Negative/Positive Space

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.