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 Ghost Signs: Do not dodge joints or openings, aligning letters to the brick coursing
- Type
- Set in Ghost Signs's manner (Redraw period shop lettering by hand, with shadowed letters and ornament rules), and let Victorian Ornament's lettering (Ornamented serifs and small capitals) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Ghost Signs's material (Brushed straight onto brick, assuming the least stable colors fade first); bring in exactly one thing from Victorian Ornament (Deep red, green, gold, cream; repeat hairlines in steps).
- Colour
- Build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 and admit one accent from #761f2e, #294f3b, #d6aa55.
Where they fight
These two are already listed as related, so the join should come easily.
Caution
- Ghost Signs Applying an even wash of distress falsifies the direction of fading and the order of overpainting, and the intended age reads as fake.
- Victorian Ornament Never mix other cultures' patterns as anonymous ornament. Research origins; quote precisely.
Image prompt
An original image that takes its structure from Ghost Signs (Style, 1880s–1950s / rediscovery) and its accent from Victorian Ornament (Style, 1837–1901). Structural cues: Paint applied straight to brick; Fading and peeling; Craftsman lettering; Layers of overpainting. Accent cues, used sparingly: Dense borders; Symmetry; Botanical pattern; Chromolithography. Composition: Do not dodge joints or openings, aligning letters to the brick coursing. Type and lettering: Redraw period shop lettering by hand, with shadowed letters and ornament rules. Let one material quality come from the second style: Deep red, green, gold, cream; repeat hairlines in steps. Mood: Nostalgia, Intimacy, Calm, Luxury, Exhilaration. Color: build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 with a single accent drawn from #761f2e, #294f3b, #d6aa55. 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
- Ghost Signs 1880s–1950s / rediscovery / Style / Signage and Display
Hand-painted brick-wall advertisements faded by weather. The lettering of the craftsmen called wall dogs, through peeling and fading, is being rediscovered as a stratum of urban memory.
- Victorian Ornament 1837–1901 / Style / Ornament
Builds a thickly layered system of ornament from many revival styles and the riches of industrial printing.
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