Zen Sand Collage

Illustration · Collage · Overhead

Download examples
Shapes on the sand·Nano Banana Pro
Wide composition·Seedream 4.5
Square crop·Seedream 4.5
Detail of the rake lines·Seedream 4.5

Recipe

The examples above were generated with Nano Banana Pro and Seedream 4.5. The recipes below are written for GPT Image and Flux, so treat the settings as a starting point rather than the exact run.

A description in plain sentences. This is the version to start with, and it works on any current image model. Settings below are the ones we used on GPT Image; treat them as a starting point.

The recipe is the style, not the picture. Put your own subject in and the highlighted part of the prompt changes.

Prompt

An overhead composition of a few cut paper shapes laid on coarse textured sand: soft green rounded blobs, smooth black stones and concentric raked circles pressed into the grain. Deliberate placement with nothing overlapping by accident, limited to sand, deep green and near black, generous negative space between the elements. Shot flat from directly above, soft even light, no shadows beyond faint contact ones.

The prompt gets you close. Feed one of the examples in as a style reference for the rest. Download the images

Use the examples as a reference

Download the examples

Send the example as an input image to the images.edits endpoint alongside the prompt, or attach it in ChatGPT. It follows composition closely, so describe your subject firmly or it will copy the example.

Settings on GPT Image

Size
1280 x 1024
Quality
High
Background
Opaque
Output
PNG

Tips

  • 1Directly overhead. Any angle turns it into a still life.
  • 2The rake lines are the texture. Ask for them explicitly.
  • 3Negative space is the composition. Do not fill the frame.

Things to try

Monochrome

black and sand only

Water

ripples instead of rake lines

A single stone in the same treatment

one element alone

Denser

more shapes, tighter spacing

Warm

ochre and terracotta paper

Similar Styles