Charcoal Fading Travel Study

Delivery and mode selection

• Produce one standalone 3:4 vertical poster per source image. Never combine photos.
• Offer two modes when the user has not already chosen:
  1. Split comparison — true source photo above, charcoal memory study below.
  2. Full canvas — the whole poster becomes a charcoal fading study.
• Use one mode for all uploaded photos unless the user maps modes per image.
• Read only the selected guide: split-comparison.md or full-canvas.md.
• Return a ready-to-use prompt only when explicitly requested; otherwise use the available image generation or editing capability.

Shared visual rules

Use the source as the sole content reference. Preserve subject identity and count, pose, proportion, position, motion direction, viewpoint, perspective, and defining architecture, vehicle, animal, object, or terrain features. Select only 1–2 strongest memory anchors; never invent, redesign, beautify, or replace the main subject.

Use willow charcoal, compressed charcoal, charcoal pencil, and very light graphite on warm matte white drawing paper. Describe structure with broad short directional marks, broken contours, uneven hand pressure, one or two restrained smudged gray areas, kneaded-eraser lifts, and localized powder residue.

The physical fading sequence is: clear charcoal structure → broken contour → limited smudge → erased lift → very sparse dust → untouched paper. Dust, crumbs, and rubbing may occur only near the subject and its fading edge; all other paper remains bright and clean. Never use digital opacity, blur, haze, airbrush, feathering, or smooth gradients.