It’s Not All Black and White. Why monotone?
For this project I have moved away from the full colour of my previous painted works and begun to work in monotone. Many of todays major portrait and figurative artists are working in this way, but why? Yan Pei Ming, Richter, Wilhelm Sasnal, Vihls, all monotone. Yan Pei Ming explains it this way;
“black and white create a world of one’s own. An artist has to find and create his own world. Besides, black and white suit my artistic language. I am a very simple person. These two colours are very direct and true, simple.”
http://www.initiartmagazine.com/interview.php?IVarchive=6
Speaking for myself I have to say that for the message I am trying to convey, colour would be an unwelcome distraction. When looking at my current work I don’t want the viewer to be thinking about colour or the formal qualities of the work. The people are the important thing and I aim for the debate to be about them rather than the aesthetic aspect. That’s not to say I should completely ignore questions of composition and aesthetics, but for this project they need to play a back up role. I would be disappointed when presenting subject matter of this importance to me to hear a discussion about whether my colours were “right”, therefore I have decided to completely remove this potential distraction. “Direct and true, simple”
