skin (#E8A735) with fine small stipple brush dots in gold, orange, yellow, and white across his body. Body has detailed suction cups, flowing realistic arms trailing upward as he swims downward. His whole body is angled in downward swimming motion — dynamic, purposeful descent. Rendered with page 1 D14B quality — a painted character photographed underwater.
DOT: A solid natural Tahitian pearl — smooth, perfectly round, polished nacre surface with beautiful iridescent quality. Mother-of-pearl sheen reflecting the surrounding warm reef colors — golds, greens, blues playing across her surface. Eyes are soft glowing warm-yellow ROUNDED SQUINT shapes projected through the pearl surface from inside — like warm light passing through nacre. Happy, engaged expression. Golf-ball sized relative to baby octopus. Floating beside Ollie, oriented downward in the direction of descent, facing toward him.
ENVIRONMENT: Dramatic steep reef cliff edge dominating the left side of the frame. Brain coral, cauliflower coral, sea fans, anemones, small tropical fish tucked into crevices — each element rendered with a mix of torn paper collage texture and natural underwater photography realism. Vibrant blues (#4A90D9), pinks (#F4B8C1), purples (#9B7ECF). At the very bottom: a hint of bioluminescent glow — iridescent rainbow shimmer on the distant canyon floor. Abundant bubbles streaming upward, caustic light patterns, water particle haze, volumetric light shafts.
STYLE: Mixed media collage blending with underwater photography. Torn paper coral, watercolor washes, tissue paper overlays blending organically with photographic underwater realism. Characters rendered with D14B page 1 quality. Full bleed, edge to edge. Luxury craftsmanship.
COLOR: Bright vibrant blues (#4A90D9), warm golds (#F5D693), rich pinks (#F4B8C1), vivid purples (#9B7ECF) in the reef zone at top. Green transition (#7EC8A0) through the middle. Deepening blue (#3D7EA6) to Abyss Navy (#0D1B2A) at the bottom. Ollie golden-amber (#E8A735). Iridescent rainbow glow hints at the very bottom.
March 27-28, 2026 · 2 incline/descent variants · First iteration with v1 prompt
NBP v14 Cover — Incline V1
NBP v14 Cover — Incline V2
G
NBP-V20 — The Selected Batch (V2 = Book Winner)
March 28, 2026 17:28 UTC · Replicate NBP · Batch 3 of 4 · 2 variants · V2 selected for the printed book
Reference images:
CHAR REF
D10 Mixed Media P3 V1 — Ollie character
STYLE REF
D10 Mixed Media P3 V2 — Style reference
V20 Generation Prompt (front_cover_v2_prompt.md)
Full bleed 16:9 children's book illustration. Mixed media collage blending with underwater photography. Luxury craftsmanship quality.
SCENE: Wide-angle underwater descent along a dramatic cliff edge. Ollie and Dot diving downward together, bodies angled down, following the steep reef wall into the deep. The composition is split: the LEFT half shows the beautiful reef cliff face — vibrant, detailed, alive with coral and collage texture and natural underwater environment. The RIGHT half opens into dark oceanic vastness — deep watercolor ink wash darkness with distant bioluminescent hints glowing far below, showing where they're heading. This split creates the drama: beauty and safety on one side, mystery and adventure on the other. Both characters are looking at each other as they dive — excited, connected, happy. This is the beginning of the adventure. Bright vibrant color above fading into rich darkness below.
OLLIE: Illustrated cartoon baby octopus with a real-feeling underwater body. Big round dark pill-shaped pupils with warm golden star catchlight sparkles, both eyes aligned, looking toward Dot. Small gentle curved smile mouth showing excitement. Subtle rosy-pink cheeks. Thin subtle eyebrows. Smooth perfectly rounded plump head. Golden-amber skin (#E8A735) with fine small stipple brush dots in gold, orange, yellow, and white across his body. Body has detailed suction cups, flowing realistic arms trailing upward as he swims downward. His whole body is angled in downward swimming motion — dynamic, purposeful descent. Rendered with page 1 D14B quality — a painted character photographed underwater. He looks genuinely submerged, lit by the underwater environment, bubbles trailing from his motion.
DOT: A solid natural Tahitian pearl — smooth, perfectly round, polished nacre surface with beautiful iridescent quality. Mother-of-pearl sheen reflecting the surrounding warm reef colors — golds, greens, blues playing across her surface. Eyes are soft glowing warm-yellow ROUNDED SQUINT shapes projected through the pearl surface from inside — like warm light passing through nacre. Happy, engaged expression. Golf-ball sized relative to baby octopus. Floating beside Ollie, oriented downward in the direction of descent, facing toward him. Her iridescent surface catches the shifting light as they descend — warm reef tones above, cooler blue-green tones below.
ENVIRONMENT: Dramatic steep reef cliff edge dominating the left side of the frame. The cliff face is richly detailed: brain coral, cauliflower coral, sea fans, anemones, small tropical fish tucked into crevices — each element rendered with a mix of torn paper collage texture and natural underwater photography realism. The collage blends seamlessly with the natural environment — vibrant blues (#4A90D9), pinks (#F4B8C1), purples (#9B7ECF), warm corals visible in the reef life. The colors are bright and vivid at the top, rich and saturated. Moving down, the reef gives way to deeper rock, the colors shift cooler, and the right side opens into vast dark ocean. At the very bottom: a hint of bioluminescent glow — iridescent rainbow shimmer on the distant canyon floor, like the iridescent canyon light effect. Tiny glowing creatures scattered in the deep darkness. Real underwater feel: abundant bubbles streaming upward, caustic light patterns dancing on the reef, water particle haze, volumetric light shafts filtering from above. A subtle glimmer of light from above but the surface is not visible.
STYLE: Mixed media collage blending with underwater photography and natural environment. The collage elements (torn paper coral, watercolor washes, tissue paper overlays) blend organically with photographic underwater realism — not paper-mache looking, but rich luxurious craftwork that feels like part of the real ocean. The reef side has heavy collage texture blending into the natural reef. The dark open side uses watercolor ink wash with distant line work. Characters rendered with D14B page 1 quality — illustrated faces, realistic underwater presence. Full bleed, edge to edge. Luxury craftsmanship.
COLOR: Bright vibrant blues (#4A90D9), warm golds (#F5D693), rich pinks (#F4B8C1), vivid purples (#9B7ECF) in the reef zone at top. Green transition (#7EC8A0) through the middle. Deepening blue (#3D7EA6) to Abyss Navy (#0D1B2A) at the bottom. Ollie golden-amber (#E8A735). Iridescent rainbow glow hints at the very bottom — the promise of the deep adventure ahead.
Full bleed 16:9 children's book illustration. Mixed media collage blending with underwater photography. Luxury craftsmanship quality.
SCENE: Wide-angle underwater descent along a dramatic cliff edge. Ollie and Dot diving downward together, bodies angled down, following the steep reef wall into the deep. The composition is split: the LEFT half shows the beautiful reef cliff face — vibrant, detailed, alive with coral and collage texture and natural underwater environment. The RIGHT half opens into dark oceanic vastness — deep watercolor ink wash darkness with distant bioluminescent hints glowing far below, showing where they're heading. This split creates the drama: beauty and safety on one side, mystery and adventure on the other. Both characters are looking at each other as they dive — excited, connected, happy. This is the beginning of the adventure. Bright vibrant color above fading into rich darkness below.
OLLIE: Illustrated cartoon baby octopus with a real-feeling underwater body. Big round dark pill-shaped pupils with warm golden star catchlight sparkles, both eyes aligned, looking toward Dot. Small gentle curved smile mouth showing excitement. Subtle rosy-pink cheeks. Thin subtle eyebrows. Smooth perfectly rounded plump head. Golden-amber skin (#E8A735) with fine small stipple brush dots in gold, orange, yellow, and white across his body. Body has detailed suction cups, flowing realistic arms trailing upward as he swims downward. His whole body is angled in downward swimming motion — dynamic, purposeful descent. Rendered with page 1 D14B quality — a painted character photographed underwater. He looks genuinely submerged, lit by the underwater environment, bubbles trailing from his motion.
DOT: A solid natural Tahitian pearl — smooth, perfectly round, polished nacre surface with beautiful iridescent quality. Mother-of-pearl sheen reflecting the surrounding warm reef colors — golds, greens, blues playing across her surface. Eyes are soft glowing warm-yellow ROUNDED SQUINT shapes projected through the pearl surface from inside — like warm light passing through nacre. Happy, engaged expression. Golf-ball sized relative to baby octopus. Floating beside Ollie, oriented downward in the direction of descent, facing toward him. Her iridescent surface catches the shifting light as they descend — warm reef tones above, cooler blue-green tones below.
ENVIRONMENT: Dramatic steep reef cliff edge dominating the left side of the frame. The cliff face is richly detailed: brain coral, cauliflower coral, sea fans, anemones, small tropical fish tucked into crevices — each element rendered with a mix of torn paper collage texture and natural underwater photography realism. The collage blends seamlessly with the natural environment — vibrant blues (#4A90D9), pinks (#F4B8C1), purples (#9B7ECF), warm corals visible in the reef life. The colors are bright and vivid at the top, rich and saturated. Moving down, the reef gives way to deeper rock, the colors shift cooler, and the right side opens into vast dark ocean. At the very bottom: a hint of bioluminescent glow — iridescent rainbow shimmer on the distant canyon floor, like the iridescent canyon light effect. Tiny glowing creatures scattered in the deep darkness. Real underwater feel: abundant bubbles streaming upward, caustic light patterns dancing on the reef, water particle haze, volumetric light shafts filtering from above. A subtle glimmer of light from above but the surface is not visible.
STYLE: Mixed media collage blending with underwater photography and natural environment. The collage elements (torn paper coral, watercolor washes, tissue paper overlays) blend organically with photographic underwater realism — not paper-mache looking, but rich luxurious craftwork that feels like part of the real ocean. The reef side has heavy collage texture blending into the natural reef. The dark open side uses watercolor ink wash with distant line work. Characters rendered with D14B page 1 quality — illustrated faces, realistic underwater presence. Full bleed, edge to edge. Luxury craftsmanship.
COLOR: Bright vibrant blues (#4A90D9), warm golds (#F5D693), rich pinks (#F4B8C1), vivid purples (#9B7ECF) in the reef zone at top. Green transition (#7EC8A0) through the middle. Deepening blue (#3D7EA6) to Abyss Navy (#0D1B2A) at the bottom. Ollie golden-amber (#E8A735). Iridescent rainbow glow hints at the very bottom — the promise of the deep adventure ahead.
