Wednesday, August 1, 2007

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.

Queen Anne&39;s Lace Print



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!




Bubble Lace Ring 4

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.


Violet Jade Moon Woodcut


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.

To view more of my blogs on Crafts, Art, Antiques and Jewelry, click here!

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