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 Kente: Build from long narrow strips, rhythm coming from the seams
- Type
- Set in Kente's manner (Keep any lettering inside a strip width, aligned with the weave), 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 Kente's material (Gold, red and green adjacent at full chroma, edges held by black); 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.
Caution
- Kente Rearranging named, meaningful patterns as if they were a color swatch removes the very premise that wearing the cloth is a statement.
- 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 Kente (Style, 17th century–) and its accent from Tapa (Barkcloth) (Technique, prehistory–). Structural cues: Strips sewn into cloth; High-key gold, red, green; Named patterns; Ceremonial dress. Accent cues, used sparingly: The beaten texture of bark; Repeating geometric pattern; Earth-toned pigments; Great ceremonial sheets. Composition: Build from long narrow strips, rhythm coming from the seams. Type and lettering: Keep any lettering inside a strip width, aligned with the weave. Let one material quality come from the second style: Beaten and joined bark, earth pigments stamped, drawn and smoked in. Mood: Exhilaration, Luxury, Trust, Intimacy, Calm. 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
- Kente 17th century– / Style / Textile Traditions
The strip-woven cloth of Ghana's Asante and Ewe gives every color and every pattern a name and a meaning, so that wearing it makes a statement.
- 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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