Instead of placing your main subject in the center, for example, try placing it in one of the corners and leaving most of the page blank.Īgain, the negative space doesn’t have to be white. If you’re looking to improve balance in your work, use negative space for: CompositionĮxperiment with creating a drawing that is mostly negative space. There are a number of ways to use negative space, regardless of the type of art you’re making. Instead of trying to decide where to look, the viewer’s eye knows where to find the point (or points) of focus and can spend more time appreciating those. When you’re looking at a photograph or painting with the correct use of negative space, it allows you to appreciate the composition without much mental effort. Viewing art is no exception to this human tendency. Our brains love to take shortcuts (even at our own peril) and do things the simple way. We will cover this soon in the “Negative Space Drawing Exercises” section. Leaving negative space around the 3D objects you draw creates a more convincing background, making the objects pop more.Īnd you can even use the shapes of the negative space around an object to make more realistic 3D shapes. If you’ve been creating art for long, you are already familiar with the challenge of making realistic 3D shapes on a flat, 2D surface. Allowing your subject(s) plenty of room to breathe lends them definition and allows the viewer to know what to focus on. The brain grasps for something to focus on and instead gets confused because there’s too much action and not enough space. Most people don’t appreciate compositions that are too full as they can feel chaotic to look at. It’s the space around your points of focus that will determine how they look in your finished art piece. The photo below is a good (and not to mention, adorable) example of this: Try focusing on the empty spaces around your subject next time, and you’ll end up with more balance in your work. Getting it right can be tricky at first, but becomes easier with practice. When you use it correctly, it gives a natural balance and sense of “rightness” to your composition. Negative space draws your eye to the subject of your art, giving it space to breathe. There are a number of convincing reasons to start prioritizing negative space in your artwork. This is a simple example, but we’ll get into more complex interplays of negative space vs positive space later. In the image above, the white areas surrounding the tree is the negative space. This is the canvas or background that shows through or surrounds your subject matter, but it doesn’t have to be white or completely blank. In the piece below, the tree is the positive space. It’s what you’re drawing or painting onto the blank space, or the shape created by the space. This is essentially the action in your art, or the subject matter. What you don’t include (negative space) is as important as what you do include (positive space). The interaction between these two elements is what directs your eye where to go when you view a design or painting. What do positive and negative space mean in art? They are what create the tension in a piece. And I’m here to share that knowledge with you, so you can create balanced, eye-catching art. I’ve since learned that intentionally leaving some emptiness results in a less crowded and better-looking result. The result was often pages covered in busy patterns, literally without an inch of space. The blank space was almost painful to look at and seemed to be yelling “Fill me!” My problem as an artist has always been resisting the urge to cover the page or canvas with subject matter. What if a simple technique could change your compositions?ĭid you know that what you don’t include in your art matters as much as what you do? Have you wondered what’s stopping your art from popping the way you wish it did? Then it’s time to learn about negative space in art!
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