Negative space
- sebastianaplin
- Jun 6
- 1 min read
Whatever foundation or improvers workshop you take and in whatever medium we are working you will hear me talk about negative space.
In water colour it is essential to leave spaces unpainted so that they mimic the effect of light reflecting off surfaces. As pigments, even dark ones, are bound in a transparent medium they will still reflect light. The one below was a quick demo from a Sargent watercolour where I tried to show how contrasting values allowed the foreground and background to work together to articulate figures in pictorial space.
The awareness of the negative space allows the artist to group these shapes into forms which form part of an overall composition that could work in a still life painting as much as in a portrait.
Using charcoal and chalk on a mid tone ground is a great way to look for and simplify these negative and positive shapes, so that when you come to painting, you can concentrate on the light and dark elements that will make any painting stand out.
In this Vermeer study I found out how the dark backgound (the negative space) brightened the colours of the face and permitted me to use more saturated colours.
if you're interested in finding out more about this process join me for one of my spring/summer workshops starting this Tuesday and running through to the end of July!
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