No. 084, in twelve platesSamurai Being Samurai

This series is painted almost entirely in two values: smoky charcoal and a single saturated red. Mountains, fields and mist dissolve into soft greys, while the sun, the maple leaves and the occasional parasol carry all the colour. The figures are dark and still, usually seen from behind or in profile, which lets the red do the shouting. Twelve plates, one colour, and a remarkable amount of patience.

The cast is mostly solitary. A swordsman stands on a rock in a mountain lake while birds wheel past a pale moon. A ronin carries his blade across his shoulders through a storm of falling leaves; another, topknot neat, studies his sword in a forest of crimson maples. An armoured warrior in a straw hat faces a lone tree under a blood-red disc. Two plates turn to women in kimono, one in pale cotton and one in a floral print, and a temple pavilion appears framed in a dark gateway. The quietest has a figure under a red paper umbrella, half hidden from the weather.

The sun usually hangs in the upper middle, so the clock sits across or just above a red disc. White numerals read well on it, and on the darker plates the sky above the sun is nearly black. Figures stand in the lower half, where widgets and the dock meet the charcoal ground, so white app labels stay legible in both light and dark mode.

For lovers of Japanese cinema and history, martial artists, and anyone drawn to the drama of a single colour on grey. Lake Rock, White Robe and Blade on Shoulder download free in full resolution; the other nine are premium.