PAGE 21 OF THE GRAPHIC MEMOIR "FORGET SORROW"
Don't ask me if I've abandoned my color-filled style of painting . . .
As far as I can remember, I've loved black and white art. It began with black crayons on white sheets of paper on the backs of mom's student exams. When someone mentions comics, my mind flies to black and white inky panels, not color. Perhaps it's because I spent my first years as a reader of comics in Japan, where the mangas were all black and white. Black and white has it's own set of parameters and design issues. Black on white is ecstatic. The two "colors" -one being the total absorption of light and the other, the throwing off of all light-are polar opposites. It's thrilling, its ecstatic, it's exhilarating. It's drama and conflict. Durm und strung.
The question I least like when people see my original art is: will this ultimately be in color? No. Black and white is rich, energetic, potent, unforgiving in its first impact on our retina. Think about the first mark you make on a pristine sheet of paper. The abrasion of the black crayon is like an explosion in the cosmos, the moment when matter comes to be.
Please don't say to me, I've loved your use of color; don't ever give that up. I won't, I'll reply. But black and white is my bliss.
The following page coming soon.
Belle Yang drawing her comic book in a Youtube vide
Belle Yang Asia Society, NYC, Talk on Video (complete)
Published Reviews, Articles and Interviews:
Comic Book Resources Reviews Forget Sorrow: An Ancestral Tale by Comic Book Resources
Wall Street Journal video of interview
Santa Cruz Sentinel:Belle Yang's Third Adult Title is her First Graphic Nove
Santa Cruz Weekly Cover Story: Time Traveler
About Belle
Belle Yang, subject of the PBS documentary, “My Name is Belle,” is often asked whether she is primarily a writer or a painter. Answer: "When I'm writing, I'm a writer; when I'm painting, I'm a painter." Is she a children's author or writers of adult...
Connections
Causes Belle Yang Supports
826 Valencia Street
Belle is a fan of
A few years ago, my wifeypoo
A few years ago, my wifeypoo got me a Japanese Sumi-e set. I really like grinding away on my ink stone. :) I got pretty good at that actually.
The fine art of line drawing in America came about during the 19th century as the only valid way of reproducing art with the printing presses available. The ability to simulate various levels of gray with nothing but black ink was an extremely rare talent....but crucial to our modern graphic methods. I wonder if with modern printing methods, this will become more of a lost art?
Eric
Good question.
I don't know anything about the printing process, so I don't know the answer. Yes, ink-grinding on the ink slab is part of meditation before painting. It is a lovely sensation.