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 Lithography: Split areas and lines between plates, planning for colors to overprint
- Type
- Set in Lithography's manner (Draw the lettering onto the stone by hand instead of setting type), and let Monotype's lettering (Keep lettering in the work separate from added labels; place medium, artist and date outside the image) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Lithography's material (Greasy crayon or tusche on stone, tone held by oil against water); bring in exactly one thing from Monotype (Check the collection medium record and the paper and ink; do not infer materials from screen colour alone).
- Colour
- Build on #eadfca, #a24f3e, #373334 and admit one accent from #E1D5BF, #403B35, #8D8071.
Where they fight
- Lithography and Monotype are techniques rather than looks. Decide which one runs last in the process, because that is the one that will show.
- Lithography and Monotype stand roughly 146 years apart. Keep one of them recognisably period rather than letting both drift into the middle.
Caution
- Lithography Pencil texture is not it, and neglecting density control crushes the tone into a merely blurred image. Learn how oil against water, the stone, damping, the roller and overprinted plates shape line and color.
- Monotype Not every one-off print is a monotype. Distinguish a smooth painted plate from a fixed matrix varied as a monoprint.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from Lithography (technique, 1796–) and their accent from Monotype (technique, 17th century–present). ## What to make Make the kind of thing Lithography exists for: limited editions and art books that must keep the touch of crayon and charcoal, or large posters that need rich tone from a small number of colors. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from Lithography - Greasy crayon - Stone or metal plate - Painterly tone - Multicolor overprinting Composition: Split areas and lines between plates, planning for colors to overprint. Type and lettering: Draw the lettering onto the stone by hand instead of setting type. ## Accent comes from Monotype, used sparingly - Marks added or wiped on the plate - Broken contours and broad tones - Brushwork combined with transfer texture - Fainter residual ghost impressions Let one material quality come from it: Check the collection medium record and the paper and ink; do not infer materials from screen colour alone. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #eadfca, carry the structure in #a24f3e and #373334, and let a single accent come from #8D8071. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: intimacy, luxury, nostalgia, play. ## Where they fight - Lithography and Monotype are techniques rather than looks. Decide which one runs last in the process, because that is the one that will show. - Lithography and Monotype stand roughly 146 years apart. Keep one of them recognisably period rather than letting both drift into the middle. ## What goes wrong - Lithography: Pencil texture is not it, and neglecting density control crushes the tone into a merely blurred image. Learn how oil against water, the stone, damping, the roller and overprinted plates shape line and color. - Monotype: Not every one-off print is a monotype. Distinguish a smooth painted plate from a fixed matrix varied as a monoprint. ## 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
- Lithography 1796– / Technique / Planographic Printing
Uses the repulsion of oil and water to reproduce crayon and tusche drawing from stone or plate, keeping all the softness of the hand.
- Monotype 17th century–present / Technique / Print Expression
Ink or paint is added to or removed from a smooth plate, then transferred to paper. Brushwork, wiped highlights and interrupted edges combine in a largely unique impression. Residual ink can yield a paler ghost print; this differs from repeatedly printing a fixed matrix image.
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