Negative space is the space surrounding the main focus or subject of an art piece. It is known as the background or irrelevant space, that forms the outline and silhouette of the subject. Negative space truly helps viewers decipher boundaries, and find a balance in the art piece.

In order to find negative space in my drawing, I had to look for the part of the drawing that had more emphasis on it. Since the drawing was of a house and front yard, it was easy to see that this bolded and darkened space was intended as the subject. The background was also lighter, and did not contain as many details as the house. The light space in the background formed a silhouette of the house and yard as well, therefore, this was definitely categorized as the negative space.

It helps artists to see in negative space because otherwise, it is much harder to determine the main focus, or to find the boundaries of the positive space. Negative space also brings nice balance and contrast to an image, which are important elements of art for artists to understand and be able to present in their own works.

Seeing in negative space does enhance drawings, because without it, the drawing would be too abstract, with no set subject. There would be no way to tell the difference between the relevant and irrelevant parts of the drawing. Also, because negative space brings elements of art with it, this helps enhance drawings more.

A. What is negative space (explain this concept to a fourth grader that has never heard of it)

Negative space is the space around and between an object in a image. It’s like the breathing room around the object that determines how alluring it looks. Negative space helps define itself and bring balance to composition(Composition is used to describe the arrangement of visual elements in an artwork.). Usually negative spacing will be object itself. Just as you see on the left side of this picture.

B. Explain how you found negative space in your cut out?

The first thing I did was cut out the pieces of the picture, since negative spacing is usually cut up in pieces. So in the artwork I did, I cut out the outer part of the tree(the tree bark and grass) and the inner parts of the tree(middle tree, middle tree holes, and bottom holes). After I cut out my pieces, I flipped the cut out pieces over and lined them up to make a whole tree. After that, I glued them to the paper. Finally, I was able to identify my negative spacing is the left half of the tree and my positive spacing is the right half of the tree.

C. Why does it help an artist to see in negative space?

One reason why it helps an artist to see in negative spacing is because it allows them to see if the image is too crowded or not. Also, it gives the artist a new perspective on the artwork. For example, Rubin’s Vase image. Without the negative spacing, it looks like a vase. With negative and positive spacing, you can see the vase and two faces facing each other.

D. Does seeing in negative space enhance drawings, why or why not

Negative space is the space in a piece of art that is not filled with objects. The easiest way to think think of it is blank space.

In my cut out, I found negative space through the things I was cutting out of the image. Since the things I was cutting out would appear as part of the background of my image, I knew that it would be negative space.

In art, negative space is just as important as positive space in making an image work for the viewer. The negative space around an object creates the silhouette of the object, and sometimes the negative space in a busy picture can be more interesting than the positive space.  

Negative space enhances drawings. If there is mostly positive space in a drawing, you can use negative space to break the pattern. If there is mostly negative space in a drawing, the positive space will become the focus. Negative space enhances drawings only if you use it wisely.

Negative space is a form of art where the background is in one color representing negative, and the rest of the drawing is in another color representing positive space. These colors can be flipped as well creating positive space in the background. In photos negative space can also be created by having the background of an image being blurry, while the point of focus is clear. The art style is somewhat simplistic, but have been used in many unique ways. The image I was cutting out and creating in positive/negative space was an owl. I decided the darker parts of the image would be the negative space, and the lighter parts the positive. After cutting these out into green paper, I layered the negative space cut outs on one side of the page and the positive on the opposite side.

Negative space helps artist draw focus to parts of an image, and can be used to create images without necessarily connecting the pieces. Artist use these techniques to enhance their drawing. Using colors that are opposites also helps enhance by creating contrast that draws reader to the image. Artist often use a technique of putting negative space within the center of the image to allow people to have a better understanding of what the artist is trying to show.

If an artist can see negative space, they are able to do two things that enhance their art. The first, like I previously mentioned, will give them the ability to choose what the main focus of their art is, and it’s impact on the viewer. If a piece has text and images, negative space can be utilized to change the focal point of the logo or advertisement. The second is that that artist can play with the relationship between positive and negative space. Two images can be hidden in a single piece, flipping back and forth as the viewer focuses on the positive or negative space. This adds an air of mystery to a piece, and a whole layer of excitement when one finds the picture the was previously hidden to them. (Try looking up “negative positive space logos” in google images and you will find a lot of fun logos to explore.) With their powers in hand, and artist can greatly enhance their piece to, not only please and focus, but excite the brain.