Week 5: Monotone

Yessss, we’re into week 5 now! If you were like me in week 4, you may have found yourself wandering the neighborhood and squinting at various building parts. I live in a very colorful neighborhood in San Francisco, but I also don’t want to be a creeper, walking around and looking at houses. This week’s prompt is relatively open-ended in interpretation, no squinting at building corners needed.

I’ve been rewatching the show “Supernatural” with my boyfriend. He’s never seen it and since I wanted to rewatch for its familiarity, I convinced him to also join in. There’s one character, Castiel (nicknamed “Cas”), who’s an angel and the first appearance of angels in the show. When you’re introduced to Cas, you get the sense that his character is very serious and literal; [some speculated] that he was an autistic being. His speaking manner is deliberate and monotonous. You don’t really know if it’s a Cas trait or an angel trait yet.

Anyway, this week is all about monotone, which I feel can get a bad reputation in some circles as boring or one-noted (I guess if you were to break the word down literally). But! Monotony can go in so many directions. There’s a monotonous way of speaking without too many emphases on words or inflections in tones. You could have a monotone outfit of one color but still have a range of hues within that color. In monotone, you have a rather restricting line but, having defined limits can increase your creativity, too. I hope monotone creates some interesting and nuanced inspiration in your work this week.

Examples & directions to go:

• Pick one color and find objects of that color to put together in a photo
• Go black and white for the grayscale of monotone
• Create a sound effect that has a narrow range but small tone changes within it
• Think about how monotony shows up in your life: in your routines, breakfast choices, or even playlists
• Find joy in the monotony. Repetitive tasks can create a sense of calm.

Mood board & inspiration: