Tài liệu Positive and Negative Spaces doc

NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE













Brenda Hoddinott
B-01 BEGINNER: LEARN TO SEE
Your ability to draw is greatly enhanced when you know how identify positive and negative
spaces, visually measure distances, and apply the resulting information to your drawings.
This article illustrates and demonstrates the process of breaking down subjects into positive and
negative spaces, and sketching their shapes within a drawing space. Information is divided into
the following four parts:
Seeing Lines between Spaces
Containing Spaces in a Drawing Space
From Seeing Spaces to Sketching Shapes
Examining the Final Stages of a Drawing
Once you understand the process, seeing spaces, lines, and shapes eventually becomes totally
automatic, and you can draw accurately without consciously focusing on the various stages.

This project is recommended for artists and aspiring artists of all ages, as well as
home schooling, academic and recreational fine art educators.

10 PAGES – 36 ILLUSTRATIONS
Published by Hoddinott Fine Art Publishers, Halifax, NS, Canada, 2005



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2
INTRODUCTION
Before you can draw the lines that outline a drawing subject, you need to know where to look.
Contour lines are formed when the shared edges of spaces, and/or objects (or parts of objects)
meet. Contour lines can outline a complete object, as well as its individual parts. A contour
drawing is a drawing comprised of lines that follow the contours of the edges of various
components of a subject and define the outlines of its shapes. Shapes are the outward contours or
outlines of objects. Basic shapes include circles, ovals, squares, or rectangles
Learning how to see the shapes of positive and negative spaces allows you to find and
subsequently draw an outline of any drawing subject. Positive space is the space in a drawing
that is occupied by an object and/or its various parts. Negative space refers to the background
around and/or behind an object or another space. The edges of either the positive or negative
space can help you identify the locations of lines.
By referring to the sizes and shapes of both the positive and negative spaces, you can accurately
render proportions. Proportion refers to the relationship in size of one component of a drawing to
another or others.
ILLUSTRATION 01-O1 ILLUSTRATION 01-O2
Compare this photo of a duck-shaped
candle to the contour drawing beside it.
Examine the various shapes created by
the contour lines.

Note that the duck’s head is very small
in proportion to the size of the body.
Yet, the height of the head (A) is equal
to the height of the body (B).
ILLUSTRATION 01-O3
SEEING LINES BETWEEN
SPACES
The discussion and illustrations in this section
focus on using both positive and negative spaces
to render a contour drawing of this cartoon boy.

With lots of practice, your drawing
skills improve, and the process of seeing
spaces and lines becomes automatic! Then,
you can draw accurately without
consciously focusing on the various stages.


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3
Positive and negative spaces assume distinctive shapes, and fit together like pieces of a puzzle.
Think of the shape of the boy’s head (positive space) in Illustration 01-04 as a piece of a puzzle.
Use you imagination to visually lift up the shape and place it into the empty (white) space in the
center of the negative space in Illustration 01-05 (like putting a missing piece into a jigsaw
puzzle). The contour lines are found where the two spaces meet (Illustration 01-06). In other
words, the outline of the boy's head is in between the shapes of the positive and negative spaces.
ILLUSTRATION 01-O4 ILLUSTRATION 01-O5 ILLUSTRATION 01-O6

By referring to the shapes and sizes of the positive and negative spaces within the outline of the
head, the boy’s facial features can also be rendered proportionately correct. Consider the empty
space (the head) around the features to be negative space (Illustration 01-07) and the features
themselves to be positive space (Illustration 01-08).
Compare the sizes and shapes of the spaces to one another. For example, the length of the
negative space from the eyebrows to the top of the head is the same as the negative space from
the eyebrows to the bottom of the chin. Therefore, you can tell that the eyebrows (positive
spaces) need to be drawn halfway between the top and bottom of the head.
If you view the width of an eye as a measurement unit, the face appears to be five eyes wide. In
other words, extra eyes can fit into the negative spaces on either side of and between the eyes.
Also the nose can fit into the space between the eyes; hence it is the same width as an eye.
In Illustration 01-09 the lines between the positive and negative spaces outline the eyebrows,
nose, eyes, and freckles. Note how I then added more details to the eyes.
ILLUSTRATION 01-O7 ILLUSTRATION 01-O8 ILLUSTRATION 01-09








