Self-care, wellness, mindfulness are terms that have invaded our timelines, workspace, and television screens. Honestly, trying to achieve these things gives me more stress than whatever makes me anxious. Which makes me envious of Dwayne Royall's "Calm."
I placed this piece in the bedroom because where else would you want calm and peace. As I walk through the door, this is the first image I see. The title is fitting because it definitely has a soothing effect. She looks as if she is completely in love with herself. Her arms wrapped around her body; she's achieved self-actualization.
Many of Royall's pieces are colorful using yellow, purple, green, orange and red, so his black and white series was a surprise.
He posted "Calm" and asked his followers for color suggestions for the background. I quickly chimed in and said to leave it, and I want it. "Calm" was beautiful. It didn't need any distractions of color, only her. The simplicity of the colors makes it exceptional.
So, of course, I had to research this technique. When an artist paints in black, white and gray, it's called monochrome or grisaille (griz-EYE). An artist will use shades of one color, usually gray, to create a 3D image.
In the Middle Ages, the use of color was actually forbidden. As written in a description of its 2017 "Monochrome: Painting in Black and White" exhibition, the National History Museum said, "art created in grisaille was created for devotional purposes, to eliminate distractions, and focus the mind. As color pervades daily life, black and white can signal a shift to an otherworldly or spiritual context." (How beautiful is that?)
Royall's black and white series stands in the company of French painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1800s), whose curvy feminine figure "Odalisque in Grisaille" was painted much like "Calm." The woman was painted to be the focal point.
Even though I received the original in black and white, Royall offered collectors multiple color options such as red, orange, purple, yellow and "remix." Check it out.
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