You will be able to manoeuvre around complicated drawing concepts by employing this technique including things like perspective or foreshortening. Employing negative space supports you see the object in a different way and strangely flattens the page and tricks the brain to approach a drawing differently.
Your brain will start to see objects in different ways. You will start to carve out shapes around your object that are just important as the object itself. As an artist we are all drawn to finding the easiest way in which to draw an object. Adding this technique to our arsenal and employing it regularly means how we view objects and convey them onto paper becomes easier.
Capturing negative space means that your drawing will look better and you will produce drawings that are composed well. Think of negative space as a skeleton that underpins the rest of your drawing. The double benefit in approaching drawing from this angle is that you also create interest around the object you are drawing itself. The negative spaces in themselves become interesting. Getting your negative space right can also accentuate the 3D element of your drawing.
As you work make sure to consider:
Sketch in a Picture Plane Box
Draw a Profile Appropriate for your Sill Level
Use Sightlines
Use a Line of Symmetry
Draw Lightly (Hold your pencil in the middle or at the back)
Compare Space (measuring)
When "shading" don't scribble, keep it controlled
Look at the Space and Shapes Between Things, Not Just the Edge Lines
Day 1:
Draw Profile
Draw Sightlines
Draw Line of Symmetry
Draw 50-75% of the Opposite Profile
Day 2:
Finish Opposite Profile
Begin Shading with Pencil or Sharpie
Make Adjustments
Document your work (Natural Light, Crop, Straighten, Black & White, Adjust Brightness & Contrast.)
The video tutorial below is not edited for time. You may start the video and follow along with each step, but when I begin shading you may scrub through to see how it evolves, or let it play as you shade.
Negative Space Chair Drawing Example
Positive and Negative Space Chair Drawing
1/2 of the skull, on the right, is drawn with attention to both positive and negative space, and the Left side focuses on the negative spaces.
This is the reference used.