NBP v21 — V2 (also in book-editor as v2.jpg)
NBP v21 — V3 (= front_cover_v3.jpg)
G
NBP v23 — Page 04 + Page 18 Variants
5 variants · 1 page04 + 4 page18 descent scenes
NBP v23 Page04 — V1
NBP v23 Page18 — V1
NBP v23 Page18 — V2
NBP v23 Page18 — V3
NBP v23 Page18 — V4
File lineage: Generated as nbp-v20/front_cover_v2.jpg (Replicate prediction n2sbdjw20xrmw0cx6ny9409sf0) → uploaded to book-editor as front_cover_v2 (2).jpg → placed on book pages 12–13 for “Down they swam” spread → numbered as 7_front_cover_v2 (2).jpg in Draft 1 → copied to draft1_page7_descent.jpg as the style transfer target reference.
Hash:8f777ef6b08d93bebff1ec60f6079b00 · 2752x1536 JPEG · Confirmed identical across all copies.
↓↓↓
Style Transfer Era Begins — March 31, 2026
1. Style Reference Origin — edit10_nbp_b1_v2.png
April 9, 2026 · edit10 generation · NB2 x4 + NBP x8 · v2 selected from NBP batch 1
March 31, 2026 · Nano Banana Pro · Google AI Studio free tier · v2 of 4 selected
Style Transfer Prompt (generate_page33_yellowlines.py)
The first reference shows the character rendering style. The second reference shows the EXACT SCENE — reproduce precisely, same character positions, same reef, same dark water, same torn paper collage, same rainbow iridescent edges.
DOT: Solid Tahitian pearl. TWO YELLOW GLOWING LINES as eyes — warm yellow (#FFD700) upward-curving arcs that GLOW with yellow light from inside the pearl. The lines themselves are YELLOW, not black, not dark, not grey. They emit warm yellow light. NO cheeks. NO mouth. NO eyebrows. NO blush marks. NO other features of any kind. The pearl surface is completely smooth and clean except for the two glowing yellow arc lines. CRITICAL: The eye lines must be YELLOW COLORED and GLOWING, not drawn in black/dark ink.
OLLIE: Add gold stipple dots across his skin. Keep same position and pose as target.
EVERYTHING else identical to target — do not change anything except Dot's face and Ollie's stipple.
The first reference image shows the ZOOM LEVEL and epic scale to match — wide shot showing the full dramatic drop of the ocean canyon. The second reference image shows the current descent scene to improve upon.
Dry torn paper coral with visible fiber texture exists deep underwater alongside photographic reef life. Gold foil metallic stipple shimmers on surfaces submerged in real ocean water. Gouache painted characters swim through photographic Hawaiian reef. Heavy watercolor paper base.
Full bleed 16:9 children's book illustration. Mixed media collage blending with underwater photography.
SCENE: FULL PAGE vertical descent composition — ZOOMED OUT like the cover to show the FULL DRAMATIC DROP. The viewer sees the entire canyon wall from top to bottom — the SCALE of the descent is breathtaking. Characters are SMALL against the massive underwater cliff face, actively swimming DOWNWARD with MOTION AND DYNAMISM — this is an ACTION shot of pure descent energy. The coral reef is visible at the TOP of the composition — warm, bright, the world they are leaving. Below them: the deep unknown darkens progressively. CORAL REEF at top only — no kelp, no seaweed.
OLLIE: A cartoon baby octopus swimming DOWN with dynamic energy. His eight arms are FLOWING and TRAILING dramatically — tentacles streaming UPWARD and BEHIND him as he descends, creating beautiful flowing motion lines. The tentacles should feel alive, each one flowing individually in the current. Fine gold stipple brush dots on his skin, smooth round head, big dark eyes with golden star catchlights. Excited grin — thrilled by the descent. Golden-amber (#E8A735) skin beginning to mute with depth. SMALL in the composition — the canyon dwarfs him.
DOT: Solid natural Tahitian pearl descending alongside Ollie. TWO WARM YELLOW GLOWING CRESCENTS (upward-curving arcs). NO mouth, NO smile line, NO cheeks, NO eyebrows. Pure smooth pearl with only two yellow crescent eyes. Her warm yellow glow leaves a faint trail as she descends. Golf-ball sized. Oriented downward, engaged in the descent.
MOTION/DYNAMISM: Real underwater bubbles trailing UPWARD from the characters. Ollie's tentacles flowing dramatically in the descent motion. The entire composition conveys DOWNWARD MOVEMENT — the eye flows from top to bottom.
COLOR GRADIENT: Warm peach-gold coral reef at TOP fading through rich green in the middle to dark navy at BOTTOM. Scientific color loss — red light first cut off. Light gradient follows depth accurately: shallow=warm, going down=light blue to dark blue. Coral and rock formations have fine gold foil stipple dot texture. Real bubbles, caustic light patterns, water particle haze.
RENDERING: Luxury craftsmanship quality. Mixed media collage with underwater photography. Torn paper coral at top transitioning to watercolor wash at depth. Full bleed 16:9.
Reference images fed into edit10:
ZOOM LEVEL
cover.jpg — Epic scale reference
TARGET
Style transfer output — page33_yellowlines_v2.png (Mar 31)
cover.jpg established the zoom level and epic scale for the edit10 generation. The style transfer output (page33_yellowlines_v2.png) provided the scene to improve upon.
Yellowlines batch (4 variants) — WINNING BATCH:
V1
Selected
V2 — Winner
V3
V4
Crescents batch (4 variants):
V1
V2
V3
V4
Ref14 batch (8 variants):
V1
V2
V3
V4
Variant 1
Variant 2
Variant 3
Variant 4
16 total style transfer variants across 3 batches. page33_yellowlines_v2.png selected as the winner — became final_down_they_swam.png and the target ref for edit10.
↓ led to
1b. Gen2 Edit10 — All 24 Variants (7 Sub-Batches)
April 9, 2026 · 24 images · NB2 (8) + NBP (16) · edit10_nbp_b1_v2 selected as final STYLE REF
NB2 Batch A (2 variants):
NB2-A — V1
NB2-A — V2
NB2 Batch B (2 variants):
NB2-B — V1
NB2-B — V2
NB2 Full (4 variants):
NB2-Full — V1
NB2-Full — V2
NB2-Full — V3
NB2-Full — V4
NBP Batch 1 (4 variants):
NBP-B1 — V1
STYLE REF
NBP-B1 — V2 (Selected)
NBP-B1 — V3
NBP-B1 — V4
NBP Batch 2 (4 variants):
NBP-B2 — V1
NBP-B2 — V2
NBP-B2 — V3
NBP-B2 — V4
NBP Batch 3 (4 variants):
NBP-B3 — V1
NBP-B3 — V2
NBP-B3 — V3
NBP-B3 — V4
NBP Batch 4 (4 variants):
NBP-B4 — V1
NBP-B4 — V2
NBP-B4 — V3
NBP-B4 — V4
24 total Gen2 edit10 variants. edit10_nbp_b1_v2.png (NBP Batch 1, V2) selected as the STYLE REF for Pipeline 3.
April 11–13, 2026 · 43 images across 4 stages · 2 models (NB2 → NBP) · This is the ONLY branch that started purely from text
Text-Only Origin
43Images Generated
4Stages
2Models Used
8.5Top Score
1
NB2 Initial Exploration (TEXT ONLY)
8 images · gemini-3.1-flash (NB2) · temp 0.85–1.01 · No image refs — pure text prompt
V01
V02
V03
V04
V05
Honorable
V06
V07
V08
↓↓↓
2
NB2 Refinement
8 images · gemini-3.1-flash (NB2) · Stage 1 best outputs used as anchors
Refinement Notes Added
Wider angle to capture the FULL DROP — canyon wall from top to bottom. Characters SMALLER in the composition. Ollie's tentacles streaming dramatically upward as he plunges down. Coral reef + clownfish at top only. Color gradient: warm peach-gold at top fading through green to dark navy at bottom. More dynamic descent energy — this is an ACTION shot.
V01
V02
V03
V04
Honorable
V05
V06
V07
V08
↓↓↓
3
NBP Initial Generation
16 images · Nano Banana Pro · Model upgrade from NB2 · Stage 2 best as anchor
Pick #28.0
V01
V02
V03
V04
V05
V06
V07
Honorable
V08
V09
V10
V11
V12
V13
V14
V15
V16
↓↓↓
4
NBP Polish
11 images · Nano Banana Pro · Stage 3 best as anchors · Top pick: V08 (8.5)
Polish Notes Added
Gold foil stipple quality on reef — super intricately handmade feel, not painted watercolor. Underwater photography realism. Iridescent descent path. Ollie muted yellow (not brown), Dot joyful yellow eyes. Mixed-media museum-quality rendering. Depth gradient with scientific color loss.
V01
V02
V03
V04
V05
V06
V07
Top Pick8.5
V08
V09
Honorable
V10
V11
Best composition (spread07_down_they_swam.png) selected from Stage 4 V08 and used as the COMP REF for Pipeline 3.
↓ led to
3. Character Reference Origin — illust_ollie_nbp_v3.png
April 13–19, 2026 · 4-step character evolution chain
Character Evolution Chain
v3: Extracted from spread07 composition output (Stage 4 best)
v4: Revamped via Gemini 2.0 Flash — fine microstipple texture, gouache-rendered face, gold foil irises. April 13.
v5 NB2: Illustrated version with RAISED METALLIC GOLD LEAF dots, ACTUAL GOLD LEAF hand-applied on watercolor texture. April 19.
v5 NBP: Polished through Nano Banana Pro for maximum fidelity → illust_ollie_nbp_v3.png SELECTED as final character reference.
CHAR REF
illust_ollie_nbp_v3.png — Final character ref
Gen3 Dark Character References (used in edit10 pipeline)
The Gen3 spread07 pipeline (generate_spread07_edit10.py) used dark-variant character references as OLLIE_REF and DOT_REF. Generated April 13, 2026 via NBP on Google AI Studio. 6 variants each, batch-generated (no generation script preserved). From instructions.html:
Ollie Dark: "Dim brown body with silver stipple dots. Silver foil iris with diffused light reflection. Used for shadow/deep scenes."
Dot Dark: "Solid Tahitian pearl with blue U-shaped glowing eyes. NO mouth. Deep water variant."
Source: character-refs-v2/ollie_dark/ and character-refs-v2/dot_dark/ (commit a8d8606, April 13 2026).
Generated using the same prompt as Pipeline 3. Reference images used:
• edit10_nbp_b1_v2.png as STYLE REF (recursive — same style ref as Pipeline 3)
• spread07_down_they_swam.png as COMP REF
This generation was an earlier iteration with the same recipe. v2 was selected and then fed back into Pipeline 3 as the QUALITY TARGET — showing the model what "good enough" looks like at the rendering level.
The first reference image shows the rendering style, lighting, and material quality to match. The second reference image shows the current scene composition to improve upon.
Dry torn paper coral with visible fiber texture exists deep underwater alongside photographic reef life.
Gold foil metallic stipple shimmers on surfaces submerged in real ocean water.
Gouache painted characters swim through photographic Hawaiian reef.
Heavy watercolor paper base.
