Monochrome

Monochrome divides opinion – is it merely the start of an image, just waiting for the colour to be added, or is it an end in itself. I love monochrome, always have, and instinctively even when I use colour have a limited palette. The strength and drama that can be achieved with black and white cannot be matched by colour. However, it can be dark, portentous, gloomy even.

As I began this drawing I wondered if colour might creep in at some point, but it hasn’t felt necessary. There is a bleakness, a harsh landscape which doesn’t need to be made gentle with colour. It was inspired by memories of the Australian desert, sparse, ancient trees growing among rocks that have been there for millennia, but could be the Yorkshire moors, Bronte country, with bitter winds sweeping across the landscape.

I used Mars Lumograph pencils which are soft and a little sticky, more like coloured pencils than graphite, ranging from HB to 8B, so I avoided the graphite shine which I really didn’t want for this, on yupo synthetic paper.

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Author: anna warren portfolio

I draw, I paint, I am a printmaker. Always searching for the interesting detail in the world around me.

5 thoughts

  1. Didn’t I say on Instagram that this reminded me of an etching? Looking at it on my big screen it still does. Albrecht Durer comes to my mind. The line work is so fine and you have created a fantastical space which morphs from 2D foreground to 3D distance, as if you are playing with our vision. So clever because I see a realistic and invented sense of space simultaneously.

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    1. You did say it reminded you of an etching, and I can see what you mean, the strong contrast of black and white. I haven’t done etching for many years now, but I started it because I wanted to draw, and it was a medium that expanded my options. So, maybe that is still lingering in my approach. I do appreciate the mention of Durer, he has always been one of my favourite artists, a sublime draughtsman who I could not imagine coming close to!

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      1. Also I forgot to mention how much I like this drawing. I also love monochrome. If I had just one favourite artist it would be Georges Seurat – for his monochrome studies (I think) in conte.

        I have never picked up a Mars Lumograph so have no experience with them. I didn’t know what medium you had used until I read your words.

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        1. Georges Seurat’s drawings are a great favourite of mine too, there is such power in them. They too are very like etchings, or mezzotints.

          The Lumograph pencils are interesting to use, need constant sharpening but I love the soft, dense intensely black non-shiny marks I can get with them.

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