Illustrious XL is an advanced anime model optimized specifically for illustration and animation tasks. Illustrious works best with Danbooru tags.

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Here are a few suggestions from the Illustrious XL Official Release Page.
We do not recommend overusing critical composition tags such as 'close-up', 'upside-down', or 'cowboy shot', as they can be conflicting and lead to confusion, affecting model results.
We suggest using suitable composition tags like "upper body," "cowboy shot," "portrait," or "full body" depending on your use case.
The model supports quality tags such as: "worst quality," "bad quality," "average quality," "good quality," "best quality," and "masterpiece (quality)."
Recommended Steps: 20–28
Recommended CFG: 5–7.5 
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Illustrious can create many anime characters and artist's styles.  Check out this MonAI Artist Study using Animagine XL v3.1 for some artist style examples. The artist's styles are more well-defined in Illustrious. Many of these examples have artist's names at the end of the prompts.

 

Example result. Prompt: 1girl, laughing, cute sweater, fuzzy sweater, pleated skirt, flared skirt, pink hair, ice skating, spinning on 1 foot, motion lines,…

Prompt:  1girl, laughing, cute sweater, fuzzy sweater, pleated skirt, flared skirt, pink hair, ice skating, spinning on 1 foot, motion lines, on an icy pond, at dusk, starry sky, masterpiece, best quality, very aesthetic, (artpatient)

Negative Prompt:  lowres, ugly, fewer digits, extra digit, missing fingers, bad hands, blurry, (bad quality, worst quality:1.3), displeasing, bad anatomy

Guidance Scale: 7.0
Steps: 40
Size: 896x1152

Example result. Prompt: 1girl, bending forward, blush, plaid wool coat, pink curly hair, sparkly eyes, snowfall, winter forest background, masterpiece, best…

Prompt:  1girl, bending forward, blush, plaid wool coat, pink curly hair, sparkly eyes, snowfall, winter forest background, masterpiece, best quality

Negative Prompt:  lowres, ugly, fewer digits, extra digit, missing fingers, bad hands, blurry, (bad quality, worst quality:1.3), displeasing, bad anatomy

Guidance Scale: 6.8
Steps: 30
Size: 1024x1024

Example result. Prompt: 1kitten, on a wildflower hill, long whiskers, cat eyes, cute kitten behind wildflowers, cloudy sky, masterpiece, (keinesandayoooo),…

Prompt: 1kitten, on a wildflower hill, long whiskers, cat eyes, cute kitten behind wildflowers, cloudy sky, masterpiece, (keinesandayoooo), (wewe:1.2)

Negative Prompt: lowres, ugly, fewer digits, extra digit, missing fingers, bad hands, blurry, (bad quality, worst quality:1.3), displeasing

Guidance Scale: 6.5
Steps: 30
Size: 1024x1024

Example result. Prompt: (by mzet:1.2), by sincos, (by jiao_chang:1.2), beautiful, upper body shot, scenery, outdoors, detailed background,…

Prompt: (by mzet:1.2), by sincos, (by jiao_chang:1.2), beautiful, upper body shot, scenery, outdoors, detailed background, gradient_background, narrowed eyes, 1girl, short hair, blonde hair, skinny body, (mechanical parts:1.3), empty field, winter, snow, masterpiece, best quality, very aesthetic, 

Negative Prompt: lowres, ugly, fewer digits, extra digit, missing fingers, bad hands, blurry, (bad quality, worst quality:1.3), displeasing

Guidance Scale: 7.0
Steps: 35
Size: 896x1152

Example result. Prompt: 1girl, pink hair, twin drills, sleeveless dress, laughing, open mouth, from above, masterpiece, best quality, very aesthetic,…

Prompt: 1girl, pink hair, twin drills, sleeveless dress, laughing, open mouth, from above, masterpiece, best quality, very aesthetic, (tobimura:1.3)

Negative Prompt: lowres, ugly, fewer digits, extra digit, missing fingers, bad hands, blurry, (bad quality, worst quality:1.3), displeasing 

Guidance Scale: 7.5
Steps: 35
Size: 1024x1024

Example result. Prompt: 1girl, solo, blonde hair, short hair, tshirt, denim shorts, in the desert, sitting, hugging own legs, scenic background, masterpiece,…

Prompt: 1girl, solo, blonde hair, short hair, tshirt, denim shorts, in the desert, sitting, hugging own legs, scenic background, masterpiece, best quality, (kurororo_rororo:1.3)

Negative Prompt: lowres, (low quality, worst quality:1.3), bad anatomy, displeasing, ugly, fewer digit, extra digit, missing fingers, bad hands, blurry

Guidance Scale: 6.8
Steps: 30
Size: 1136x912

Example result. Prompt: 1girl, solo, smiling, halter blouse, ruffled skirt, braided hair, reaching for a butterfly, cowboy shot, on a hill, wildflowers,…

 Prompt:  1girl, solo, smiling, halter blouse, ruffled skirt, braided hair, reaching for a butterfly, cowboy shot, on a hill, wildflowers, scenic, at dawn, masterpiece, best quality, (kisetsu:1.3)