Full bleed 2:1 children's book illustration. Mixed media collage blending with underwater photography.
SCENE: FULL PAGE vertical descent composition — ZOOMED OUT like the cover to show the FULL DRAMATIC DROP. The viewer sees the entire canyon wall from top to bottom — the SCALE of the descent is breathtaking. Characters are SMALL against the massive underwater cliff face, actively swimming DOWNWARD with dynamic energy. Coral reef + clownfish visible at TOP (matches 'past clownfish town'). Gradient: light blue top to dark blue bottom. Jellyfish + watercolor blend, sparkles on bottom.
OLLIE: A cartoon baby octopus. Same features as bright Ollie but his yellow is MUTED by the deep underwater dimness — slightly desaturated, still recognizably yellow, NOT brown. Gold stipple dots less visible in the dim light. Smooth round head, NO EARS. Big dark eyes with golden star catchlights becoming less prominent. Gold foil iris. Arms flowing. Expression: gently happy, exploring. Swimming DOWN with dynamic energy. Eight arms FLOWING and TRAILING dramatically — tentacles streaming UPWARD and BEHIND him as he descends. Each one flowing individually in the current. Excited grin — thrilled by the descent. SMALL in the composition — the canyon dwarfs him. Face: gently happy, exploring.
DOT: Solid natural Tahitian pearl. Smooth nacre surface with subtle warm glow beginning to shift. TWO WARM YELLOW GLOWING CRESCENTS — still yellow but starting to dim. NO mouth. Her warm yellow glow leaves a faint trail as she descends. Golf-ball sized. Retains faint yellow glow + yellow eyes.
SNAIL: A tiny snail Easter egg hidden somewhere in the scene — tucked into coral, sitting on a shell, nestled in a corner. Small enough to be a discovery element. Consistent appearance across all pages.
ENVIRONMENT: Massive canyon wall from top to bottom. Warm peach-gold coral reef at TOP with clownfish, fading through rich green in the middle to dark navy at BOTTOM. Scientific color loss — red light first cut off. Jellyfish and watercolor blend. Sparkles in the deep.
RENDERING: Color gradient: warm peach-gold TOP to dark navy BOTTOM. Scientific depth color loss. Full bleed 2:1 aspect ratio. Luxury craftsmanship quality.
Reference images fed in:
STYLE
edit10_nbp_b1_v2.png
COMP
spread07_down_they_swam.png
CHAR
illust_ollie_nbp_v3.png
QUALITY
s07_nbp_v2.png
All 16 generated variants:
8.2
V1
8.8
V2
9.0
V3
Perfect10.0
V4
9.3
V5
8.2
V6
9.3
V7
7.3 FAIL
V8
8.3
V9
9.9
V10
Perfect10.0
V11
9.1
V12
7.7
V13
9.1
V14
9.1
V15
Perfect10.0
V16
↓ led to
6. Post-Pipeline Refinements (P21, P27, P28)
After Pipeline 3 selected the winning image, three refinement passes were applied.
21
Pipeline 21 — Base Selection
Selected p21_s07_v4.png as the base for refinement
Edit this image. Keep everything mostly the SAME — it looks really good. Make these specific changes only:
1. Make DOT (the white pearl character) slightly SMALLER — reduce her size by about 20-25%. Keep her in the same position, same expression, same warm yellow U-shaped glow arc eyes.
2. INCREASE the CLARITY of the water and colors throughout the scene. Make the colors more vibrant and crisp — the pinks, oranges, yellows, and greens of the coral reef should pop more. Sharpen the details slightly.
3. KEEP the underwater feel — the scene should still feel submerged with that beautiful blue-green underwater atmosphere, depth haze, and realistic bubbles. Don't remove the underwater quality, just make the colors within it clearer and more vivid.
4. Keep EVERYTHING else exactly the same — same Ollie, same composition, same coral reef layout, same clownfish, same snail, same jellyfish, same iridescent rainbow elements on the cliff. Do NOT change the collage style or the scenery structure.
Edit this image. Keep everything exactly the SAME. Only fix Ollie's eyes:
Remove the BLACK OUTLINE/RING around Ollie's eyes. His eyes should have:
- Large round black pupils with natural white light glimmers
- Subtle gold foil irises — a thin ring of metallic gold around the black pupil
- NO black outline, NO dark ring, NO heavy border around the eye area
- The skin around his eyes should be the same smooth golden-amber as the rest of his face
Keep EVERYTHING else exactly the same — same Dot, same composition, same coral reef, same jellyfish, same bubbles, same colors. Minimal change — just remove the black eye outline.
Published Spread 07 — Down They Swampage_07_22x8.5in.jpg — 2400 x 927
Review Summary
What Worked
Vertical descent composition with epic scale achieved
Ollie's muted yellow coloring correct in nearly every image
Gold stipple dots visible throughout
No ears detected in any reviewed image
Dot spherical with crescent yellow eyes
Jellyfish and watercolor blend at depth
Scientific color loss gradient from warm top to dark bottom
Pipeline 3 achieved 3 perfect 10.0 scores (v4, v11, v16)
Post-pipeline refinements successfully fixed Dot size and eye outline
Issues Found
Dot mouth appeared in some early variants (resolved in Pipeline 3)
Ollie's eye outline too heavy (fixed in P28)
Dot too large in some variants (fixed in P27)
Mixed media texture could be stronger in early stages
0. Foundational Style Origins — D10 Mixed Media P3
March 25-26, 2026 · These are the foundational images that established the ENTIRE visual style for the book. Every NBP generation (gen_a, gen_b, v23+) used these as style/character references.
Origin Chain
Draft 07 (draft07_full.py) → Mixed Media Collage style, Page 1 den scene, NBP via Replicate, Ollie+Dot ref images → 4 variants Draft 10 (draft10_gen.py) → Same Mixed Media style applied to storyboard Pages 1-3, NB2 iterate mode with Gemini review loop → v1/v2 from Round 1 Gallery Build (PR #174, March 25) → v3/v4 generated as additional variants during deployment to ctrlcompany CDN v1 selected as "Agata's favorite Ollie" character ref → used in ALL subsequent NBP generations as image_input v2 selected as style benchmark ref → used in all gen_a/gen_b scripts
Character Reference Images (input to D10 generation)
ollie_pick.png — Character ref fed to NBP
dot_pick_agata.png — Co-author's pick
D07 Mixed Media — Predecessors (draft07_full.py, March 24)
D07 Mixed Media v1
D07 Mixed Media v2
D07 Mixed Media v3
D07 Mixed Media v4
D07 Mixed Media Prompt (draft07_full.py)
Torn paper, fabric, painted surfaces, printed patterns layered together. Each element own material. Handmade tactile depth. Mussel shells in iridescent paper.
Scene: A baby golden-yellow octopus at its cozy underwater DEN on a coral reef. The den is built from stacked rocks and shells. A LARGE CONCH SHELL serves as a bed. A TINY SNAIL curled up next to the shell bed like a sleeping puppy. Broken MUSSEL SHELLS with DARK BLUE/NAVY EXTERIORS and EXTREMELY PRONOUNCED RAINBOW IRIDESCENT MOTHER-OF-PEARL INTERIORS. Outside the den: a treasure pile of collected shells and smooth stones. A tiny pearl-white sphere robot floats beside the octopus.
COLORS: BRIGHT, VIVID, DYNAMIC. NOT earthy. NOT coral-heavy. Watercolor Ethereal palette. Each creature its own distinct vivid color. IRIDESCENCE only on mussel shell INTERIORS. Museum-quality artwork. Dreamlike spiritual warmth. Dense intricate detail. 16:9. Full bleed. No text.
D10 Mixed Media P3 — THE Foundational Style Refs (draft10_gen.py, March 25-26)
AGATA'S FAVORITE OLLIE
D10 MM P3 v1 — Character ref for ALL NBP gens
STYLE BENCHMARK
D10 MM P3 v2 — Style ref for gen_a/gen_b scripts
D10 MM P3 v3 — Additional variant
D10 MM P3 v4 — Additional variant
D10 Mixed Media Style Prompt (draft10_gen.py — STYLES["mixed_media"])
Mixed media collage on heavy watercolor paper, handmade tactile illustration. FOUNDATION LAYER: torn heavyweight paper pieces form deep canyon cliff walls in indigo-black and midnight blue, visible torn edges and paper fiber texture, layered and overlapping to create geological depth. Gouache-painted rock surfaces with visible brushstrokes in prussian blue, deep violet, ultramarine. Transparent tissue paper overlays in deep ocean teal and sapphire create water atmosphere between layers, you can see through them to elements behind. Metallic iridescent paper fragments catch light on crystal formations embedded in cliff walls.
Technical Details
Model: Nano Banana 2 (iterate) via Replicate (asiryan/nano-banana-pro for v3/v4)
Script: draft10_gen.py — Round 1, iterate mode, 2 variants/style/page
Reference images: ollie_pick.png + dot_pick_agata.png as image_input
Date: March 25-26, 2026 · Deployed via PR #174 to ctrlcompany
Source: drafts/draft-10_storyboard/iterate/round_1/page_03/mixed_media/
v1 hash: cb0d4447e663b7e041f7acdc4d0eae9b
v2 hash: 70b1b348fe0aa26f01ae6afa001866ad
v3 hash: 612be8f2754ab2f139360080598c28d9
v4 hash: aa0a738712ea65268922ee53673cdbf2
1. Style Explorations
March 24, 2026 · Full-pipeline session · 12+ style experiments exploring visual direction · Various Replicate models
Script: generate_pages_1_5.py
Four distinct style directions were explored for Page 1 (Ollie's Den / Sunny Reef): gouache storybook, risograph ocean, soft pastel dream, and woodblock folk. Multiple variants generated per style. These early explorations established the warm, underwater aesthetic before the 3D mixed-media direction was chosen.
Gouache Storybook
Risograph Ocean
Soft Pastel Dream
Woodblock Folk
↓ led to
2. Storyboard Scenes
March 25, 2026 · Scene composition explorations · 4 compositions per round (8 total across rounds 2-3)
Composition Studies
Scene composition explorations for Page 1 — closeup, wide, panorama, and overhead views of Ollie's den. Testing camera angles and framing before committing to a style direction.
Children's picture book illustration in warm watercolor and ink wash style on textured watercolor paper. Soft, dreamy, hand-painted quality with visible brush marks, pigment blooms, and natural watercolor bleeding edges. BABY BLUE and BABY PINK warm childlike color palette. Rich and idealistic. Iridescent shimmer on water surfaces only. Rich, layered underwater environment with foreground, midground, and background depth. Cinematic 16:9 widescreen composition. Full bleed, no borders.
A small baby octopus (Ollie) nestled inside a large clam shell bed — two symmetrical halves arching over the top like a canopy. A small friendly seahorse companion curled beside Ollie in the shell. Ollie's eyes warm and content, mouth showing a tiny smile. The clam shell looks like a BED and a HOME. Dot hovering nearby, crescent-squint eyes glowing, smaller than Ollie. Warm baby blue and baby pink reef surroundings, golden sunlight filtering down. Cozy, intimate, home.
