Space

Artist Statement

In this project, I explored negative space. I did this when we did the negative space hand drawings, as well as the negative space leaf drawings. In the leaf drawing, I wanted to make the negative space be relevant to the leaves used to make it. This is why I choose to make a forest. I was inspired by the leaves I saw falling outside, and the image of leaves falling in the early morning came to me. I also was listening to an audio recording for an indigenous history course I am taking, and it was listening to this that helped make this piece what it is.

I used watercolor pencils and paint to make the forest one. Also, I started with a pencil around the border of the negative space but finalized it in pen. For the zentangle, I used pen and charcoal at the end to make it darker. Finally, I used graphite pencil and a number 2 smudger for the hand drawing.

When I started with the negative space leaf project, I first outlined the negative space. Then, I added color to it by adding trees in the negative spaces and making the bottoms of them darker. I hoped that this would give the piece more overall grounding. Also, there is one darker tree all the way to the left, and this is purposeful, as I want to let the light of the sun and the darkness of the trees even out. I started with a singular negative space, around in the middle of the painting. Then, I worked my way down with adding trees, and then I started to add the upper parts of the trees. I added branches and the sun rays, and finally, I added some mushrooms on the ground. If I was to add to this piece, I would spend more time making there be more variation in the colors of bark and the colors of the leaves. Also, I might find a way to add more texture in the bark, as well as more texture in the greenery. Painting the positive spaces true white with acrylic would be an interesting addition.