Currently Browsing: negative space 10 articles
For the Love of Negative Space
I hear all sorts of things from my journaling students. “How much negative space should I leave on my journal spread?” “How much space should surround my focal point?” “How much text and how much more illustration should I put on my page spread?” “How should I arrange these 5 things on my page spread […]
More Found Journal Pages…
Here’s a page spread of contour drawings from my “cataract surgery year” I just found. Both surgeries were past and we knew I’d be living permanently with the flare, glare, and double vision. But I still wanted to get my daily drawing in. And I believe I wanted to say something about using different pen […]
Breathing Room on the Page (or Page Spread)
One of the most important compositional tools you have in a visual journal or sketchbook is the breathing space on the page (or page spread). The negative space around an image helps define the image through silhouette, and shape recognition. The space will help you correct angles and proportions when you go off—or— if you […]
Sometimes Leaving Something Out Emphasizes It
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Nostalgie Is A Fun Paper
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Do You Stop Or Keep Pushing?
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Sketching in Public: Looking for Negative Space
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Working Large on Smaller Pages, and That Amazing Nineteenth Century Hair
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Yet Another Gutenberg Paper Page
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Notan–beauty in Daily Life
Left: Portrait of Emma, cut paper, ©1998. Using a sketch of my Alaskan Malamute bitch Emma I cut out pieces of Canson Mi Tientes paper in 3 values to construct her portrait.
Getting up from the computer yesterday after writing about notan, I started walking around the studio and house doing a variety of tasks. Suddenly it struck me there were prominent examples of notan everywhere I looked. This was because I had images I’d made of my two Alaskan Malamute bitches everywhere I looked. Most people who know me are familiar with my Daily Dots project (for what was to be the last five years of Dottie’s life I drew her daily). But before Dottie (and together with her for awhile) her Aunt Emma was the graphical beast in the house. While I never drew Emma daily she was a frequent subject of illustration.
I joke with my drawing students that if they want to have a dog for a life model a black and white Malamute is their best choice. Looking around at the art on my walls I realized that my statement is much more complex than I even intended. Beyond the ease with which one can locate points of reference on a stately and somewhat symmetrically marked Malamute there is the issue of notan-beauty. They embody it.