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 Cloisonnism: Divide the picture into a few large cells, edge to edge, partitioned by heavy lines
- Type
- Set in Cloisonnism's manner (Set lettering outside the cells in black at the keyline weight, hand drawn or slab), and let Les Nabis's lettering (Soft, slightly irregular serifs or hand-drawn titling woven into the pattern) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Cloisonnism's material (Flat unmodulated colour from memory inside dark contours, with no shadow or gradient); bring in exactly one thing from Les Nabis (Muted intermediate tones—dusty rose, olive, ochre—on matte, absorbent surfaces).
- Colour
- Build on #d7d4bf, #bd3c10, #151215 and admit one accent from #f4d47f, #b95f4e, #2e2d2e.
Where they fight
- Cloisonnism and Les Nabis both belong to Fin de Siècle Art, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
Caution
- Cloisonnism Adding heavy outlines afterwards produces no division of colour, only an ordinary picture inside lines. Letting shading or depth back into the cells breaks the enamel like flatness.
- Les Nabis Matching figure and pattern too closely turns the picture into plain wallpaper, and who is doing what disappears. Sink the figure in, but keep its contour readable.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from Cloisonnism (style, 1888–1895) and their accent from Les Nabis (style, 1888–1900). ## What to make Make the kind of thing Cloisonnism exists for: work built cell by cell in separate colours, like stained glass or tilework, or drawing a remembered landscape in simple shapes and colour rather than from life. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from Cloisonnism - Thick, dark contour lines - Flat colour fields without shading - Decoratively simplified shapes - Colouring drawn from memory Composition: Divide the picture into a few large cells, edge to edge, partitioned by heavy lines. Type and lettering: Set lettering outside the cells in black at the keyline weight, hand drawn or slab. ## Accent comes from Les Nabis, used sparingly - Compositions conceived as decorative panels - Reversals of pattern and ground - Harmonies of muted intermediate tones - Subjects of interiors and daily life Let one material quality come from it: Muted intermediate tones—dusty rose, olive, ochre—on matte, absorbent surfaces. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #d7d4bf, carry the structure in #bd3c10 and #151215, and let a single accent come from #b95f4e. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: luxury, intimacy, calm. ## Where they fight - Cloisonnism and Les Nabis both belong to Fin de Siècle Art, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable. ## What goes wrong - Cloisonnism: Adding heavy outlines afterwards produces no division of colour, only an ordinary picture inside lines. Letting shading or depth back into the cells breaks the enamel like flatness. - Les Nabis: Matching figure and pattern too closely turns the picture into plain wallpaper, and who is doing what disappears. Sink the figure in, but keep its contour readable. ## 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
- Cloisonnism 1888–1895 / Style / Fin de Siècle Art
A manner of painting named after the partitions of cloisonné enamel: flat fields of colour enclosed by heavy contour lines. It brought the way of seeing of ukiyo-e prints and stained glass into oil painting, abandoning shaded volume in favour of colour laid down from memory. The technique that prepared the flatness of the poster.
- Les Nabis 1888–1900 / Style / Fin de Siècle Art
A group of painters who called themselves prophets, setting out from the declaration that a picture is essentially a flat surface covered in a certain order. They extended interiors and daily life into decorative panels, lithographs, book illustration and stage design, dissolving the boundary between fine and applied art.
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