Which tool to choose
All generators understand style commands, but with different results.
- For maximum artistic consistency (a comic, an illustration with a precise identity), Midjourney is the most expressive on styles.
- To work with words and correct on the fly, the generator built into ChatGPT or Gemini accepts style commands in plain language and lets you iterate ("more cartoon," "less saturated").
- To imitate a reference you have on hand, choose a tool that lets you upload an example image to take the style from.
How to do it
Style is one of the prompt's blocks, alongside subject and context. It's commanded with a precise vocabulary: the better you can name the style, the better you get it.
Define the style with recognizable terms. Not "nice" but "Franco-Belgian comic style," "realistic photography," "watercolor," "pixel art," "oil painting." The names of techniques and genres are commands the AI knows.
Add the style modifiers: lines (bold, thin), colors (saturated, pastel, black and white), atmosphere (somber, cheerful). They're the details that tell one comic apart from another.
Generate and compare. Try two or three style formulations on the same subject to figure out which vocabulary works with your tool.
Lock the style to reuse it. When you find the right formula, keep it identical and change only the subject: that's how you get a consistent series.
If the interface doesn't show style options, write everything in the text prompt: style doesn't need a menu, it's enough to name it in the description.
The operational syntax to lock a reusable style:
Fixed style to use for all images in this series:
comic-style illustration, bold black lines, flat and saturated colors,
simple shading, minimal background.
Subject of this image: [change only this line each time].
A concrete example
Davide wants to illustrate a children's story with six scenes in the same style. He defines a formula: "children's-book-style illustration, watercolor, soft colors, gentle outlines." He keeps it identical for all six images, changing only the subject of each scene (the forest, the house, the protagonist). The six images look drawn by the same hand. For the protagonist, who recurs in several scenes, he uploads the first image as a reference so the character stays recognizable.
When it does NOT work (and how to fix it)
If the style changes from one image to the next
The AI reinterprets the style with each generation. Fix: use a style formula that's identical word for word, and where the tool allows it upload a reference image to anchor the result.
If the requested style comes out watered down or generic
The term was too vague. Fix: add more specific references (technique, era, type of line and color) instead of generic adjectives. "Impressionist oil painting, visible brushstrokes" works better than "artistic style."
If you want to imitate a specific artist's style
Many tools limit or discourage the direct imitation of living artists, and there are rights issues. Fix: describe the characteristics of the style (colors, technique, subjects) instead of the artist's name; you get a similar result without copying an author.
A tip from someone who actually uses it
Build yourself a small personal list of style formulas that work with your tool. "Style X = this precise phrase that always gives me that result." It becomes your textual palette: when you need that style, you paste the formula and you're sure of the result, without starting the experimentation over every time.
Frequently asked questions
Can I mix two styles in the same image?
Yes, but in moderation. Close combinations ("photography with a painterly touch") work; opposite styles ("realistic pixel art") confuse the system. Try it, and if the result is incoherent choose the dominant style and use the other only as a hint.
Does the same style prompt give the same result on different tools?
No. Each generator has its own interpretation of the style vocabulary, because it was trained on different images. The formula that gives you a perfect watercolor on one tool may give something entirely different on another: the style vocabulary has to be recalibrated for each tool.
Is the AI-generated style a copy of existing drawings?
That's the fear to clear up. The generator doesn't paste pieces of existing images: it has learned the visual rules of a style and produces a new version of it. The result is original in composition, even if the style recalls a tradition. The rights issue concerns the direct imitation of specific works or authors, not the use of a generic style like "watercolor" or "comic."