Negative Space Drawing

The assignment we had to do was called a "Negative Space Drawing". We were first handed a piece of paper, and were told to use a view-finder, to look at a bunch of stools placed on top of each other, and draw the negative space in between the stools, three different times from three different angles, and three different views. We then had to choose one of these "thumbnails" to draw on a bigger piece of paper, then create an interesting pattern, or subject to draw in the negative space. The subject of my creation has a background that goes from a light green to a light purple, and a reddish orange for the border of these negative spaces. This art piece was created using water colored pencils for the red border, and colored pencils for the green, blue, and purple background.

In this piece, I used both elements of art and Principles of design to help make the piece stand out, but also be pleasing to the eye. Some elements I used in this artwork include texture and color. For example, when painting and sketching the borders of the negative space, I used texture to create an effect of molten lava texture. I also used texture in the background and made sure it didn't feel too bold, but happy and light. I also used color for both the borders and background. Using colors such as dark reds and bright orange, the borders really stood out compared to the background containing light blues, greens, and purples. Some principles I used were contrast and pattern. For example, when creating the borders, I knew I wanted to make them noticeable, therefore I used bright colors to do that. I also used a pattern when it came to the borders. I kept the same colors and shapes and kept the shading of the background at either green, blue, or purple. My project evolved a lot from my original idea; I originally wanted to use oil pastels to color in the borders and background, but because of the oil pascal leaving marks on the positive space, I had to re-think. I also wanted color the background Red and Orange, while the borders would be Green and blue. It wasn't until I decided that red would be a more appealing color for the border, that I changed my desition.

This artwork didn't represent a specific story, you could say that underneath a dark thick mass, there is a happier, brighter layer. This project doesn't relate to my life like any of the others did, but if I had to choose something to be the proudest of in my work, I would have to say the borders, since they took the most time, and came out to be the most detailed of my work. I struggled a lot while creating this, mostly because in my first draft when I used oil pastels, they got everywhere and got on the positive space. I then had to throw away that piece and start all over again. If I could change anything in my artwork to make it stronger, I would say keeping the background colors consistent. There is a huge area of dark green near the top of the page, that doesn't go well with the rest of the calm, smooth, and light colors, that I definitely regret and want to change.