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4
CONTAINING SPACES IN A DRAWING SPACE
A drawing space (also called the drawing surface or a drawing format), refers to the area in
which you render a drawing within a specific perimeter. It can be the shape of your sketchbook
page, your paper, or outlined by any shape you choose, such as a rectangle or square.
In Illustration 01-10, the shape of a fish is the positive space and the space that surrounds the fish
is negative space (Illustration 01-11). By examining the contour drawing (Illustration 01-12), you
can visualize both these shapes inside the perimeter of a square drawing space.
Note that no section of the fish is touching the edges of the drawing space and therefore it seems
to be floating (or swimming).
ILLUSTRATION 01-10 ILLUSTRATION 01-11 ILLUSTRATION 01-12








A flower (positive space) is drawn within a rectangular drawing space (Illustration 01-13). The
negative space (also inside the perimeter of the rectangle) surrounds the flower and is on either
side of the visible section of its stem (Illustration 01-14).
Observe that the stem of the flower seems to run off the edge of the rectangle along the bottom
side. Hence, the flower seems grounded within the space as opposed to floating.
ILLUSTRATION 01-13 ILLUSTRATION 01-14

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5
FROM SEEING SPACES TO SKETCHING SHAPES
In this section, I first review the process of seeing the overall shape of an object by examining
positive and negative spaces I then show you how to actually sketch the individual parts of an
object proportionately correct by seeing and measuring spaces and shapes. I demonstrate this
process with a photo of a swan; however, keep in mind that this process can be applied to
anything you want to draw
You can see the overall shape of the swan (and its parts) as a contour drawing in two steps:
1. Study the photo until you can identify the subject (positive space). Everything else in
the photo is then considered negative space.
2. Examine the shapes and sizes of the positive and negative spaces, and how they fit
together, to identify the locations of the contour lines.
As your visual skills improve, these two steps become so totally automatic that you don’t even
know they’re happening!
ILLUSTRATION 01-15
Seeing spaces and lines in a cartoon drawing is relatively simple;
however, real life subjects can seem considerably more
intimidating. Unfortunately, a real live swan could not be
included with this lesson, so I settled for this photo of one.

Illustrations 01-16 and 01-17 demonstrate how I visually separate a
photo into positive space (the swan) and negative space (the
background)
ILLUSTRATION 01-16 ILLUSTRATION 01-17
ILLUSTRATION 01-18
Illustration 01-18
shows a contour
drawing of the
overall shape of the
swan

Now that I can tell which sections of the photo are swan and which
are background, I can begin sketching the various shapes.
Most parts of objects can be broken down into familiar shapes such as
rectangles, triangles, squares, or circles. However, the actual shapes of objects rarely
conform exactly to the classic definitions of these shapes. Hence, even though I use
such words as rectangular, circular, or triangular in the following section, keep in
mind that I often take artistic license with my descriptions of various shapes.

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6
In addition to separating a subject from the background, lines can also separate various parts of
the subject from one another. In short, the basic outline of the swan is rendered by sketching
each of the individual shapes of the four major parts of the swan, the body, neck, head, and bill.
In this section, illustrations take you through the process of putting the four parts together to
create a sketch of the swan.
ILLUSTRATION 01-19 ILLUSTRATION 01-20

The first shape I
see in the photo
is the egg-shape
of the swan’s
body.
I consider the
egg-shape to be
the positive
space, and for
now everything
else in the photo
is regarded as
negative space.

