Polar Bears, Hedgehogs & The Rubin Vase: Positive & Negative Space in Art

Angry Polar Bear. Colored pencil Illustration by Christine montague. The Sketchbook Project 2014.

Interpreting positive and negative space is one of the compositional skills practised by visual artists when they draw and paint. It is also a handy method to trigger one's imagination either as a drawing exercise, or when illustrating.

What is positive and negative space?

Positive space is the space occupied by the subject. Negative space is the space on the page around it. A classic example of this is the image below, the Rubin Vase -

Rubin's vase. illustration

The positive space is the yellow vase.  The negative space is the inverse of this space, i.e. everything outside the vase. In this picture, can you see the two profiled faces in the negative space? This is a well-known example of illusion, thanks to its use of  positive and  negative space. However, negative space usually does not have another recognizable image.

I had fun with the use of positive and negative space in my colored pencil drawings for this year's The Sketchbook Project.More about my sketchbook entry here.

Using a printout of an image of one of my stone kitchen tiles, I drew a scene on that printout inspired by the shapes and tones I saw there.  The Angry Polar Bear (above) is one such illustration. The Infamous Heart-Nosed Hedgehog below, is another of these The Sketchbook Project drawings.

What is the positive space in the drawing below? What is the negative?

The Infamous Heart-Nosed Hedgehog. Coloured pencil illustration copyright Christine Montague. The Sketchbook Project 2014

The Positives (and negatives) of the Polar Bear & The Hedgehog

Surprise! Although you probably guessed it, the same tile image inspired the polar bear and  hedgehog  drawings. Here they are, together.

Two colored pencil illustrations demonstrating use of positive and negative space. Copyright Christine Montague. The Sketchbook Project 2014

The Infamous Heart-nosed Hedgehog . The positive space is the hedgehog. The negative space, is all the other space. In this case, that space is filled in with clouds.

The Angry Polar Bear.  Using  another printout of the same tile, I placed my subject, the polar bear,  in what was the negative space of the hedgehog illustration. You can see the shape of the hedgehog in the space to the left of the polar bear. So, in this drawing,the positive space is the polar bear.

But wait! There are actually two subjects in this drawing! There is a little figure in a fur-trimmed hooded parka in the bottom left corner. His head is where the hedgehog's eye is in the hedgehog drawing.  This little figure is also a positive space (although his actions may be negative. I will leave that up to your imagination!). So  the negative space of this image is all the space around them, including the top right corner of the image.

Does this help you to understand positive and negative space?

To see my 2013 The Sketchbook Project (Brooklyn Art Library, Brooklyn, New York) about a polar bear world "CRAM" click  here

Happy International Polar Bear Day!

Today is International Polar Bear Day. Here's an interesting FAQ page from Polar Bears International. http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/about-polar-bears/faqs

And although most of us have learned by now, that penguins and polar bears do not co-exist, I did not know "arctic comes from the Greek word for bear, and Antarctic comes from the Greek meaning the opposite, without bear" (Polar bears International). 

How sad would it be, if re: the polar bear,  "Antarctic " applied to the world?

Perhaps , all the snow we have received today in the Toronto Area, will not seem as miserable, if regarded as a tribute to the mighty ursus maritimus.

Cram the Polar Bear World: The Sketchbook Project 2013

The little envelope containing my sketchbook from The Sketchbook Project, somehow was mislaid during my studio move, and completely out of mind with the excitement of family home for Christmas. My memory was suddenly jogged when The Sketchbook Project people wisely sent out a "deadline tomorrow" email yesterday.

There was no way I was going to miss out on this  terrific drawing project where artists from around the world have their sketchbooks (provided by the project) on display in the Brooklyn Art Library (U.S.A.), as well as online, and in a travelling art show.

So, what to do?! With less than 24 hours to fill a sketchbook, I would do the student "thing" and CRAM which, by the way,  became the sketchbook title, and maybe more than that , too.

And what did I draw? Why I followed The Sketchbook Project recommendations:

" The Sketchbook project is a space for new work and experiment - it's not intended to be a portfolio" and  " ...follow your book wherever it takes you and change your mind along the way".

And that's exactly what I did, I veered off the course of the few sketches I had done before Christmas and my move out of my Williams Mill studio, and spent well into the night immersed into my polar bear fantasy world.  You know how it is when you have a good book you can't put down? That's how I felt last night as I worked deep into the night with ease.

To read more about The Sketchbook Project 2013, and to mark it on your calendar to take part in,  visit www.thesketchbookproject.com

Also I'd love to know what you think of my foray into fantasy illustration, and if you'd enjoy more posts on this.

