This page documents part of my ongoing sketchbook studies in Silent Monumentalism.
It focuses on early colour thinking, material behaviour, and how structure begins to move from drawing into paint.
This is not a final system yet.
I am still working the colours out through process.
Pieter Lategan 11 April 2026 Pretoria South Africa
BURIED TONE STRUCTURE Silent Monumentalism
This video records a real studio session.
It shows how I begin to move from charcoal structure into a controlled colour field.
The focus is not on making a finished artwork.
It is about understanding how colour can sit inside structure without breaking its silence.
Recording this process is important.
It allows the method to be:
- observed
- repeated
- refined over time
This is how the Silent Monumentalism system can be developed, and later shared with others working in:
- art
- architecture
- spatial design
In this session, I move away from strong black and white contrast.
Instead, I begin working with a Buried Tone Structure:
→ soft greys
→ chalk whites
→ faded blues
→ earth reds
These colours are not used for expression.
They are used to:
- reduce visual noise
- create weight
- hold structure
The intention is to make the surface feel:
- embedded
- compressed
- quiet
Charcoal is used as the structural base.
It acts like a skeleton.
Colour is then introduced slowly to soften the surface, not to decorate it.
Paint handling becomes important:
Thick paint → more visible, more material
Thin paint → more neutral, more absorbed
This creates a material gradient across the surface.
Silent Monumentalism - Digital Design by Pieter Lategan
P112
Colour to be applied — plaster-like texture, not wild.
Form is relevant, not performative
Pretoria, South Africa
P 114
3 Silent Monumental Colours P114
Direction for work, etc.
This stays in my language.
Marks — stillness — restraint.
- Buried Tone Structure
Painting of a monument field,
composed of large, heavy
rectangular forms, arranged in a non-hierarchical composition.
This forms very muted, desaturated colours:
→ soft greys
→ chalk white
→ soft earth reds
→ faded blues
This is layered in such a way that colours seem embedded within the mass, rather than applied on top.
Silent Monumentalism Colour
Pieter Lategan
11 April 2026
Pretoria, South Africa
P115
Edges are slightly softened, as if worn down by time. - P115
Brushwork is thick and plaster-like, with visible accumulation of weight
No sharp contrast →
all tones sit closely together
in a restrained, quiet palette.
Light is diffuse and shadowless,
removing drama and emphasising presence.
The surface feels firm, slow
compressed and silent.
Focus:
Colour is weight, not decoration.
Stillness through tonal compression.
My colours are not vivid.
It is composed and controlled.
Silent Monumental Colours
Pieter Lategan
April 2026
Pretoria, South Africa
P116
Oil painting mixing recipes - P116
For Silent Monumentalism.
→ Mixed Earth Palette
All mixes are designed to stay quiet, controlled, and slightly desaturated.
→ Base paints I will use:
BB
→ Keep your palette simple/limited
→ Titanium White
→ Burnt Umber
→ Yellow Ochre
→ Ultramarine Blue
→ Optional Alizarin Crimson
Silent Monumentalism Colours
Pieter Lategan
11 April 2026 14:51 PM
Pretoria, South Africa
P117
Core mixes P117
(Matching your test palette)
14:53 pm, 11 April 2026
Chalk White Mix — #EFE3DC
Not pure white —
slightly warm, slightly dirty.
Mix:
→ Titanium White (90%)
→ tiny touch Yellow Ochre
→ trace Burnt Umber
Result: soft, chalky, natural white.
It moves away from dead white paint.
14:57
11 April 2026
Silent Monumentalism Colour Recipes
11 April 2026 — 14:57 pm
Pretoria, South Africa (Magalieskruin)
P118
Warm Grey — #B8B1A6 (p118)
Most important neutral mix
Mix:
→ Titanium White
→ Burnt Umber
→ small Yellow Ochre
Adjust:
→ more white — lighter
→ more umber — heavier
15:00 pm, 11 April 2026
Neutral grey — it becomes a bridge colour (very important)
Mix
Next page
Silent Monumentalism Colour Recipes
11 April 2026 — 15:08 pm
Pretoria, South Africa
P119
5 Neutral Grey #9C958A
Bridge colours (very important)
Mix:
→ Titanium White
→ Burnt Umber
→ tiny Ultramarine Blue
Keep neutral — not too warm or too cold
4 Cool Grey #8A9097
15:03 pm
Mix Titanium White
-
Ultramarine Blue
→ tiny Burnt Umber (to mute)
Keep always kill muted
Umber — otherwise too clean
Silent Monumentalism Colour Recipes
Pieter Lategan
11 April 2026 — 15:03 pm
Pretoria, South Africa (Magalieskruin)
P120
Blue pushed inside grey
15:07 pm
Next page
P121
6 Dusty Earth Red (P121)
#8C6A63
Very controlled red
Mix:
→ Burnt Umber
→ small Alizarin Crimson
→ Titanium White
Key:
It must look almost
brown, not red
Next page
Silent Monumentalism Colour
Pieter Lategan
11 April 2026 — 15:08 pm
Pretoria, South Africa
P122
Important
Every colour must pass through grey
Meaning:
add burnt umber
or raw umber
to everything
Avoid clean colour
Silent Monumentalism — Colour
Pieter Lategan
17 April 2026, 15:10
Pretoria, South Africa
P123
How to apply this in your painting
Thick paint = more visible
Thin paint = more neutral
This creates a material gradient
Order / Use
Start with neutral grey base
Push into:
→ Warm grey areas
→ Cool grey areas
→ Add:
→ a faded blue (use controled)
→ a very small (dusty) red (very minimal)
Silent Monumentalism — Colour
Pieter Lategan
17 April 2026, 15:12
Pretoria, South Africa
P124
Memory System
→ White = light
Umber = control
Blue = depth
Ochre = warmth
Red = accent (very little/rare)
Break every colour
before it touches the canvas
— Pieter Lategan
On Monumental Silence
15 April 2026
Silent Monumentalism — Colour system
Pieter Lategan
17 April 2026, 15:16
Pretoria, South Africa
It is very important that
Every colour must pass through grey.
No colour is used clean.
All colour is:
- controlled
- reduced
- muted through umber
This keeps the work disciplined and consistent.
This is still a study.
I am testing:
- how colour sits inside structure
- how to remove contrast without losing presence
- how to create silence through material
Once this is stable, I will define a clear colour system based only on what works in practice.
This process is not only for painting.
It can extend into:
- architecture
- design systems
- spatial environments
It is about creating work that is:
- quiet
- stable
- reduced
- controlled
This page is part of my sketchbook studies.
It is used to:
- test ideas
- remove noise
- build understanding
The sketchbook allows the work to develop slowly and honestly.
This is part of my Silent Monumentalism process.
Buried Tone Structure — Soft Grey Field
Buried Tone Structure — Faded Blue Mass
Silent Monumentalism
Pieter Lategan, 2026
Pencil on paper, A3
P 108 - About Oil Colors | Update 10 April 2026
“I am Sorry” - Justin Bieber & ROSÉ - 2026
- back to handbook | click here
See sketchbook 10 April 2026 - Three different Color schemes.