You have to walk before you can run.  But you see things more clearly when you’re walking, you know?  So it goes with black & white vs. color.  In art school, we were all taught to begin with a black and white sketch.  Master that, then move on to color.  But what if just those two hues– the absence of color and the sum of all colors was enough?  For Italian artist Daniele De Batte, it wasn’t color that fascinated, but composition and juxtaposition of space.

In breaking these down to the most essential elements of line, shape, and space, the artist is able to focus our attention on the strength of composition and the way each element contributes to the overall scheme.  The absence of color and even shading ( ok, there is some shading in other work ), keep our eyes from being distracted.  The graphic forms advance and recede, changing our perception of each composition with every new glance.

To see more of Daniele De Batte’s work, please visit the artist’s website.

All images are via the artist’s website.