On Style First: My Approach to Prompting

I recently read @Cheinia's excellent post on upgrading AI portrait prompts: https://budgetpixel.com/blog/how-to-upgrade-ai-image-prompts-to-create-masterpiece-portrait-photography It's thoughtful, well-structured, and full of good advice. But one point made me pause—Step Six: "Style comes last, not first." My experience has been the opposite. I structure my prompts as style → subject → setting . And I've found that putting style first isn't noise. It's the lens. Here's an example. Same words, different order. Style first: Alphonse Mucha+John William Waterhouse+tonalism where subjects display idealized naturalism with soft edges against atmospheric, textured backgrounds. Harmonious color schemes emphasize a dominant hue with strategic complementary accents, employing oil painting techniques that vary between smooth blending and visible brushwork to create depth and focus while preserving the essence of the original elements. 1950s very straight wet raven black haired pin up woman, bold direct eye contact and expression, standing, full body, tight high necked ivory short sweater dress, black stockings https://budgetpixel.com/p/2316 Subject first: 1950s very straight wet raven black haired pin up woman, bold direct eye contact and expression, standing, full body, tight high necked ivory short sweater dress, black stockings Alphonse Mucha+John William Waterhouse+tonalism where subjects display idealized naturalism with soft edges against atmospheric, textured backgrounds. Harmonious color schemes emphasize a dominant hue with strategic complementary accents, employing oil painting techniques that vary between smooth blending and visible brushwork to create depth and focus while preserving the essence of the original elements. https://budgetpixel.com/p/2317 The difference is subtle but real. When style comes first, the model interprets everything through that lens—the subject emerges from the style. When subject comes first, the style feels applied afterward, like a filter. Here they are side by side. The left is style first, the right, subject first... Neither is wrong. But for the painterly, atmospheric look I'm after, style first has been essential. I spend a lot of time building and refining my style blocks. They're reusable—I can drop different subjects into the same stylistic framework and get consistent results. The style becomes a signature. Cheinia's approach is about thinking like a photographer. Mine is about thinking like a painter choosing a palette before the subject walks in. There's room for both.