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 Linocut: Repeat forms with aligned motion; change the current in one place
- Type
- Set in Linocut's manner (Letters sturdy enough to hold against the shapes; one color per block), and let Scratchboard's lettering (Use bold reversed headlines and keep fine copy in uninterrupted black fields) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Linocut's material (Two to five color blocks, broad cut planes, the paper's ground); bring in exactly one thing from Scratchboard (Ink a white clay board and scratch varied lines and dots with needles, blades and scrapers).
- Colour
- Build on #d9d0ae, #4b6f70, #a64d3a and admit one accent from #F4F0E5, #6F6458, #090909.
Where they fight
- Linocut and Scratchboard share no intent, so the contrast has to become the subject rather than something to smooth over.
- Linocut and Scratchboard are techniques rather than looks. Decide which one runs last in the process, because that is the one that will show.
Caution
- Linocut The difference from woodcut is not mere roughness. Use linoleum's smooth curves and planes.
- Scratchboard Inverting a black-and-white photograph is not scratchboard. Direction and width of cuts must describe surface and light.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from Linocut (technique, 1890s–) and their accent from Scratchboard (technique, 19th century–). ## What to make Make the kind of thing Linocut exists for: showing crowds and daily motion as rhythm, or A friendly hand-printed feel in few colors. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from Linocut - Large cut planes - Overlapping color blocks - Simplified figures - Repeating movement Composition: Repeat forms with aligned motion; change the current in one place. Type and lettering: Letters sturdy enough to hold against the shapes; one color per block. ## Accent comes from Scratchboard, used sparingly - Sharp white lines cut from a black ground - Contour and highlight joined by the same blade marks - Crossed lines and dots producing middle values - Broad retained black with concentrated white detail Let one material quality come from it: Ink a white clay board and scratch varied lines and dots with needles, blades and scrapers. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #d9d0ae, carry the structure in #4b6f70 and #a64d3a, and let a single accent come from #6F6458. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: intimacy, exhilaration, nostalgia, rebellion, luxury, technique. ## Where they fight - Linocut and Scratchboard share no intent, so the contrast has to become the subject rather than something to smooth over. - Linocut and Scratchboard are techniques rather than looks. Decide which one runs last in the process, because that is the one that will show. ## What goes wrong - Linocut: The difference from woodcut is not mere roughness. Use linoleum's smooth curves and planes. - Scratchboard: Inverting a black-and-white photograph is not scratchboard. Direction and width of cuts must describe surface and light. ## 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
- Linocut 1890s– / Technique / Relief Printing
Cuts the smooth block boldly, giving few colors and repeated figures a driving rhythm.
- Scratchboard 19th century– / Technique / Hand-drawn
Scratchboard removes black ink from a white clay-coated board, drawing light and contour out of darkness; blade width, crossing and retained black create fur, metal and nocturnal contrast.
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