The Power of Negative Space

I remember the first time I heard the term negative space, I thought "what does that mean?" My art teacher explained that it was the area not drawn/painted/printed. She wanted us to learn the power of the blank space you leave around an image - and so made us draw an intricate tree by drawing only the shapes of the negative space.

Ever since then I have been fascinated by negative space. I like art that leaves the eye with a place to rest - and the depth the design can convey when the canvas isn't completely saturated.

Today's search of ETSY for artists started with a search for lace. The lace theme is showing up on everything from China to Jewelry to Fine Art. As I looked through the results, I was struck by these three artists' use of negative space.

This Queen Anne's Lace screen print by SarahParott825 is a homage to the mid-century modern style. I love the blue color and the simplicity of the flower with the intricate black details. A grouping of these would look awesome in my living room!

This Bubble Lace Ring by ColleenBaran leaves the negative space open for your skin to show through. She has a series of jewelry in this style and I like how the openness of the design compliments the delicate circles.

Finally, this Violet Jade Moon woodcut print by AzureGrackle and Procyonidae achieves a sublime richness of design in layers. The paper is a pale blue and the inks are purple and reddish orange. I absolutely love the design of this piece - it has the feel of an old piece of batik fabric.

iTaggit is a great place to post your art collections. You can see what you have, show it off to your friends, and use our detailed field items and reports for insurance purposes.

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