Negative Space Leaf Drawing

Artist Statement

In this piece I used the negative space between leaves to create a partly-observational, partly-creative piece. I used the following mediums to create the piece: Graphite, a black pen, and a blending stub. Some of the art-making techniques I used are: I used shading techniques, and learned about blending with a paper stump. I also used a black pen to outline the leave shapes i had, just to make them more clearly defined. I used the following elements of art in my artwork: drawing, shading, and outlining. To add interest to my composition, I used these principles of design: shape, value, space, and contrast. I used shape in the sketches and forms of the figures, I used value with the negative space and the lack of color, and I used contrast with the shading, making the darks darker and the lights lightest. This artwork is about mostly learning how to use the negative space in a drawing and drawing around what you see, rather than drawing what you think you see. This completed work makes me feel a little disappointed (I'm not too fond of the end product), but overall a little mischievous, from the elven-like creature in the bushes. By creating this project I learned about using negative space to help you draw shapes accurately. In future pieces of art I may try using this skill to draw realistic proportions and such. I added my own original style by creating the faces underneath the leaves.