the red zone and the gray zone

Somebody just emailed me to ask, why did I use red and gray for the New York print?

Besides aesthetic reasons [Red & Gray gives the piece a sort of retro-hipster Ben Shahn vibe, which I like], here’s a little more insight.

I have a thing I call “The Red Zone”. The Red Zone is the state of consciousness when you are fully alive- when you are creating something, making art, making love, watching the sun set, whatever. When all your synapses are firing.

I have a thing I call “The Gray Zone”. The Gray Zone is the state of consciousness when you are NOT fully alive- when you’re just bumbling along, half-awake, sleepwalking through life. We’ve all been there, probably a lot more often than we’d care to admit.

“New York” is not just a geographical place to me. It is also a metaphor for the archetypal urban experience.

And I find with this archetypal experience, the battle between the Red Zone and The Gray Zone to dominate one’s mind is at its most intense.

Art Class over for today, Kiddies! Rock on.

[Backs­tory: About Hugh. E-mail Hugh. Work with Hugh. Twit­ter. Cartoon Archive. News­let­ter. Book.. Inter­view One. Inter­view Two. EVIL PLANS. Limi­ted Edi­tion Prints. Essen­tial Rea­ding: “Everything You Always Wan­ted To Know About ‘Cube Gre­na­des’ But Were Afraid To Ask.”]