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 Đông Hồ Prints: Set the main animal large at center and align the rest in a row
Type
Set in Đông Hồ Prints's manner (A short inscription cut into the block and left in the margin), and let Lubok's lettering (Hand-written text poured around the picture and framed as one unit) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
Material
Ground in Đông Hồ Prints's material (Dó paper coated with shell powder, natural pigments printed color by color); bring in exactly one thing from Lubok (Thick woodcut outlines with red, yellow and green washed past the line).
Colour
Build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 and admit one accent from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615.

Where they fight

  • Both belong to Popular Prints, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.

Caution

  • Đông Hồ Prints Reusing the satire as cute animal artwork drains the village philosophy out of it and leaves a souvenir motif.
  • Lubok Tidying the outline and keeping the color inside it removes the misregistration and rough hand that carried the warmth of a popular print.

Image prompt

An original image that takes its structure from Đông Hồ Prints (Style, 17th century–) and its accent from Lubok (Style, 17th–19th century). Structural cues: Shell-powder paper that glimmers; A limited natural palette; Satire through animals; Renewed each New Year. Accent cues, used sparingly: Thick outlines; Flat hand-coloring; Image and text together; Satire and story. Composition: Set the main animal large at center and align the rest in a row. Type and lettering: A short inscription cut into the block and left in the margin. Let one material quality come from the second style: Thick woodcut outlines with red, yellow and green washed past the line. Mood: Play, Intimacy, Nostalgia. 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

  • Đông Hồ Prints 17th century– / Style / Popular Prints

    The woodblock prints of Vietnam's Đông Hồ village: printed with natural pigments on dó paper coated with ground seashell, New Year pictures like 'The Rat's Wedding' carrying village philosophy in satire and auspice.

  • Lubok 17th–19th century / Style / Popular Prints

    Russia's popular print: thick outlines, flat hand-coloring, image and text sharing the sheet, circulating sacred stories and satire cheaply. The avant-garde rediscovered it in the 20th century as Russia's native form.

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