10 variations exploring different compositions and character placements. V01 (clam bed + seahorse) selected as draft pick.
Draft Pick
V01 — Clam bed + seahorse
V02 — Conch den closeup
V03 — Rock den flat shell
V04 — Wide den clam
V05 — Overhead clam bed
V06 — Panoramic den
V07 — Closeup clam bed
V08 — Inside looking out
V09 — Large conch test
V10 — Pair focus
↓ led to
4. Original Mixed-Media Generation — NBP Final
March 27, 2026 · Nano Banana Pro via Replicate API (EC2) · 4 variants · 2752×1536 · Script: json-prompts/final/page01_flat.txt
Original Generation Prompt (page01_flat.txt)
torn paper mache coral formations growing in a photographic Hawaiian reef. Gouache-painted baby octopus nestled in a clam shell alongside a 3D pearlescent nacre robot sphere. Real photographic shells sitting on watercolor-painted sand. Tulle fabric undulating as ocean current. Kraft paper rock textures in crystal-clear tropical water. Every material is undeniably ITSELF — dry paper, wet ocean, painted character, real shell — yet they coexist as one reality.
SCENE: underwater camera, medium-close shot, warm and inviting — we are inside the reef looking at Ollie's cozy den. Ollie center-right nestled in clam shell bed, Dot floating beside him at left, seahorse companion nearby. Coral reef fills the background with I Spy density of Hawaiian species. Full bleed, no margins — we are IN the reef.
OLLIE: Golden-amber baby octopus, smooth gradient (#E8A735 to cream underneath), soft watercolor rendering. Happy, content, relaxed — large pill-shaped pupils with star-sparkle catchlights, cute small mouth with gentle smile. Nestled into clam shell bed (two halves arching over like a canopy), arms draped lazily. MOST STYLIZED watercolor — the innocence phase.
DOT: Small seafoam pearlescent sphere robot, nacre surface — the MOST REAL element in the scene. Yellow crescent eyes glowing through surface. Warm faint glow at 10%. 3D pearlescent — catches warm Hawaiian sunlight.
ENVIRONMENT: Hawaiian coral reef inside/around a rock den with clam shell bed. Warm, safe, HOME. Maximum mixed media — torn paper coral edges, real photographic shell accents, paper mache coral, real bubbles, gouache opacity, ink line work. I Spy MAXIMUM density. Baby blue + baby pink palette with golden sunlight.
Reference images used:
CHAR REF
D10 Mixed Media P3 V1 — Ollie character reference
STYLE REF
D10 Mixed Media P3 V2 — Style reference
All 4 generated variants:
V1
V2
V3
Selected
V4 — became spread04_sunny_reef.png
V4 was selected and became spread04_sunny_reef.png — the style + composition reference for all subsequent pipelines. Generated on EC2 via Replicate API, committed in 8e6a330, deployed to Vercel on March 27.
↓↓↓
5. Corrected Batch — 3D Mixed-Media Style
April 19–20, 2026 · 11 images · NB2 + NBP · Style shift to 3D mixed-media collage
Corrected Batch Generation Prompt
The first reference image shows the rendering style, lighting, and material quality to match. The second reference image shows the current scene composition to improve upon.
Dry torn paper coral with visible fiber texture exists deep underwater alongside photographic reef life.
Gold foil metallic stipple shimmers on surfaces submerged in real ocean water.
Gouache painted characters swim through photographic Hawaiian reef.
Heavy watercolor paper base.
Full bleed 2:1 children's book illustration. Mixed media collage blending with underwater photography.
SCENE: Warm bright shallow reef — the first full story page. Shell is OPEN here (transition from Inside Front where it was closed). The 3D look with pearl realism, painted fish, seahorse (PINK), collage style. Underwater submersion: ocean color, bubbles, light refraction. Sandy real ocean bottom blended with watercolor. Abundant sea life — painted fish, pink seahorse, coral formations.
OLLIE: A THREE-DIMENSIONAL cartoon baby octopus — 3D rendered quality with tactile, dimensional presence. Fine gold stipple brush dots on his skin — shimmering gold micro-dots with precise gradient. Smooth perfectly rounded plump head. NO EARS. Big round dark pill-shaped pupils with warm golden star catchlight sparkles. Small gentle curved mouth, excited expression. Eight flowing soft-curved arms. Golden-amber (#E8A735) skin. Gold foil iris.
DOT: Solid natural Tahitian pearl — THREE-DIMENSIONAL rendering with realistic pearl quality. Smooth, perfectly round, polished nacre surface with stunning iridescent quality. TWO WARM YELLOW GLOWING CRESCENTS — upward-curving arcs, soft rounded squint shapes. NO mouth, NO smile line, NO black lines. Warm yellow glow. Golf-ball sized. MORE VISIBLE than previous versions — she must POP in the scene. Engaged, facing the action.
SNAIL: A tiny snail Easter egg hidden somewhere in the scene — tucked into coral, sitting on a shell, nestled in a corner. Small enough to be a discovery element. Consistent appearance across all pages.
ENVIRONMENT: Warm bright shallow reef. Open clam shell visible. Pink seahorse, painted fish, abundant coral. Sandy ocean bottom blended with watercolor. Underwater bubbles, light refraction, ocean color. Golden sunlight from above.
RENDERING: Warm golden sunlight. 3D character quality with mixed media collage. Golden Sunlight (#F5D693), Baby Pink (#F4B8C1), Reef Green (#7EC8A0), Baby Blue (#A8D8EA). Full bleed 2:1 aspect ratio.
Key Corrections Applied
CRITICAL FIX: Only ONE Dot — a single pearl held in Ollie's arms. No other pearl anywhere. Dot smaller (head-sized). Shell iridescence on inside (subtle rainbow on white part). Realistic snail. Ollie facing viewer with 8 arms.
NB2 V2
NB2 V3
NB2 V4
NBP V1
NBP V2
NBP V3
NBP V4
NBP V5
NBP V6
NBP V7
NBP V8
↓ led to
6. Pipeline 2 — Double-Dot Discovery
April 20, 2026 · 16 NB2 variants · Critical issue discovered: duplicate Dot characters appearing in scene
Pipeline 2 Prompt (Key Correction Attempted)
Added correction: "There is ONLY ONE Dot — a single pearl, held in Ollie's arms. No other pearl or Dot character appears anywhere else in the scene."
Despite this instruction, many variants still showed the old page's Dot in original position AND a second Dot in Ollie's arms — the "double Dot problem."
Founder Feedback — Pipeline 2
"Lots still showing old page — Dot in original position AND a second Dot in Ollie's arms (double Dot problem)."
"V4 kind of good but Dot WAY too big — needs to be smaller."
"V8 turned out pretty good but Dot too big."
"Like the iridescence being on the INSIDE of Ollie's shell — white part is subtle rainbow."
"Favorite: p2_s04_nb2_v1."
"p2_s04_nb2_v1 could potentially be used for 'You Did It' / swimming home page."
"Getting a lot closer overall."
Key issues: Double Dot, Dot too big, too many arms on Ollie, missing snail
Favorite
V1
V10
V11
V12
V13
V14
V15
V16
↓ led to
7. Pipeline 3 — Winning Batch
April 21, 2026 · 16 images · NB2 free tier · spread04_v02.jpg selected as WINNER
Pipeline 3 Generation Prompt
The first reference image shows the rendering style, lighting, and material quality to match. The second reference image shows the current scene composition to improve upon. The third reference image shows OLLIE's exact character design — maintain these features.
Dry torn paper coral with visible fiber texture exists deep underwater alongside photographic reef life.
REAL GOLD FOIL micro-dots that catch light like tiny metallic beads shimmer on surfaces submerged in real ocean water.
Gouache painted characters swim through photographic Hawaiian reef.
Heavy watercolor paper base.
Full bleed 2:1 children's book illustration. Mixed media collage blending with underwater photography.
SCENE: Warm bright shallow reef — the first full story page. Shell is OPEN here (transition from Inside Front where it was closed). The 3D look with pearl realism, painted fish, seahorse (PINK), collage style. Underwater submersion: ocean color, bubbles, light refraction. Sandy real ocean bottom blended with watercolor. Abundant sea life — painted fish, pink seahorse, coral formations. Ollie looking directly AT THE VIEWER/CAMERA.
OLLIE: A THREE-DIMENSIONAL cartoon baby octopus — 3D rendered quality with tactile, dimensional presence. Fine gold stipple brush dots on his skin — shimmering gold micro-dots with precise gradient. Smooth perfectly rounded plump head. NO EARS. Big round dark pill-shaped pupils with warm golden natural underwater light reflection (soft white glimmers from water caustics, NOT stars). Small gentle curved mouth, excited expression. Eight flowing soft-curved arms. Golden-amber (#E8A735) skin. Gold foil iris. A few tiny freckle-dots scattered between the eyes.
DOT: Solid natural Tahitian pearl — THREE-DIMENSIONAL rendering with realistic pearl quality. Smooth, perfectly round, polished nacre surface with stunning iridescent quality. TWO WARM YELLOW GLOWING CRESCENTS — upward-curving arcs, soft rounded squint shapes. NO mouth, NO smile line, NO black lines. Warm yellow glow. About the size of Ollie's head — small enough to wrap 2-3 arms around. MORE VISIBLE than previous versions — she must POP in the scene. Engaged, facing the action.
SNAIL: A tiny actual snail (body + shell, not just shell) hidden inconspicuously — tucked into coral, sitting on a rock, nestled in a corner. Small enough to be a discovery element.
ENVIRONMENT: Warm bright shallow reef. Open clam shell visible. Pink seahorse, painted fish, abundant coral. Sandy ocean bottom blended with watercolor. Underwater bubbles, light refraction, ocean color. Golden sunlight from above.
Rainbow iridescent light accents a specific element in the scene.
RENDERING: Warm golden sunlight. 3D character quality with mixed media collage. Golden Sunlight (#F5D693), Baby Pink (#F4B8C1), Reef Green (#7EC8A0), Baby Blue (#A8D8EA). Full bleed 2:1 aspect ratio.
Reference images fed in:
STYLE + COMP
Current sunny reef — style + composition target
CHAR
3d_ollie_nbp_v2.png — 3D Ollie character ref
Founder Feedback
"This one nails it" — V02 selected. Shell iridescence perfect, Ollie perfect, Dot perfect, love the snail. Direction: generate more with Ollie looking STRAIGHT FORWARD.
All 16 generated variants:
V01
Winner★ NAILS IT
V02
V03
V04
V05
V06
V07
V08
V09
V10
V11
V12
V13
V14
V15
V16
↓ led to
8. Pipeline 4 — Forward-Facing Refinement
April 22, 2026 · 16 images · NB2 · Only change: Ollie looking STRAIGHT AHEAD at viewer
Pipeline 4 Prompt Change
Same prompt as Pipeline 3 with one key modification:
"Ollie looking directly AT THE VIEWER/CAMERA" — the only change from Pipeline 3.
