Negative Space Drawing

For this assignment we were asked to create drawings, but focus on the negative space, opposed to what we usually do and focus on the positive when we draw objects. We did two negative space drawings. For the first drawing, we collected leaves and were asked to arrange them on our paper in a way to make the negative space interesting. Then we traced the leaves and filled in the negative space to draw attention to it. We left the positive space white and blank so the negative space would be the primary focus. The leaf drawing was practice for the other drawing we did.

We had to draw the negative space of a still life figure. There were stools stacked on each other creating interesting negative shapes. We used view finders so we could focus on one area of the figure and isolate it from the space around it. Then we were asked to draw the negative space, which is the space between the stool and not the actual stools. First, we made three thumbnail drawings of different parts of the stacked up stools. Then we chose which thumbnail drawing had the most interesting space and redrew it on a bigger piece of paper. After we were done drawing all the negative space it resembled the section of the figure we were drawing. Drawing with negative space is important because it can help you see how it can be used to enhance the drawing. Also, it helps you draw using positive space. Positive space is used for more realistic and detailed drawings and negative focuses not on the details of the object itself, but the space around it.

We drew the leaf drawings first and then did a critique. Some of the feedback I got was to use more colors. I decided that in my stool drawing that I should use more colors. I created a theme by using yellow watercolor pencil in each section. I chose the color yellow because it stands out amongst colors, but does not dominate the whole drawing. My negative space drawings are very different from each other but, in the end I like how both of my negative space drawings turned out.