The Bench Thief, made with GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst — Example made with **GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst**

Text to imageComics & stickers

GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst comic strip promptThe Bench Thief

The exact text-to-image prompt behind this picture, made with GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst.

Prompt

Vertical 3:4 comic page. A four-panel vertical comic in black and white pencil with crosshatching: panel 1 an old man sits on a sunny park bench, panel 2 he stands to throw bread to pigeons, panel 3 a fat cat hops into his warm spot, panel 4 the man sits on the very edge next to the sleeping cat with a resigned smile, no speech bubbles, no text.

Prompts are kept in their original English to help reproduce the example. Copy one as it is, or adapt it for your project.

Make one like this

Opens GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst with this prompt and the settings below filled in.

135 tested GPT Image prompts →

Settings

Model: GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst
Mode: Text to image
Aspect ratio: 3:4
Quality: high
Price: From 2 credits

The exact price shows before you generate.

Make your own version

The prompt ends with no text. Leave that in, or the model may add random lettering.

Where this idea comes from

Inspired by an idea from @kaikaitheaiguy, collected in freestylefly/awesome-gpt-image-2 under MIT. PopNow wrote this prompt and made the example above.

Style prompt guide

Style traits to keep

A four-panel silent comic strip rendered in classic graphite pencil captures a humorous park scene with gentle warmth. GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst succeeds here by balancing precise sequential panel arrangement with traditional crosshatched shading, giving the entire strip the handmade, tactile finish of an editorial newspaper illustration.

The charm of this style relies on traditional newspaper comic drafting, balancing clean storytelling lines with dense graphite textures.

Palette: Pure black, white, and mid-tone graphite grays define the space without digital gradients or colored inks.
Line: Crisp pencil linework defines the silhouettes, while directional crosshatching builds depth on clothing folds and wooden bench slats.
Texture: Subtle paper tooth and matte graphite grain show through shaded zones, giving the image an authentic sketchbook quality.
Composition: A four-tier vertical stack keeps the reading rhythm intuitive, guiding the eye downward through clean gutter borders.

What defines this look

layout definitionVertical 3:4 comic page. A four-panel vertical comic
This establishes the vertical column format and exact panel count. Without it, the model often generates a single landscape illustration or an uneven collage of unbordered images.
art medium instructionin black and white pencil with crosshatching:
This dictates the traditional drawing technique and removes digital shading. Altering this phrase changes the aesthetic entirely into ink, watercolor, or full-color digital art.
narrative setuppanel 1 an old man sits on a sunny park bench, panel 2 he stands to throw bread to pigeons,
This establishes the setting, the protagonist, and the initial action across the top two frames. Removing this breaks the cause-and-effect setup required for the visual punchline.
narrative payoffpanel 3 a fat cat hops into his warm spot, panel 4 the man sits on the very edge next to the sleeping cat with a resigned smile,
This guides the comedic climax and character reaction in the bottom two panels. Without this specific progression, the model may keep the character static or forget the cat entirely.
negative constraintno speech bubbles, no text.
This prevents the model from injecting garbled faux-lettering or empty dialogue clouds into the panels. Removing it frequently results in messy, illegible comic typography.

Same style, new subjects

Coffee shop mishap

Swaps the park for a cafe setting to capture a modern, everyday frustration in the same crosshatched cartoon style.

Prompt

Vertical 3:4 comic page. A four-panel vertical comic in black and white pencil with crosshatching: panel 1 a barista carefully steams milk, panel 2 he pours intricate latte art into a ceramic cup, panel 3 a customer immediately snaps an opaque plastic lid over the art, panel 4 the barista stares blankly in defeat, no speech bubbles, no text.

Puppy in the garden

Applies the four-panel storytelling structure to a domestic pet accident with lively character expressions.

Prompt

Vertical 3:4 comic page. A four-panel vertical comic in black and white pencil with crosshatching: panel 1 a gardener potted a delicate sprout on a wooden table, panel 2 she turns around to pick up a watering can, panel 3 a golden retriever puppy wags its tail and knocks the pot over, panel 4 the puppy sits happily covered in potting soil, no speech bubbles, no text.

Rainy sidewalk splash

Translates the strip style into an urban street setting focusing on comic timing and dramatic splash textures.

Prompt

Vertical 3:4 comic page. A four-panel vertical comic in black and white pencil with crosshatching: panel 1 a commuter waits under an umbrella in light rain, panel 2 a city bus drives through a deep puddle nearby, panel 3 the giant puddle wave arcs high over the umbrella, panel 4 the commuter stands completely drenched while the umbrella stays dry, no speech bubbles, no text.

Model and settings

Stick to the 3:4 aspect ratio, as this vertical format provides natural vertical space for four stacked panels without squishing the characters. Keep quality on high so GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst resolves individual crosshatch shading marks and subtle facial expressions sharply. This text-to-image generation requires no start frame or reference pictures, relying solely on clean descriptive text for structure.

Nano Banana ProNano Banana Pro plans the layout first, making it a stronger choice if you struggle to get perfectly straight panel borders and clean gutters.

When the style drifts

Panels bleed together into a messy collage instead of four distinct frames.: Insert the phrase 'separated by clear white gutters and solid frame borders' right after 'A four-panel vertical comic'.
The model adds watercolor washes or soft digital airbrush shading, erasing pencil texture.: Replace 'pencil with crosshatching' with 'fine graphite pencil with dense pen-and-ink style crosshatching, strictly no digital airbrush or watercolor'.
Random gibberish text or dialogue balloons crowd the artwork.: Strengthen the ending command by writing 'completely silent pantomime strip, strictly zero speech balloons, captions, or written letters'.

Questions about this style prompt

Why does the model sometimes add speech bubbles despite the prompt?

AI generators heavily associate comic formats with speech balloons. If bubbles appear, move the negative instruction to the start of the prompt by beginning with 'A silent, wordless comic strip without any speech bubbles or captions'.

Can I add color while keeping this crosshatched pencil look?

Yes. Change 'black and white pencil with crosshatching' to 'colored pencil sketch with crosshatching and muted pastel tones'. This introduces gentle color while preserving hand-drawn pencil shading.

How can I keep the man looking identical across all four panels?

Give him three specific visual anchors in panel 1, such as 'a tweed flat cap, round spectacles, and a knitted cardigan'. Explicit clothing markers help the model preserve character consistency across sequential panels.

GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst comic strip promptThe Bench Thief

Settings

Make your own version

Where this idea comes from

Style traits to keep

What defines this look

Same style, new subjects

Coffee shop mishap

Puppy in the garden

Rainy sidewalk splash

Model and settings

When the style drifts

Questions about this style prompt

Style tools on PopNow

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