illo

name	illo
description	Creates original editorial illustrations where a recurring mascot character performs the idea — one caught scene by default, a hand-built explainer diagram (a flow, fan-out, timeline, loop, or stack) when the structure itself is the point, or a transparent character cutout (pose-only compositing asset, no scene or text) — in one of seventeen bundled looks (sixteen print, plus a photoreal toy-brick set). Also handles "surprise me" / "random" (optionally scoped to a focus or character): rolls provenance, builds three saying candidates, picks via interactive choice or auto-pick-best (`--autopick`), and renders one image. Triggers only when the skill is directly invoked or "illo" is requested; never on generic illustrate / draw / make-an-image requests.
version	0.33.0
argument-hint	[idea or article URL] | build a character | install <character> | surprise me [focus] [--autopick] [using character]
author	Trevin Chow
license	MIT
metadata	{"hermes":{"tags":["illustration","riso","image-generation","editorial","mascot","codex","grok","openrouter"],"category":"creative","requires_toolsets":["terminal"]},"openclaw":{"emoji":"🎨","homepage":"https://illo-skill.com","os":["macos","linux"],"requires":{"bins":["python3"]}}}

Illo

Make original, distinctive editorial illustrations for written content. One image explains one idea: a key judgment, a flow, a before/after, a trap, a loop. A recurring mascot is the one performing the idea in every scene — the subject, never decoration. When one idea advances through stages, it can be a mini-comic: 2–4 panels inside a single image. And when the idea is itself a traceable structure — a pipeline, a fan-out, a timeline, a loop — it can be an explainer: the same mascot and look drawing the structure as a hand-built sketch-diagram with arrows and callouts (references/composition.md, "Two registers"; editorial scene is always the default). Or a character cutout: the mascot alone on a transparent PNG for downstream overlay — pose and contact continuity only, no idea, no text, no environment (references/cutout.md).

This is a configurable house style, not a generic image generator. The methodology is the constant; the character pack and palette are the parameters — and a character pack carries its style with it: one look per pack, chosen from the bundled look library (riso — grainy halftone, ink-layer offset, paper grain, one bold softly-rounded outline — plus blueprint, woodcut, pixel, clay, manila, chalk, phosphor, enamel, gouache, felt, diorama, sketchbook, bricks, fizz, bloom, and snes) or a custom style file. The default mascot is Blot, a deadpan ink-drop in riso. Palettes come from presets, the user's own palette file, or one derived color. Whatever the parameters, it is intentionally not a photo — with one deliberate exception, the bricks look, a toy-brick photography style — not a logo, not a corporate infographic, not a formal flowchart, not a UI mockup.

Use cases — route the request

The user wants	The path
Illustrate an article / post / newsletter / URL	Steps 0–7: route the source first (thesis → coverage: hero / hero+set / set / mini-comic — references/composition.md, "Source routing"), then shot list (hero row + anchors), one image per anchor, interleave by placement.
One image for a single concept	Step 1 concept branch (up to ~3 quick questions if the idea is thin), then a single image.
Surprise / random — "surprise me", "random", "surprise me with art quote using bray", "surprise me --autopick"	Read references/surprise.md in full: Step 0 first, then character + provenance (ignore ; forces a cited quote; else ~1/3 roll), build safe candidates, interactive picker or auto-pick-best ( preferred for schedulers), then register from the locked saying, then Steps 3–7 as one image. Deliver saying + image. Poster titles default off; mini-comics still get per-panel labels.