With his Black Square, created in 1915, Malevich was at the forefront of the genre. Until very recently, art historians considered the Russian artist Kazimir Malevich to be the first creator of a true monochrome. Theory of the first monochrome: Kazimir Malevich

In spite of the importance of these researches on the light, the color and the motives, the purification of the subject and the dematerialization of objects, impressionist experiments remain in a completely figurative pictorial approach, and therefore don't yet constitute true abstract monochromes. By representing a snow scene in a morning fog, the artist necessarily refuses to use a wide range of colors, and the final artwork looks more and more like a monochrome: This is notably the case of an artwork like Snow Effect in Giverny, painted in 1893. Through these different researches, some of these artworks started to have the character of monochromes, without real will of the artist. He gives us the impression of being there, of being present. Rather, he strives to show us the landscape as he himself observed it: with the morning fog, with the play of light exerted by the sun's rays, with the effects of shadow and brilliance that only the weather of the moment can have the secret. When Monet painted a landscape, he didn't try to show us his mastery of perspective, or the delicate curvature of a plain.

They try to make the impression, the memory, the sensation, through the prism of their eyes and the movement of their brushes. They no longer sought to represent nature faithfully, or to embellish it like the Romantics. This isn't surprising: it' s from the impressionist experiments of Claude Monet, Edouard Manet or the American James Whistler that painters move away more and more from the standards of figurative art. It was the result of a long and progressive process of different artistic researches, notably due to the impressionist works. However, it's only very recently, at the beginning of the 20th century, that this term became a real artistic genre in its own way, just like landscape paintings, still lifes or surrealist ready-mades.Īs you can imagine, the idea of creating a definitive artwork composed of a single plain color didn't emerge overnight. Instigators of the movement: the impressionism of Monet and Whistlerįor a long time, in the History of Art, monochrome was used as a qualifier for different types of shades or grisailles. So put away the pencils, get out the paint rollers: today, we're going through the history of monochromes! 1. There are monochromes of all colors, whites, blacks, reds, blues, small, monumental, smooth, rough, porous, shiny, satin… Despite its eminently simple and pure character, monochrome represents an inexhaustible medium of expression for artists, who can customize their approaches and techniques to infinity, as we will see. Obviously, this color can be shaded, and the effects of texture, shine or material can also bring a particularity to the final artwork. The properties of color are: Hue, Value, Temperature and Saturation.For those who are unfamiliar with the concept of monochromes, they are artworks made from a single color. By learning and breaking down the properties of color, you will have the tools needed to paint anything you desire with no limits. The first step is to see this, the next is to make the color.

“Color is relative! No color stands alone, it appears to look a certain way because of the color next to it. It’s this beautiful never-ending process! The key to creating light is not only learning the properties of color, it’s also learning what needs to be in the painting and more importantly, what doesn’t! Simplifying, both the shapes and the averages of color is the key to bringing your work to it’s greatest potential. Through years of teaching and painting, I have found that the eye can continue to develop how we see color. We want to put it ALL in there, but this leaves little room for creating the illusion of light. “There are countless nuances in color that can make it challenging for the painter. “My life long passion is the study of color, and sharing with others a process to help achieve the illusion of light and vibration in their paintings,” Kami said. Landscape painting by Kami Mendlik On Color Relativity Keep reading to learn more and watch Kami’s demonstration. Simply put, color relativity is how one color compares to another. In this Art School Live interview with Eric Rhoads, impressionist painter and author Kami Mendlik shares one of her biggest secrets: how in any medium, with any painting, you can bring your paintings alive with light.

One color paintings