Negative Prompt:  lowres, (low quality, worst quality:1.3), bad anatomy, displeasing, ugly, fewer digit, extra digit, missing fingers, bad hands, blurry

Guidance Scale: 6.8
Steps: 30
Size: 1024x1024

Example result. Prompt: 1girl, looking to the side, laughing, cute sweater, fuzzy sweater, pleated skirt, flared skirt, dark hair, curly hair, ice skating,…

Prompt:  1girl, looking to the side, laughing, cute sweater, fuzzy sweater, pleated skirt, flared skirt, dark hair, curly hair, ice skating, spinning on 1 foot, motion lines, on an icy pond, at dusk, starry sky, masterpiece, best quality, very aesthetic, (wewe)

Negative Prompt:  lowres, ugly, fewer digits, extra digit, missing fingers, bad hands, blurry, (bad quality, worst quality:1.3), displeasing, bad anatomy

Guidance Scale: 7.0
Steps: 30
Size: 896x1152

Example result. Prompt: 1girl, masterpiece, black background, colorful, dress, cosmic, ethereal, abstract, looking at viewer, floating, face focus, detailed…

Prompt: 1girl, masterpiece, black background, colorful, dress, cosmic, ethereal, abstract, looking at viewer, floating, face focus, detailed eyes, solo, upper body portrait, naughty traditional art, lineart, THRD,

BREAK

An ethereal sketch using lineart techniques and wet on wet painting of a demoness, upper body, facing viewer, abstract, (fire:1.1), (charged:1.1), molten lava, lava splatters, fiery theme, detailed eyes, flames, fire hair, long hair, glossy skin, vinbrant hair,  crying, crying fire, crying lava, abstract flames, surrealism,
 

Negative Prompt: lowres, ugly, fewer digits, extra digit, missing fingers, bad hands, blurry, (bad quality, worst quality:1.3), displeasing

Guidance Scale: 7.0
Steps: 40
Size: 896x1152

Example result. Prompt: 1girl, solo, heart hands over chest, blush, blue blouse, pleated skirt, pink hair over one eye, beach background, masterpiece, best…

Prompt:  1girl, solo, heart hands over chest, blush, blue blouse, pleated skirt, pink hair over one eye, beach background, masterpiece, best quality, (namori)

Negative Prompt:  lowres, (low quality, worst quality:1.3), bad anatomy, displeasing, ugly, fewer digit, extra digit, missing fingers, bad hands, blurry

Guidance Scale: 6.9
Steps: 30
Size: 1024x1024

Example result. Prompt: 1girl, laughing, cute sweater, fuzzy sweater, pleated skirt, flared skirt, pink hair, ice skating, spinning on 1 foot, motion lines,…

Prompt:  1girl, laughing, cute sweater, fuzzy sweater, pleated skirt, flared skirt, pink hair, ice skating, spinning on 1 foot, motion lines, on an icy pond, at dusk, starry sky, masterpiece, best quality, (tinnies)

Negative Prompt:  lowres, (low quality, worst quality:1.3), bad anatomy, displeasing, ugly, fewer digit, extra digit, missing fingers, bad hands, blurry 

Guidance Scale: 7.0
Steps: 30
Size: 896x1152

Example result. Prompt: 1girl, pale pink hair, short hair, wavy hair, sleeveless blouse, sitting on a grassy hill, surrounded by wildflowers, close portrait,…

Prompt:  1girl, pale pink hair, short hair, wavy hair, sleeveless blouse, sitting on a grassy hill, surrounded by wildflowers, close portrait, scenic background, masterpiece, best quality, (mochizuki_kei:1.2)

Negative Prompt:  bad anatomy, lowres, ugly, fewer digits, extra digit, missing fingers, bad hands, blurry, cropped, (worst quality, bad quality:1.3), very displeasing, signature, watermark

Guidance Scale: 6.8
Steps: 30
Size: 896x1152

Example result. Prompt: 1girl, solo, close up, rain coat, pink hair, short hair, wind, night, city, scenic background, wet, street, reflections, neon, looking…

Prompt:  1girl, solo, close up, rain coat, pink hair, short hair, wind, night, city, scenic background, wet, street, reflections, neon, looking at viewer, upper body, masterpiece, best quality, (amano_yoshitaka:1.2)

Negative Prompt:  lowres, (low quality, worst quality:1.3), bad anatomy, displeasing, ugly, fewer digits, extra digit, missing fingers, bad hands, blurry

Guidance Scale: 6.8
Steps: 30
Size: 896x1152

Example result. Prompt: 1girl, solo, heart hands over chest, blush, blue blouse, pleated skirt, pink hair over one eye, beach background, masterpiece, best…

Prompt: 1girl, solo, heart hands over chest, blush, blue blouse, pleated skirt, pink hair over one eye, beach background, masterpiece, best quality, (tobimura)

Negative Prompt:  lowres, (low quality, worst quality:1.3), bad anatomy, displeasing, ugly, fewer digit, extra digit, missing fingers, bad hands, blurry

Guidance Scale: 6.9
Steps: 30
Size: 1024x1024
 

Source: the MonAI wiki · Updated · First published