Compose two styles
Rather than blending two styles into a middle, this assigns them roles: one carries the structure, the other appears as an accent. Where the two fight, 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 Tapa (Barkcloth)'s lettering (Treat the motif unit as insignia and repeat one combination) 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 Tapa (Barkcloth) (Beaten and joined bark, earth pigments stamped, drawn and smoked in).
- Colour
- Build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 and admit one accent from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615.
Where they fight
- Both belong to Textile Traditions, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
- Two techniques rather than two 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.
- Tapa (Barkcloth) Cutting the patterns loose from the island they belong to strips them of the insignia function and leaves only decoration.
Image prompt
An original image that takes its structure from Batik (Technique, traditional–present) and its accent from Tapa (Barkcloth) (Technique, prehistory–). Structural cues: Crackle of the wax resist; The canting's line; Layered indigo and soga brown; A semantic pattern system. Accent cues, used sparingly: The beaten texture of bark; Repeating geometric pattern; Earth-toned pigments; Great ceremonial sheets. 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. Let one material quality come from the second style: Beaten and joined bark, earth pigments stamped, drawn and smoked in. Mood: Luxury, Intimacy, Calm, Trust. Color: build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 with a single accent drawn from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615. Constraints: do not imitate, reference or name any specific artist, studio, brand, character or copyrighted work. Produce an original composition 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.
- Tapa (Barkcloth) prehistory– / Technique / Textile Traditions
Across the Pacific islands, bark is beaten out into cloth. Geometric patterns stamped, drawn and smoked onto it serve as communal insignia in ritual and gift exchange, and every island keeps its own pattern system within this Pacific graphic language.
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