Rediscovering Drawing & Understanding Negative Space

 The brain thinks in images, not words. When you dream you dream in images that connect or flow like a movie. You retain information in images first and words fall in behind the images. Therefore, if we think in images first then we can improve our thinking, our minds, by seeing and creating those images through drawing. Drawing therefore, can make you smarter.

But many of you state, “But, I can’t draw!” Yes you can. Drawing is like any language. You simply need to discover the visual letters or techniques.

All visual art contains positive and negative space. The two must compliment each other. It’s as if you were carving out an image much in the same manner that Bernini , the Italian sculptor did, along with Michelangelo. It is as if the space around the sculptures (the negative space) is as beautiful as the sculpture itself (the positive space).

Your lesson is to explore the magazines available to you to find an image that has a strong positive and negative space. Cut that image out and paste it into your sketchbook on the left side. On the right side draw the image showing only the negative space revealing what the actual image would be in the positive space. Some examples are below.

Above: Here are three student samples of your assignment.