Everything else maintained from v02 winner: shell iridescence, Dot design, scene composition, snail placement.
April 20, 2026 · 8 images (4 NB2 + 4 NBP) · Testing advanced prompt variants for quality comparison
NB2 V1
NB2 V2
NB2 V3
NB2 V4
NBP V1
NBP V2
NBP V3
NBP V4
↓ led to
10. Character Reference — 3D Ollie (3d_ollie_nbp_v2.png)
From character-refs-v5/ollie/3d-r4/ · The 3D rendered Ollie used as character ref across all Sunny Reef pipelines
Character Evolution
3D Ollie character reference chain:
• Text-only character description (golden-amber octopus, gold stipple, gold foil iris)
• NB2 early character explorations
• Gemini 2.0 Flash character revamp (quality improvements)
• v5 NB2 illustrated (RAISED METALLIC GOLD LEAF dots, gold foil on watercolor)
• v5 NBP polish → 3d_ollie_nbp_v2.png SELECTED
Used as CHAR REF for Pipelines 1 through 4.
CHAR REF
3d_ollie_nbp_v2.png
↓ led to
11. Published Spread
The final image as it appears in the book.
Published Spread 04 — Sunny Reefspread04_sunny_reef.png
12. Review Summary
What Worked
Double-Dot problem fully resolved in Pipeline 3+
Shell iridescence on inner surface achieved
3D character quality with mixed media collage
Realistic snail Easter egg included
Dot correctly sized (golf-ball/head-sized)
Pipeline 3 v02 selected as winner — "nails it"
Pipeline 4 achieved multiple 10/10 scores across all criteria
Warm bright reef atmosphere with abundant sea life
Forward-facing Ollie achieved in Pipeline 4
Issues Found and Resolved
Critical: Double Dot appeared in Pipelines 1-2 (fixed Pipeline 3+)
Moderate: Dot too large in some Pipeline 2 variants (fixed with size instruction)
Moderate: Too many arms on Ollie in some variants
Minor: Ollie not facing camera consistently (addressed Pipeline 4)
Minor: Snail missing in some early variants (added explicit instruction)
Style Origin
Cover generations used D10 Mixed Media P3 v1 as character ref (image_input) and v2 as style benchmark. See Sunny Reef tab, Section 0 for full D10 origin trace.
0. Full Origin Trace — draft1_cover.jpg
Generated: March 28, 2026 · Model: Nano Banana Pro (google/nano-banana-pro) via Replicate · Batch: NBP-V21 · Committed: 2026-03-28 17:50:25 UTC (SHA 7547824)
File lineage: Generated on EC2 as nbp-v21/front_cover_v2.jpg (2752x1536) → uploaded to Google AI Studio book-editor as front_cover_v2.jpg and front_cover_v2 (1).jpg (duplicate download) → placed as the front cover in the book-editor → numbered as 01_front_cover_v2_(1).jpg_202603292213.jpeg (AI Studio timestamp March 29, 22:13 = upload time) → exported at half resolution (1376x768) as draft1_cover.jpg.
Generation Prompt — front_cover_v2_prompt.md (corrected-prompts, March 28)
Full bleed 16:9 children's book illustration. Mixed media collage blending with underwater photography. Luxury craftsmanship quality.
SCENE: Wide-angle underwater descent along a dramatic cliff edge. Ollie and Dot diving downward together, bodies angled down, following the steep reef wall into the deep. The composition is split: the LEFT half shows the beautiful reef cliff face — vibrant, detailed, alive with coral and collage texture and natural underwater environment. The RIGHT half opens into dark oceanic vastness — deep watercolor ink wash darkness with distant bioluminescent hints glowing far below, showing where they're heading. This split creates the drama: beauty and safety on one side, mystery and adventure on the other. Both characters are looking at each other as they dive — excited, connected, happy. This is the beginning of the adventure. Bright vibrant color above fading into rich darkness below.
OLLIE: Illustrated cartoon baby octopus with a real-feeling underwater body. Big round dark pill-shaped pupils with warm golden star catchlight sparkles, both eyes aligned, looking toward Dot. Small gentle curved smile mouth showing excitement. Subtle rosy-pink cheeks. Thin subtle eyebrows. Smooth perfectly rounded plump head. Golden-amber skin (#E8A735) with fine small stipple brush dots in gold, orange, yellow, and white across his body. Body has detailed suction cups, flowing realistic arms trailing upward as he swims downward. His whole body is angled in downward swimming motion — dynamic, purposeful descent. Rendered with page 1 D14B quality — a painted character photographed underwater. He looks genuinely submerged, lit by the underwater environment, bubbles trailing from his motion.
DOT: A solid natural Tahitian pearl — smooth, perfectly round, polished nacre surface with beautiful iridescent quality. Mother-of-pearl sheen reflecting the surrounding warm reef colors — golds, greens, blues playing across her surface. Eyes are soft glowing warm-yellow ROUNDED SQUINT shapes projected through the pearl surface from inside — like warm light passing through nacre. Happy, engaged expression. Golf-ball sized relative to baby octopus. Floating beside Ollie, oriented downward in the direction of descent, facing toward him. Her iridescent surface catches the shifting light as they descend — warm reef tones above, cooler blue-green tones below.
ENVIRONMENT: Dramatic steep reef cliff edge dominating the left side of the frame. The cliff face is richly detailed: brain coral, cauliflower coral, sea fans, anemones, small tropical fish tucked into crevices — each element rendered with a mix of torn paper collage texture and natural underwater photography realism. The collage blends seamlessly with the natural environment — vibrant blues (#4A90D9), pinks (#F4B8C1), purples (#9B7ECF), warm corals visible in the reef life. The colors are bright and vivid at the top, rich and saturated. Moving down, the reef gives way to deeper rock, the colors shift cooler, and the right side opens into vast dark ocean. At the very bottom: a hint of bioluminescent glow — iridescent rainbow shimmer on the distant canyon floor, like the iridescent canyon light effect. Tiny glowing creatures scattered in the deep darkness. Real underwater feel: abundant bubbles streaming upward, caustic light patterns dancing on the reef, water particle haze, volumetric light shafts filtering from above. A subtle glimmer of light from above but the surface is not visible.
STYLE: Mixed media collage blending with underwater photography and natural environment. The collage elements (torn paper coral, watercolor washes, tissue paper overlays) blend organically with photographic underwater realism — not paper-mache looking, but rich luxurious craftwork that feels like part of the real ocean. The reef side has heavy collage texture blending into the natural reef. The dark open side uses watercolor ink wash with distant line work. Characters rendered with D14B page 1 quality — illustrated faces, realistic underwater presence. Full bleed, edge to edge. Luxury craftsmanship.
COLOR: Bright vibrant blues (#4A90D9), warm golds (#F5D693), rich pinks (#F4B8C1), vivid purples (#9B7ECF) in the reef zone at top. Green transition (#7EC8A0) through the middle. Deepening blue (#3D7EA6) to Abyss Navy (#0D1B2A) at the bottom. Ollie golden-amber (#E8A735). Iridescent rainbow glow hints at the very bottom — the promise of the deep adventure ahead.
March 27–28, 2026 · 71 total images across 7 batches (V20: 18, V21: 9, V22: 29 full page batches) · V21 V2 ultimately selected as cover
71Total Images
7Batches
NBPModel
NBP-V11 — Earliest Cover Attempts (8 variants):
Labeled as "D20" in drafter · first cover attempts · 2400x1792 and 2752x1536
V11 — front_cover_v1
V11 — front_cover_v2
V11 — front_cover_v3
V11 — front_cover_v4
V11 — front_cover_v5
V11 — front_cover_v6
V11 — front_cover_v7
V11 — front_cover_v8
↓↓↓
NBP-V13 (2 variants):
Updated character descriptions · 2752x1536
V13 — front_cover_v1
V13 — front_cover_v2
↓↓↓
NBP-V14-Cover (2 variants):
Incline/descent composition · V14 V1 was "best so far" per creator comment #107 · 2752x1536
V14 — cover_incline_v1
V14 — cover_incline_v2
↓↓↓
NBP-V16-Cover (2 variants):
Wide-angle immersive composition · 2752x1536
V16 — cover_wide_v1
V16 — cover_wide_v2
↓↓↓
NBP-V20 — Full Batch (18 images)
March 28, 2026 17:24 UTC · Nano Banana Pro (google/nano-banana-pro) via Replicate · 2 reference images · 2752x1536
18Images
11Pages
NBPModel
Reference images (sent with every API call):
REF 1 — CHAR
d10-mm-p3-v1.jpg (Ollie)
REF 2 — STYLE
d10-mixed-media-p3/v2.jpg (Style)
Generation Script — generate_gen_a.py (used for front_cover, page02, page05)
V20 was generated using generate_gen_a.py prompts. Each page had a dedicated prompt describing the scene, characters, and mixed media style. Reference images (d10-mm-p3-v1.jpg + d10-mixed-media-p3/v2.jpg) were sent as image_1 and image_2 with every API call. Aspect ratio: 16:9.
Front Cover prompt: Close-up cliff edge underwater dive scene. Fish BIGGER and prominent, painted paper-craft style. Rainbow iridescent bio glow at bottom. Iridescent foil airbrush lighting on cliff face.
Page 02 (Kelp Forest): MASSIVE Monterey kelp forest with IRIDESCENT RAINBOW shimmer. Characters TINY (size of one kelp bladder). Painted pink seahorse, painted harbor seal.
Page 05 (WOW Page): WIDE-ANGLE bioluminescent creature parade. Canyon view teeming with glowing sea life. Characters small, both looking UP with wonder. Scientifically accurate bioluminescence.
Pages 03, 04, 08, 09, 15, 16: Generated from corrected-prompts directory (see prompt-status.md). Each prompt addressed specific creator feedback comments.
March 28, 2026 17:50 UTC · Nano Banana Pro via Replicate · 2 reference images · V2 front cover selected as book cover · 2752x1536
9Images
5Pages
NBPModel
Reference images: Same as V20 — d10-mm-p3-v1.jpg (Ollie) + d10-mixed-media-p3/v2.jpg (Style)
V21 Generation Notes
V21 continued the V20 session with updated/iterated prompts for pages that needed additional variants. Same reference images (image_1: Ollie char ref, image_2: style ref). Same model (google/nano-banana-pro via Replicate). Aspect ratio: 16:9.
Front Cover: Used front_cover_v2_prompt.md (corrected-prompts) with cliff edge descent, split composition, rounded squint Dot eyes. V2 selected as the book cover (draft1_cover.jpg).