"Who's For Dinner" at the Dragonfly? It's Art.

 

If you are up in the Orangeville area - just north of Brampton and north-west of Toronto, be sure to drop into the lovely "Dragonfly Arts on Broadway". My larger than life oil and oil stick painting of a cat , seen from  the viewpoint of "something" much smaller, is featured in the window there until Halloween.  I have heard great things about the Dragonfly Gallery over the past couple of years, but had never been there myself until last week.

Broadway is the "main" street accessed directly off Hwy 10, so the gallery is easy to reach. This main street is attractively maintained, has a variety of shops and eating establishments and the parking is free!

"Who's for Dinner?"  - a huge attraction in my studio - is the latest in my big cat series. I don't paint with decorating in mind, but with its dramatic scale, use of black and silver, I have not been alone in  imagining it over a leather couch or over a server in a contemporary dining room. See it at the delightful Dragonfly Arts on Broadway Gallery http://www.dragonflyarts.ca/ until the end of October.

Finished Big Cat Painting Today

I didn't want to leave the studio today until I finished this painting - I was so anxious to see it completed. Although I adore painting in oils, drawing was my first love, and so, it was exciting for me  to both draw (oil sticks) & paint (oils) in this art work. This piece also combines my love of portraits, my love of animals and my love of black (I am only painting in black until they invent something darker). Equally as fulfilling was my use, for the first time, of silver oil paint as my "white" - although its reflective values proved a little trickier to photograph. My iphone camera, couldn't quite do the trick.

Do you know that many artists give a lot of thought to the placement & appearance of  their signature on their paintings? Well, I am one of those artists. This new work called for a different look to my signature. Traditionally, on my carefully rendered, realistic paintings, I carefully print my full name in block lettering. I don't like my signature to distract from the work, and even will use more than one colour to print it so that the signature  flows with the work. This painting called for something more expressive. Artist Carmen Hickson of www.theredpigstudio.com lent me a nifty colour pushing brush* ( a rubber chisel tip instead of bristles). It was perfect for carving out a cursive signature with values that suited the painting.

By the way, "Big Cat Painting" is not the official title of the painting...

* I don't know the official name of these rubber tipped brushes, and tried unsuccessfully to  google them for this post. My son, who used to work at Curry's Art Supplies, informed me they weren't big sellers, but I sure found it terrific to use.  Do you know what this type of brush is called?  I did however find this new neat little cleaning gadget while trying to find the rubber brush name https://www.currys.com/catalogpc.htm?Category=A021B006823&Source=Search. I could have used this when washing piles of black oil paint out of about 8 brushes this evening :D

New Painting Begins: Giant Cat Portrait

I just finished a series of 8" x 8" paintings  - Scotsdale Farm: Snow & Shadows. I needed to stretch my wings after painting so small.

A larger than life portrait painting of a Maine Coon cat in silver, black, and white oil stick and oils seemed the natural next step.

What I have done so far -

• It is the first time I have used Tri-Art "sludge". I used it to cover the white canvas and add some texture.
• After applying the sludge, I saw a large cat eye, ear &  head looking right in the swirls of the paint.
• Decided to go with my instincts. Found a photo of my silver tabby  Main Coon cat to use roughly as a reference.
• &  voila ... the painting begins. The face emerges some more out of the darkness.

The Artist's Shadow. Happy Groundhog Day?

Happy Groundhog Day! Wiarton Willy and Punxsutawney Phil did see their shadows today, so six more weeks of winter in sight.  Hang in there, everyone.

Napkin Art - Taking Stock (everything's coming up roses)

I know I am not alone in being a doodler.  Nothing is safe - the newspaper, telephone book, napkins. If I have a pen in hand any sheet of paper is in danger of being obliterated by doodles.

Tuesday, as I ate lunch, I  mused (obsessed),  pen in hand,  on how best to move forward with my career.  To my surprise, this doodle  was much calmer than one I drew a while ago - me flailing between two pieces of bread, a palette where the lunch meat should go.  Of course, the doodling progressed to another napkin -  penguins in the shape of pink pearl erasers and and me naked doing fan dances with palettes instead of fans, but that's a whole other napkin.

Later that afternoon, thanks to Beaux-Arts Brampton artist Steve Wilson, I learned of a new art fair in Toronto, Art-2009. Thanks to the help of  a very affable organizer, I found myself, the proud inhabitant of Booth 465 0f the upcoming  Art 2009, May 12 -14th, 2009, in the Toronto Convention Centre.

I wonder if the fact I used the good flowered napkin was a sign ?