artist-tools

AI-powered publishing and creative tools for independent artists.

Built for myerman.art — a portfolio of Indigenous digital art by Tom Myer.

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Tools

Command	What it does
publish-print	Publish a new print: optimize images, generate AI copy, update site files
extract-palette	Extract a color palette from an artwork image
next-painting	Analyze a body of work and suggest what to paint next
patreon-plan	Generate a multi-week Patreon content calendar from recent work

Install

pip install -e .
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
export MYERMAN_ART_DIR=/path/to/myerman-art   # defaults to ~/Desktop/code/myerman-art

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publish-print

Automates adding a new print to the site: converts a source PNG into optimized web images, generates an artist statement and search tags via Claude, renders the print page HTML, and updates search.json and feed.xml.

Usage

publish-print \
  --file ~/Desktop/new-art-for-site/png-archive/abstract-9.png \
  --title "Abstract 9" \
  --sku ABSTRACT-9 \
  --size 12x12 \
  --prompt "swirling earth tones, geometric patterns suggesting movement and transformation"

Options:

Flag	Required	Description
--file / -f	✓	Source PNG file
--title / -t	✓	Print title
--sku / -s	✓	SKU (e.g. ABSTRACT-9)
--size / -z	✓	12x12, 12x9, 9x12, 18x12, 4x6, 4x4
--prompt / -p	✓	Short artist note — fed to Claude for copy generation
--slug		URL slug (derived from title if omitted)
--price		Price in USD (default: 30)
--dry-run		Preview what would happen without writing files

What it does

1. Generates AI copy — sends your prompt to Claude (Haiku) and gets back a 2–4 sentence artist statement in Tom's voice, plus search tags
2. Optimizes images — converts PNG → display.jpg (2400px), thumb.jpg (480×480 square), hero.jpg (1600×900) using macOS sips
3. Renders print page — fills templates/print_page.html and writes prints/[slug]/index.html
4. Updates search.json — prepends the new print to the site search index
5. Updates feed.xml — prepends a new RSS item
6. Prints a report — lists completed actions and remaining manual steps

After running

The tool reminds you of the two manual steps that remain:

• Add the SKU to SKU_TO_SIZE in js/cart.js
• Add the slug to the 404 page's random print list

Then git add . && git commit && git push to publish.

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extract-palette

Extracts a color palette from any artwork image — locally or from a URL. Optionally asks Claude to name each color and describe the mood.

Usage

# Terminal output (default)
extract-palette blood-crow.png

# CSS custom properties
extract-palette blood-crow.png --format css --colors 6 --output palette.css

# JSON (pipeable)
extract-palette https://myerman.art/prints/blood-crow/display.jpg --format json --no-ai

# Skip AI naming
extract-palette my-painting.png --no-ai

Options:

Flag	Default	Description
--colors / -n	6	Number of colors to extract
--format / -f	terminal	terminal, css, or json
--context / -c		Brief note about the artwork — improves AI color names
--no-ai		Skip Claude naming, use hex codes only
--output / -o	stdout	Write to file

Output formats

Terminal — ANSI color swatches with hex + name:

██  #c83220  Ember Red         (38%)
██  #1a3a5c  Deep Ocean        (22%)

CSS — ready-to-paste custom properties:

:root {
  --painting-1: #c83220; /* Ember Red */
  --painting-2: #1a3a5c; /* Deep Ocean */
}

JSON — for scripting or further processing:

{ "colors": [{ "hex": "#c83220", "name": "Ember Red", "frequency": 38 }], "mood": "intense, grounded" }

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next-painting

Analyzes a body of work and suggests what to paint next — looking for fresh ideas, gaps in the catalog, or opportunities to develop existing themes into series.

Usage

# Analyze a local directory of images
next-painting ~/Desktop/new-art-for-site/png-archive

# Analyze via site catalog (fetches search.json)
next-painting https://myerman.art

# Focus on gaps or series opportunities
next-painting ~/art/ --style gaps
next-painting ~/art/ --style series

# Add personal context
next-painting ~/art/ --context "feeling drawn to wildlife lately"

Options:

Flag	Default	Description
--count / -n	10	Max images to analyze (sampled evenly if more)
--context / -c		Brief note about your goals right now
--style / -s	all	ideas, gaps, series, or all

Output

Claude returns three sections:

1. What I see in this body of work — themes, strengths, patterns
2. 5 specific painting suggestions — working title, description, and why it fits
3. One bold idea — something unexpected to push the work in a new direction

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patreon-plan

Generates a week-by-week Patreon content calendar based on your recent work. Plans a mix of free teaser posts and paid patron-only content across six post types.

Usage

# 4-week plan (default), from local search.json
patreon-plan

# 8-week plan, 3 posts/week
patreon-plan --weeks 8 --posts-per-week 3

# From site URL, save to file
patreon-plan --source https://myerman.art --format markdown --output plan.md

# Paid-only plan, JSON output
patreon-plan --tiers paid --format json

Options:

Flag	Default	Description
--weeks / -w	4	Number of weeks to plan
--posts-per-week / -p	2	Posts per week
--source / -s	local search.json	Path to search.json or site URL
--tiers / -t	all	free, paid, or all
--format / -f	markdown	markdown or json
--output / -o	stdout	Write to file

Post types mixed in

• Early access / new print reveal
• Process video or timelapse teaser
• Behind-the-scenes / story behind the art
• High-res download for patrons
• Personal update / what's coming next
• Q&A or patron request shoutout

Markdown output example

## Week 1

### Monday 2026-05-06 — 🔓 Free
**Announcing: Blood Crow** _New print reveal_

First look at the latest piece — available now in the shop.

> **Write prompt:** Introduce Blood Crow with a short hook and a link to the print.

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Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• macOS (uses sips for image processing — no ImageMagick needed)
• ANTHROPIC_API_KEY for AI features

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Development

pip install -e .
python -m pytest tests/ -v