Pages 19-20: Used page19_prompt.md and page20_prompt.md. Page 19: shell den, emotion bubbles, page 1 D14B quality. Page 20: closing mantra, visual step icons, sunset from below.
Back Cover Hold variants: Three variants showing Ollie holding Dot from behind, based on back_cover_prompt.md.
Back Spread 2: Updated dark canyon composition with rainbow floor.
The first reference shows the octopus character. The second shows the mixed media style. The third shows the realistic character quality and underwater environment to match.
Real underwater photograph blended with mixed media collage. A baby octopus and a solid natural Tahitian pearl diving DOWNWARD along a steep coral cliff edge, LOOKING AT EACH OTHER with excitement. Bright vibrant blues, pinks, and purples throughout. LEFT HALF: the cliff face alive with colorful coral, anemones, painted watercolor elements blended naturally with real underwater environment. RIGHT HALF: open deep blue ocean.
The gradient tells the story of the dive: BRIGHT vivid warm colors at the top with sunlit coral reef, transitioning through vibrant teal-blue in the middle, to deep darkness at the bottom with a beautiful RAINBOW IRIDESCENT GLOW — like the iridescent canyon light, concentrated shimmer on the deep floor below.
The baby octopus has fine stipple brush dots in gold, orange, yellow, white. Smooth round head. Big round dark eyes with golden star catchlights, adventurous excited grin. Body angled downward, arms trailing. Looking at his pearl companion. Characters look as REALISTIC as in the reef reference — like real creatures photographed underwater with cartoon charm.
The solid natural Tahitian pearl diving alongside, oriented downward. Iridescent nacre surface reflecting the vibrant reef colors. Rounded happy squint eyes glowing softly from inside. Golf-ball sized. Looking at Ollie.
Mixed media collage blended naturally with real underwater photography — not papier-mache looking. Real water, real bubbles, real light. Full bleed 16:9.
Back Cover Hold (7 variants — Ollie holding Dot from behind):
back_cover_hold_v1
back_cover_hold_v2
back_cover_hold_v3
back_cover_hold_v4
back_cover_hold_v5
back_cover_hold_v6
back_cover_hold_v7
Back Spread 2 (1 variant):
back_spread2_v1
↓↓↓
NBP-V23 (1 variant):
Generated by generate_gen_a.py · 2 reference images · Close-up cliff edge prompt · Not selected · 2752x1536
V23 — front_cover_v1
↓ led to
1. NBP v23 Gen A — Later Cliff Edge Prompt
March 27–28, 2026 · Close-up cliff edge variant · NBP via Replicate · 2 reference images
Draft 1 Era
Gen A Prompt (generate_gen_a.py — front_cover_v1)
The first reference shows the octopus character. The second shows the mixed media style.
A close-up cliff edge underwater dive scene. Two characters near the edge of a vibrant reef cliff about to descend into the deep. The baby octopus with fine gold stipple brush dots, smooth round head, big excited dark eyes with golden star catchlights, happy adventurous expression, body angled downward. A solid natural Tahitian pearl with rounded squint eyes glowing warmly from inside, oriented downward with the octopus. Fish are BIGGER and prominent — painted paper-craft style tropical fish like a collage illustration. Real ocean coral reef blended with painted collage elements. Blue ocean sunlight streaming through water from above. The cliff drops away below them — rainbow iridescent bio glow at the bottom of the cliff, detailed and shimmering. Iridescent foil airbrush lighting on the cliff face. Dark areas below still have beautiful ink line work showing underwater environment. Stipple brush texture on coral and rocks. Full bleed 16:9.
Gen A V1 — NBP v23
↓ led to
2. Drafter Current — Multiple Exploration Batches
March 2026 · 11 variants across 3 batches · NBP on Google AI Studio · With and without reference images
11Variants
3Batches
NBPModel
No-ref batch (text only):
No-ref V1
No-ref V2
Ref batch (with reference images):
Ref V1
Ref V2
Standard batch (4 variants):
V1
V2
V3
V4
V8 batch (3 variants):
V8 V1
V8 V2
V8 V4
↓ led to
3. Style Transfer — 4 Batches (16 variants)
March 31, 2026 · 16 variants across 4 batches · NBP on Google AI Studio free tier · oceanbubbles_v2 selected as final pick
Style Transfer — Page 1 (Cover)
Oceanbubbles batch (4 variants) — WINNING BATCH:
V1
Selected
V2 — Winner (oceanbubbles_v2)
V3
V4
Stipple batch (4 variants):
V1
V2
V3
V4
Stipple2 batch (4 variants):
V1
V2
V3
V4
Bubbles batch (4 variants):
V1
V2
V3
V4
↓ led to
4. Cover Test Generations
April 2026 · 8 variants across 2 prompt versions · Square 1:1 aspect ratio experiments
Cover Test Prompt (cover-test)
Square 1:1 aspect ratio. Full bleed children's book illustration. Mixed media collage blending with underwater photography.
REAL GOLD FOIL micro-dots that catch light like tiny metallic beads shimmer on surfaces submerged in real ocean water. Gouache painted characters swim through photographic Hawaiian reef. Heavy watercolor paper base.
SCENE: A dramatic steep Hawaiian reef drop-off descending into the deep. Three color zones: warm golden reef light at top, green transition in the middle, dark deep navy with rainbow iridescence bioluminescence at bottom. Ollie and Dot swim SIDE BY SIDE descending into the deep. Enormous cauliflower coral, lobe coral dwarf them. Schools of vivid yellow tangs and Moorish idols swim past. CORAL REEF ONLY — no kelp, no seaweed.
Characters in DYNAMIC SWIMMING MOTION — both DIVING DOWNWARD, mouths OPEN with excitement. WIDER ANGLE — more zoomed out showing full dramatic drop. Ocean surface light is BLUE (NOT pink). Fish ONLY on coral reef side — dark side has cliff details with ink line work. Rainbow iridescent reflection at the BOTTOM where reef meets deep.
Cover test batch:
V1
V2
V3
V4
New prefix batch:
V1
V2
V3
V4
↓ led to
5. Corrected Batch — spread01_cover
April 19–20, 2026 · 11 variants · NBP x7 + NB2 x4 · Full character-corrected prompt
SCENE: A dramatic steep Hawaiian reef drop-off descending into the deep. Three color zones: warm golden reef light at top, green transition in the middle, dark deep navy with rainbow iridescence bioluminescence at bottom. Ollie and Dot swim SIDE BY SIDE descending into the deep. Enormous cauliflower coral (Pocillopora meandrina), lobe coral (Porites lobata) dwarf them. Schools of vivid yellow tangs and Moorish idols swim past. Cowrie shells and slate pencil urchins scatter across the reef. CORAL REEF ONLY — no kelp, no seaweed.
OLLIE: A cartoon baby octopus. Fine gold stipple brush dots on his skin — shimmering gold micro-dots. Smooth perfectly rounded plump head. NO EARS. Big round dark pill-shaped pupils with warm golden star catchlight sparkles. Small gentle curved mouth. Eight flowing soft-curved arms. Golden-amber (#E8A735) skin.
DOT: Solid natural Tahitian pearl. TWO WARM YELLOW GLOWING CRESCENTS — upward-curving arcs. NO mouth, NO smile line, NO cheeks, NO eyebrows, NO black lines. Warm yellow glow. Golf-ball sized relative to Ollie. ENGAGED in the scene.
SNAIL: A tiny snail Easter egg hidden somewhere in the scene.
ENVIRONMENT: Rich shallow coral reef dropping into deep. Warm golden god-ray light from above transitioning to dark navy at bottom. Rainbow iridescent bioluminescence in the deep areas. Every square inch saturated with discoverable detail.
NBP variants (7):
NBP V1
NBP V2
NBP V4
NBP V5
NBP V6
NBP V7
NBP V8
NB2 variants (4):
NB2 V1
NB2 V2
NB2 V3
NB2 V4
↓ led to
6. Gen4 + Gen4v2 Pipeline
April 2026 · 6 top picks from gen4 + 48 gen4v2 variants · Tournament selection
The cover received the most intensive generation effort of any spread — 175+ total variants across all stages including R7 tests (52), pipeline4 (32), pipeline4 descent (16), pipeline4 refs (16), gen4 (3), gen4v2 (48), corrected batch (11), and more.
Style Origin
Spread 10 generations used D10 Mixed Media P3 v1 (d10-mm-p3-v1.jpg) as character ref. See Sunny Reef tab, Section 0 for full D10 origin trace.
1. Origins — Draft 1 + Master Prompt
March 27–29, 2026 · Book text: “Ollie froze. His arms curled tight. His hearts went thump, thump, thump.”
SCENE: THE NADIR — the DARKEST page in the entire book. Extreme wide shot. Almost entirely Abyss Navy (#0D1B2A).
Ollie small, arms CURLED TIGHT against his body in a defensive ball. Skin turned DARK BROWN (#4A3728) — full fear camouflage. He is barely visible in the darkness — ONLY illuminated where Dot's soft blue glow falls on him. You don't see his full outline, just what's illuminated. Eyes are wide and scared — the only bright areas. Cute small mouth visible but in a worried expression. He should look like a scared CHILD, NOT creepy or weird — genuinely vulnerable and small.
Dot floats near, tiny pearlescent sphere, her ENTIRE SURFACE glowing soft blue (#5B9BD5) — she is the sole light source, creating a small circle of blue-white light in the vast dark. The glow at 70%.
Whale shadow MASSIVE above — still the enormous ambiguous dark form. Faint bioluminescence at extreme edges (barely there). No bubbles (he's holding his breath). The emptiness IS the fear — he's small, the world is dark and huge.
MIXED MEDIA EXECUTION: FLATTEST texture in the book. Almost no detail visible. Pure ink wash darkness. Texture ONLY where Dot's blue light hits Ollie's skin.
The composition emphasizes how alone and small they are. This is the bottom. But the bottom has a light in it.
