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 Batik: Divide the whole cloth into pattern units, change rank at the border
- Type
- Set in Batik's manner (Any lettering follows the pattern grid and never breaks the repeat), and let Shibori's lettering (Choose heavier letterforms that survive the unevenness of handwork) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Batik's material (Wax resist, then layered indigo and brown, washed keeping the crackle); bring in exactly one thing from Shibori (Resist the dye by binding and pressure, and allow the dye to bleed).
- Colour
- Build on #e8dcc2, #7a4a26, #22354f and admit one accent from #f6f3eb, #2a365c, #141a26.
Where they fight
- Batik and Shibori both belong to Textile Traditions, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
- Batik and Shibori are techniques rather than looks. Decide which one runs last in the process, because that is the one that will show.
Caution
- Batik Using the patterns as decoration detached from meaning ignores who may wear them and on what occasion, which turns the cloth discourteous.
- Shibori Reproducing the pattern in print makes it another thing entirely. The bleed and the unevenness are the record of the technique.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from Batik (technique, traditional–present) and their accent from Shibori (technique, 8th century–). ## What to make Make the kind of thing Batik exists for: cloth and wallpaper needing a density only a drawn line produces, or formal and ceremonial textiles that respect what each pattern signifies. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from Batik - Crackle of the wax resist - The canting's line - Layered indigo and soga brown - A semantic pattern system Composition: Divide the whole cloth into pattern units, change rank at the border. Type and lettering: Any lettering follows the pattern grid and never breaks the repeat. ## Accent comes from Shibori, used sparingly - The bled white left by binding - Regular grain from stitch resist - Geometric ground patterns from board clamping - A texture that keeps the relief of the cloth Let one material quality come from it: Resist the dye by binding and pressure, and allow the dye to bleed. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #e8dcc2, carry the structure in #7a4a26 and #22354f, and let a single accent come from #2a365c. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: luxury, intimacy, calm, nostalgia, technique. ## Where they fight - Batik and Shibori both belong to Textile Traditions, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable. - Batik and Shibori are techniques rather than looks. Decide which one runs last in the process, because that is the one that will show. ## What goes wrong - Batik: Using the patterns as decoration detached from meaning ignores who may wear them and on what occasion, which turns the cloth discourteous. - Shibori: Reproducing the pattern in print makes it another thing entirely. The bleed and the unevenness are the record of the technique. ## 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
- Batik traditional–present / Technique / Textile Traditions
Javanese cloth resisted with wax and dyed over and over again. The line drawn by the canting builds a pattern system that also speaks of rank, region and rite.
- Shibori 8th century– / Technique / Textile Traditions
A technique in which cloth is stitched, bound or clamped between boards before dyeing, so that only the parts under pressure stay white. The result is left to the strength of the craftsman's hands and the movement of the cloth, and no two pieces come out alike even from the same pattern.
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