Compose styles

Rather than blending styles toward a middle, this gives them roles. The first one carries the structure, the next comes in as the accent, and anything after that shows up in a single detail. Where they fight each other, it says so before you start.

How to divide the work

Composition
Follow Art Deco: Centered, symmetrical composition
Type
Set in Art Deco's manner (Tall, narrow geometric display type), and let Bakst Stage Design's lettering (Programme and curtain from the same hand, lettering matched to the sets) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
Material
Ground in Art Deco's material (Black, gold, ivory; repeated hairlines); bring in exactly one thing from Bakst Stage Design (Saturated dyed fabric, gold and silver, oriental motifs at large scale).
Colour
Build on #17140f, #c8a65b, #f0e6cf and admit one accent from #ece0be, #7e2e24, #343536.

Where they fight

These are already listed as related entries, so the join should come easily.

Caution

  • Art Deco Too much ornament turns theme-park. Let white space carry the dignity.
  • Bakst Stage Design Adding colors and patterns without deciding the contrast between set and costume dissolves the dancer into the backdrop and the movement disappears.

Image prompt

Produce four original images that take their structure from Art Deco (style, 1920s–1930s) and their accent from Bakst Stage Design (style, 1909-1914). ## What to make Make the kind of thing Art Deco exists for: giving an event a sense of occasion, or producing instant classic luxury. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from Art Deco - Symmetry - Radiating lines - Stepped motifs - Gold and black Composition: Centered, symmetrical composition. Type and lettering: Tall, narrow geometric display type. ## Accent comes from Bakst Stage Design, used sparingly - Combinations of jewel deep color - Pattern laid over pattern in the costumes - Swirling Art Nouveau curves - Orientalist headdresses and loose trousers Let one material quality come from it: Saturated dyed fabric, gold and silver, oriental motifs at large scale. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #f0e6cf, carry the structure in #c8a65b and #17140f, and let a single accent come from #7e2e24. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: luxury, exhilaration, play. ## What goes wrong - Art Deco: Too much ornament turns theme-park. Let white space carry the dignity. - Bakst Stage Design: Adding colors and patterns without deciding the contrast between set and costume dissolves the dancer into the backdrop and the movement disappears. ## Across the four Keep the roles fixed in all four. Vary the framing, the scale and the arrangement so the set shows what this pairing can do rather than four versions of one picture. ## Constraints - Do not imitate, reference or name any specific artist, studio, brand, character or copyrighted work. - Do not reproduce the composition of an existing work. - Produce original compositions in the general period languages described above.

Related entries

  • Art Deco 1920s–1930s / Style / Historical Styles

    Stages urban luxury with repeating geometry and a metallic sheen.

  • Bakst Stage Design 1909-1914 / Style / Stage Design

    Sets and costumes rebuilt as a painter's single picture. Jewel-deep colors laid over one another, with swirling curves and orientalist pattern drawing the dancing body itself into the design.

Share this composition:
https://indexstyle.org/compose?ids=art-deco+bakst-stage-design

Back to index position