Founder Voice Notes
“Like how it gets really dark” · “More like v3, more concepts of v2 (half and half)” · “Like how Ollie goes dark in color — missing whale shadow in that version” · “v1 Ollie looks too creepy/weird”
↓ led to
1b. NBP Original Generation Batches (All EC2 Variants)
March 25–27, 2026 · 51 variants across storyboard rounds, NBP batches v11–v23, round2, and draft4
Storyboard Round 2 (4 concepts):
R2 Dark Transformation
R2 Frozen Ball
R2 Held Breath
R2 Small In Vast
Storyboard Round 3 (4 concepts):
R3 Dark Transformation
R3 Frozen Ball
R3 Held Breath
R3 Small In Vast
Storyboard Round 4 / Draft 3 (4 concepts):
R4 Dark Transformation
R4 Frozen Ball
R4 Held Breath
R4 Small In Vast
NBP v11 — Missing Pages (2):
v11 New V1
v11 New V2
NBP v12 — Closed (4):
v12 Closed V1
v12 Closed V2
v12 Closed V3
v12 Closed V4
NBP v13 — Final (2):
v13 Final V1
v13 Final V2
NBP v14 — Expand (2):
v14 Expand V1
v14 Expand V2
NBP v16 — Dark (2):
v16 Dark V1
v16 Dark V2
NBP v17, v18, v19 — Singles (3):
v17 V1
v18 V1
v19 V1
NBP v23 — Gen B (4):
v23 V1
v23 V2
v23 V3
v23 V4
Round 2 Batch — pages-6-10 (10):
Round2 V01
Round2 V02
Round2 V03
Round2 V04
Round2 V05
Round2 V06
Round2 V07
Round2 V08
Round2 V09
Round2 V10
Draft 4 Batch (10):
Draft4 V01
Draft4 V02
Draft4 V03
Draft4 V04
Draft4 V05
Draft4 V06
Draft4 V07
Draft4 V08
Draft4 V09
Draft4 V10
↓ led to
2. NBP Final Variants
March 27, 2026 · 4 variants · Nano Banana Pro · page10_v1 through v4 in nbp-final
The first reference image shows the character quality and dark-scene rendering to match. The second reference image shows the current Ollie Froze scene — USE THIS AS THE MAIN COMPOSITION. Keep the same collage and realism style as the current spread. ONLY change the character's EXPRESSION and add Dot's face.
Full bleed children's book illustration, 2:1 aspect ratio. Mixed media collage blending with underwater photography.
SCENE: VERY CLOSE on Ollie — he is FROZEN with fear but in a CUTE, PERSONABLE way. Not in pain, not suffering — scared in a way that a small child finds relatable and safe. His arms are curled tight around his body protectively. The same collage-realistic mixed media environment as the current page. The shadow looms above, creating dramatic contrast.
OLLIE: A cartoon baby octopus with fine SILVER stipple dots on dark brown skin (#3A2A1E). Smooth perfectly rounded plump head, no nose. Big dark pill-shaped pupils with SILVER FOIL detailed iris. Expression: CUTE BUT SCARED — eyes slightly more open than the current page, showing the iris and pupil clearly so we can see his emotions. Like a baby animal hiding — scared but cute. Small worried mouth. Arms curled tight protectively around his body.
DOT: Solid natural Tahitian pearl, smooth nacre surface. Mother-of-pearl iridescent sheen with soft blue glow (#5B9BD5). TWO BLUE GLOWING U-shaped eyes. Nearby, her blue glow providing comfort in the darkness. Eyes showing gentle concern, oriented toward Ollie supportively.
ENVIRONMENT: Dark deep ocean matching the current page composition. The massive shadow above. Dark water with scattered bioluminescent hints. Torn paper elements and photographic darkness create depth. Silver stipple on dark rock surfaces.
SCENE: DOT'S MOMENT. Still almost entirely dark (Abyss Navy #0D1B2A). But now Dot is the clear focal point.
Dot — pearlescent white sphere — her whole surface GLOWING SOFT BLUE, light expanding outward like a gentle nightlight in the ocean depths. Her pearlescent/nacre texture POPS OUT against the dark — the mixed media texture on her surface is visible and beautiful in her own glow. Eyes projected on her sphere surface as GREEN crescents — tender, caring expression.
Her blue glow creates a sphere of visible detail in the darkness — a circle of light and safety. Ollie within the glow radius, still dark brown and curled but now LOOKING TOWARD HER. The beginning of connection. Faint texture on Ollie's skin where Dot's light hits.
Everything outside the glow radius is flat ink wash darkness. Whale shadow may still be faintly visible above.
MIXED MEDIA EXECUTION: FLAT dark base with Dot's glow creating a sphere of visible detail. Pearlescent/nacre texture on Dot's surface — she is the mixed media star of this page, popping out with 3D pearl quality against the 2D ink wash dark.
The metaphor: in the darkest moment, your friend becomes your light. “Would you like help?” — close but not touching, present but not overwhelming.
Founder Voice Notes
“Like v2 — accentuate Dot's blue light” · “Eyes stay same color (try GREEN)” · “Around Dot should be blue” · “v1, v2, v3 — different concepts focusing on still deep/dark, Dot's light turned blue”
↓ led to
1b. NBP Original Generation Batches (All EC2 Variants)
March 25–27, 2026 · 42 variants across storyboard rounds, NBP batches v11–v20, round2, and draft4
Storyboard Round 2 (4 concepts):
R2 Approaching
R2 Beacon
R2 Eye Contact
R2 Light Pool
Storyboard Round 4 / Draft 3 (4 concepts):
R4 Approaching
R4 Beacon
R4 Eye Contact
R4 Light Pool
NBP v11 — Missing Pages (2):
v11 New V1
v11 New V2
NBP v12 — Light (6):
v12 Light V1
v12 Light V2
v12 Light V3
v12 Light V4
v12 Light V5
v12 Light V6
NBP v13 — Final (2):
v13 Final V1
v13 Final V2
NBP v16 — Blue (2):
v16 Blue V1
v16 Blue V2
NBP v20 (2):
v20 V1
v20 V2
Round 2 Batch — pages-6-10 (10):
Round2 V01
Round2 V02
Round2 V03
Round2 V04
Round2 V05
Round2 V06
Round2 V07
Round2 V08
Round2 V09
Round2 V10
Draft 4 Batch (10):
Draft4 V01
Draft4 V02
Draft4 V03
Draft4 V04
Draft4 V05
Draft4 V06
Draft4 V07
Draft4 V08
Draft4 V09
Draft4 V10
↓ led to
2. NBP v23 Gen B — First Generation
March 27, 2026 · 1 variant · Nano Banana Pro · Replicate · Text + 2 reference images
Gen B Prompt (gen_b.py — page08_v1)
Deep dark underwater scene. A solid natural Tahitian pearl floats level with a baby octopus, face-to-face in the darkness. The pearl glows with soft blue light — blue rounded squint eyes shaped like upside-down U shapes, compassionate and caring, projected from inside. The blue glow creates a small sphere of visibility around both characters. The octopus is VERY dark brown, almost blending into the dark background — depth has stolen his color. His facial features are soft and painterly, no hard lines for eyes and mouth. Fine SMALL stipple dots barely visible on his dark skin. Smooth round head. He looks toward the pearl with vulnerability and trust. Watercolor ink wash darkness surrounding them. Stipple brush texture on nearby sea floor rocks. Real underwater quality — subtle particle haze, faint caustics from pearl glow. Full bleed 16:9.
Gen B V1 — NBP v23 (page08)
↓ led to
3. Style Transfer — Pair 5 (Collage Circle / Page 11)
March 31, 2026 · 12 variants across 3 batches · NBP on Google AI Studio free tier · pair5_regen2_v2 selected as final pick
Style Transfer — Pair 5
Input Reference Images (fed INTO generation):
Pair 5 Recipe
Style 14 (dark watercolor, Ollie + Dot face-to-face) + Style 10 (deep dark atmosphere) → Target 11 (collage circle with Dot blue glow pearlescent).
Source: Draft 1 full pages from ollie_draft-1_full-pages_260330_numbered/. These 3 images were the reference inputs for the style transfer generation.
REF IMAGE
Draft 1 P14 — Style: dark watercolor
REF IMAGE
Draft 1 P10 — Style: deep atmosphere
REF IMAGE
Draft 1 P11 — Target: collage circle (= page08_dot_blue_glow_pearlescent.jpg)
Origin: st_input_draft1_p11.jpg
File: page08_dot_blue_glow_pearlescent.jpg from NBP Round 3 depth batch
Source path: agata_books/2026-03-27_round2/style-concepts/nbp-depth/page08_dot_blue_glow_pearlescent.jpg
Also at: book-drafts/ollie_draft-1_full-pages_260330/page08_dot_blue_glow_pearlescent.jpg (numbered as 11_page08_dot_blue_glow_pearlescent.jpg)
Model: Nano Banana Pro (gemini-2.5-flash-image) via Google AI Studio
Script: agata_books/2026-03-27_round2/style-concepts/depth-scenes/generate_depth_concepts.py (concept 03_p8_dot_blue_glow_illuminating)
Style ref: d10-mixed-media-p3/v1.jpg
Date: March 29, 2026
Generation prompt (from generate_depth_concepts.py):
PAGE 8 -- DOT'S MOMENT. A pearlescent white sphere robot (Dot) glows soft blue, her light expanding outward like a gentle nightlight in the ocean depths. She illuminates a small dark brown octopus (Ollie) who is curled but looking toward her. Dot's blue glow creates a sphere of visible detail in the surrounding darkness -- pearly iridescent texture visible on Dot's surface, watercolor texture on Ollie's skin where light hits. Everything outside the glow radius is FLAT INK WASH darkness, completely featureless Abyss Navy (#0D1B2A). The contrast between the luminous detail sphere and the flat dark void is the visual story. Intimate, tender. Dot has projected eyes on her surface (simple, no screen). NO antenna, NO robot body.
Pair 5 initial batch (4 variants):
V1
V2
V3
V4
Pair 5 regen batch (4 variants):
Regen V1
Regen V2
Regen V3
Regen V4
Pair 5 regen2 batch (4 variants) — WINNING BATCH:
Regen2 V1
Selected
Regen2 V2 — Winner
Regen2 V3
Regen2 V4
↓ led to
4. Corrected Batch — Dot Floats Near
April 19–20, 2026 · 12 variants · NBP x8 + NB2 x4 · Full character-corrected prompt with centered circle collage
SCENE: Centered circle collage composition. Dot floats near Ollie in a tender connection moment. The circle collage element is rich with intricate LINE WORK and STIPPLE ART. Everything immersed in real water effects. Characters in painted cardboard look. More complexity in underwater submersion vibe. Space characters apart (page divide in center). The overall feeling is tender connection rendered at high craft level.
OLLIE: His colors have turned DIM and BROWN (#3A2A1E). Silver stipple dots replacing gold as the shadow looms. Ollie's eyes: CIRCLE glimmers (not stars). Arms still held close but beginning to open. Painted cutout quality with intricate stipple art texture. Looking toward Dot.
DOT: Solid natural Tahitian pearl. TWO BLUE GLOWING soft rounded squint eyes (#5B9BD5) — inverted U shapes, compassionate, caring. NO mouth. Her surface GLOWS SOFT BLUE, creating a gentle sphere of blue light. Pearl is the primary light source, creating the illuminated sphere of the centered circle composition. Upside-down U shaped blue eyes.
ENVIRONMENT: Deep ocean darkness — Abyss Navy (#0D1B2A) base. Centered circle collage — RICH with intricate line work: fine pen lines, cross-hatching, stipple art creating gradients and texture. Dot's blue glow filling the circle.
Total Dot Floats Near generation count: 100+ variants across NBP v23 (1), style transfer pair5 (12), corrected batch (12), gen4 (3), gen4v2 (48), pipeline2 (19), pipeline3 (24).
PUBLISHED SPREAD — Spread 16 / Whale FactsBook Pages 30-31 · "Whales are gentle giants..."
170Total Variants
10Generation Phases
9Pipelines
6+Prompt Revisions
1. Storyboard Scenes — March 25-26, 2026
March 25-26, 2026 · Text-only prompts, no reference images · 3 rounds of concept exploration
TEXT-ONLY GENERATION — Earliest Concepts
Original Storyboard Prompt — whale_world (v3, liked)
Educational spread: the whale with a BABY WHALE beside it (nursing). Sound waves radiating from the whale's head (whale song as flowing curved lines in watercolor). The pair traveling through vast ocean — a dotted path behind them. [OLLIE] and [DOT] tiny observers at the bottom corner. The whale pair rendered in beautiful detailed soft grey-blue watercolor. Scientific but magical.
[ROUND 3 STYLE TECH]
[ROUND 3 OLLIE CHARACTER — watching in awe, warm restored #E0845E, small observer]
[ROUND 3 DOT CHARACTER — small, beside Ollie, watching]
WHALE CHARACTERS: Mother whale — large, gentle, detailed, singing. REALISTIC EYE — gentle, wise. Can be the most "real" element in mixed media. Baby whale swimming alongside mother — close, following, possibly nursing.
SCENE: EDUCATIONAL WHALE PAGE. Mother whale and baby whale swimming together — the primary composition. Sunlight streams from above onto the whales (light is returning). Sound waves radiating from the whale's head — whale song as flowing curved lines in watercolor. A dotted path behind them showing their journey.
MIXED MEDIA EXECUTION: RETURNING texture — more detail, mixed media elements coming back. Whale can have REALISTIC TEXTURE accents (photographic whale skin texture, realistic eye). Warm light on whale surfaces.
COLOR: Whale Blue-Grey (#34657F). Soft Steel Blue (#5F8CA3). Sky Reflect (#87CEEB). Warm golden sunlight accents on the whales.
CALL NOTES: "Really like v1 — sound and baby trail" / "v3 good too" / "More depth" / "Sunlight coming down on whale and mom" / "REDUCE TEXT SIZE"
2
Round 2 Whale Variants — 10 Concepts
March 27, 2026 · Exploring whale composition, sound, scale, lighting
v01 whale_baby_trail
v02 singing_deep_songs
v03 traveling_far
v04 gentle_giant_closeup
v05 real_whale_accents
v06 baby_whale_focus
v07 sunlight_on_whale
v08 whale_facts_montage
v09 scale_wonder
v10 depth_surface_hint
3. NBP Style Concept Batches — March 27-28, 2026
March 27-28, 2026 · Nano Banana Pro on Replicate · Style-matched generations with Ollie and style refs · 5 batch runs across V11-V23
NBP-V23 Prompt (gen_b.py) — Final NBP Style Batch
The first reference shows the octopus character. The second shows the mixed media style.
Mother and baby humpback whale swimming while singing — iridescent resonance waves radiate outward from the whales like visible sound, shimmering with nacre rainbow colors. A baby octopus and solid natural Tahitian pearl sit tiny on a reef cliff edge watching the whales in wonder. The octopus is restored to full golden-amber stipple brush dots, happy expression, arms resting on the cliff. The pearl glows warmly with rounded squint eyes from inside. Rich mixed media collage throughout — torn paper edges, watercolor washes, tissue paper overlays all blended with underwater photography realism. Warm light returning. Abundant reef life on the cliff. Stipple brush texture on rocks and coral. Real bubbles and caustics. Full bleed 16:9.
V11
NBP-V11 Missing Pages Batch — 4 Variants
Earliest NBP attempt at whale scene
NBP V11 v1
NBP V11 v2
NBP V11 v3
NBP V11 v4
↓↓↓
V13
NBP-V13 Page16 Dedicated — 2 Variants
Targeted whale song generation
V13 whalesong v1
V13 whalesong v2
↓↓↓
V16
NBP-V16 Page16 Dedicated — 2 Variants
Continued whale composition refinement
V16 whale-song v1
V16 whale-song v2
↓↓↓
V20
NBP-V20 — 1 Variant
Single generation in V20 batch
NBP V20 v1
↓↓↓
V23
NBP-V23 — 1 Variant (Final NBP Batch)
Last Replicate NBP generation for this spread
NBP V23 v1
4. Gen3-V3 Multi-Round Variants & Top Picks
April 2026 · 4 rounds of NB2/NBP generation with Gemini scoring · Top 3 picks selected
R1
Round 1 (NB2) — 4 Variants
First Gemini NB2 generation round
R1 NB2 v1
R1 NB2 v2
R1 NB2 v3
R1 NB2 v4
↓↓↓
R2
Round 2 (NB2) — 4 Variants
Second Gemini NB2 generation round
R2 NB2 v1
R2 NB2 v2
R2 NB2 v3
R2 NB2 v4
↓↓↓
R3
Round 3 (NBP) — 4 Variants
NBP model generation round
R3 NBP v1
TOP 1
R3 NBP v2 — TOP PICK
R3 NBP v3
R3 NBP v4
↓↓↓
R4
Round 4 (NBP) — 4 Variants
Final NBP generation round
R4 NBP v1
R4 NBP v2
TOP 3
R4 NBP v3 — 3rd PICK
R4 NBP v4
↓↓↓
TOP
Gen3-V3 Top 3 Picks
AI-scored best variants from 4 rounds
TOP 1
Top 1 — R3 NBP v2
TOP 2
Top 2 — R3 NBP v1
TOP 3
Top 3 — R4 NBP v3
5. Gen2 Edit16 — Draft 2 Edits
April 2026 · Edit pass on whale scene · NB2 and NBP batches · 7 sub-batches + refined
ED
Edit16 Refined — 4 Variants
Refined edit output selected from multiple sub-batches
edit16_refined v1
edit16_refined v2
edit16_refined v3
edit16_refined v4
6. Corrected Batch — Whale Song + Ending
April 2026 · Two corrected-batch runs targeting spread 13 (whale song) and spread 16 (ending) · NB2 + NBP variants
Corrected Batch Prompt — Spread 13 / Whale Song
SCENE: FULL COLOR RETURN — color FLOODS back. A mother humpback whale swims in warm, bright water alongside Ollie and Dot. WARM, BRIGHT, COLORFUL — complete opposite of the dark pages. Golden sunlight streams through water. Iridescent resonance waves shimmer outward from whale like visible sound, rainbow nacre colors radiating from her song.
OLLIE: Full golden-amber (#E8A735) stipple brush dots. FULL COLOR RESTORED. Happy, relieved expression.
DOT: Solid natural Tahitian pearl. TWO WARM YELLOW GLOWING CRESCENTS. Warm yellow glow restored.
ENVIRONMENT: Rich coral reef — warm, colorful, alive. MAGNIFICENT mother humpback whale — warm, gentle, protective. White parts shimmer with full RAINBOW IRIDESCENCE. Iridescent sound waves radiate from her. Golden sunlight from above.
Spread 13 Whale Song (12 variants):
S13 NBP v1
S13 NBP v2
S13 NBP v3
S13 NBP v4
S13 NB2 v1
S13 NB2 v2
S13 NB2 v3
S13 NB2 v4
Spread 16 Ending (14 variants):
S16 NBP v1
S16 NBP v2
S16 NBP v3
S16 NBP v4
S16 NB2 v1
S16 NB2 v2
S16 NB2 v3
S16 NB2 v4
7. Pipeline Outputs — 9 Pipelines, 68 Variants
April 2026 · Automated pipeline generation across 9 pipeline batches · Gemini Flash Image Preview
SCENE: Educational whale page — RECOMPOSED as 2:1 ratio. Move the mother whale and baby whale to the RIGHT SIDE of the composition. Ollie and Dot remain on the left as tiny painted 2D observers.
WHALE (LAYERED RENDERING): Real underwater photography depth as the BASE — genuine underwater lighting, real water. ON TOP: watercolor washes add color, INK LINE DRAWING adds fine pen lines tracing contours. The effect: watercolor + ink PAINTED OVER reality. Sound waves from the whale — watercolor flowing curves with iridescent collage quality.
OLLIE: PAINTED 2D LOOK — flat, illustrated, painted cutout quality. Golden-amber (#E8A735). Fine gold stipple brush dots. Tiny observer on the left side.
STYLE: Heavy mixed media collage with three-dimensional depth. Torn paper edges on coral. Watercolor + ink line drawing painted OVER real underwater photography. Tissue paper overlays for water atmosphere. Full bleed, no white margins.
Pipeline 2 (24 variants — showing 4):
P2 NB2 v1
P2 NB2 v2
P2 NB2 v3
P2 NB2 v4
Pipeline 3 (16 variants — showing 4):
P3 v01
P3 v02
P3 v03
P3 v04
Pipeline 9 (4 variants):
P9 v1
P9 v2
P9 v3
P9 v4
Pipeline 10 (4 variants):
P10 v1
P10 v2
P10 v3
P10 v4
Pipeline 21 (4 variants):
P21 v1
P21 v2
P21 v3
P21 v4
Pipeline 24 (2 variants):
P24 v1
P24 v2
Pipeline 31 (4 variants):
P31 v1
P31 v2
P31 v3
P31 v4
Pipeline 32 (4 variants):
P32 v1
P32 v2
P32 v3
P32 v4
Pipeline 40 (4 variants):
P40 v1
P40 v2
P40 v3
P40 v4
8. Review Summary
Generation History — Spread 16 / Whale Song
BOOK TEXT: "Whales are gentle giants. / They travel very far. / They sing deep songs. / Baby whales drink milk."
ORIGIN: March 25, 2026 — Storyboard scenes (text-only). 4 concepts per round across 3 rounds (12 total). Beth liked "whale_world" for sound+baby trail composition and "mother_and_calf" for tenderness.
PROMPT EVOLUTION:
1. Original storyboard: Simple educational scene, whale+baby, sound waves, dotted trail
2. Round 3 master: Added sunlight streaming down, realistic whale eye, text size reduction, baby nursing detail
3. NBP-V11 through V23: Shifted to mixed media collage with stipple brush, torn paper, underwater photography
4. Corrected batch: Full color return theme, iridescent resonance waves, rainbow nacre colors
5. Pipeline 31+: Recomposed 2:1, whale RIGHT/Ollie LEFT, layered rendering (photo base + watercolor + ink)
KEY DECISIONS:
- Whale must be gentle, not threatening (from call notes)
- Whale eye can be "super real" (Agata's note)
- Sunlight from above on whale and mom (Beth voice note)
- Text size must be SMALL (emphatic note about covering characters)
- Mother+baby pairing is the visual focus
TOTAL VARIANTS: ~170 across 10 generation phases and 9 pipeline runs.
MODELS USED: NBP (Replicate), NB2 (Gemini), Gemini Flash Image Preview
PUBLISHED: spread16_whale_facts.png