Spaces offer several clues as to the locations of lines. As I examine the negative space in relation
to the positive space and the drawing space, I note the following:
The height of the negative space above the egg-shape (AA) is twice the width of the negative
space to its left (A).
The width of the negative space to the left of the egg-shape (A) is slightly wider than the
negative space on the right (B).
The width of the negative space to the right (B) is equal to the height of the negative space
below the egg-shape (B).
ILLUSTRATION 01-21 ILLUSTRATION 01-22
With all this
information
firmly planted in
my mind, I now
know where to
sketch the
outline of the

swan’s body
within my
drawing space
(Illustration 01-
22).

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7
ILLUSTRATION 01-23
ILLUSTRATION 01-24
ILLUSTRATION 01-25
My goal in showing you
illustrations of spaces is simply to offer you
insights into my thought processes as I draw.
Naturally, when I look at an actual subject, I
simply visualize the negative space rather
than make a bunch of drawings of spaces.

I refer to the photo again to figure out where to
draw the outline of the swan’s neck. The neck is
basically rectangular in shape, and for the purpose
of this discussion is now considered the positive
space. In other words, to focus completely on the
neck, I now visualize all other parts of the photo as
negative space.
In Illustration 01-24 the negative space around the
body is black and the body itself (now considered

negative space) is gray.
Consider the following as you examine the next two
illustrations:
1. The upper section of the neck (1) extends
upward into the negative space above the
body.
2. The center section of the neck (2) gradually
becomes wider closer to the bottom.
3. A tiny section of negative space (4) is to the
left of the center section of the neck, and a
much larger section of negative space (the
body) is to the right (5).
4. The very bottom section of the neck (3)
extends into the negative space below the
body.
5. The negative space to the right of the center
section of the neck (5) is approximately two
thirds the total width of the body.
Illustration 01-25 shows the sketch with the neck
added. Compare all three illustrations to get a better
understanding of how the various spaces helped
create an accurate sketch.


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8
ILLUSTRATION 01-30

As I examine the swan’s head. I see a circular shape (Illustration 01-26). By paying attention to
the negative spaces (Illustration 01-27), I realize that the circular shape is the same height as the
upper section of the neck (1) and the same width as the lower section (2). Also, more of the
shape of the head is toward the left than the right. Now that I know where to place the head
within the drawing space, and the size it needs to be, I add it to my sketch (Illustration 01-28).
ILLUSTRATION 01-26 ILLUSTRATION 01-27 ILLUSTRATION 01-28








ILLUSTRATION 01-29
The bill is a rather small section of the
swan but, nonetheless important. The
overall shape of the bill sort of reminds
me of a diamond shape (Illustration
01-30)
When I visually separate the diamond
shape into two triangles, the small one
is the section attached to the swan’s
head, and the big triangle is the section
that sticks out from the face.

ILLUSTRATION 01-31 ILLUSTRATION 01-32

I imagine the
diamond shape as

the positive space
(Illustration 01-
31), and sketch it
within my
drawing space
(Illustration 01-
32).


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9
EXAMINING THE FINAL STAGES OF A DRAWING
With everything sketched correctly, the real fun of drawing begins. The basic process of turning
my sketch into a drawing is as follows:
1. I gently pat the entire sketch with a kneaded eraser to lighten my sketch lines until I
can barely see them (Illustration 01-33).
2. While constantly referring to the photo (Illustration 01-34), I use a freshly sharpened
pencil to transform the swan’s basic shapes into a contour drawing (Illustration 01-35).
A contour drawing is a drawing comprised of lines that follow the contours of the edges of
various components of a subject and define the outlines of its forms.
3. I then outline the intricate details of the feathers, wings, face, and tail, as well as the
reflection in the water.
ILLUSTRATION 01-33 ILLUSTRATION 01-34 ILLUSTRATION 01-35

ILLUSTRATION 01-36



4. I use various pencils and
drawing techniques to add
shading to the swan, the water,
and the reflection in the water.
Shading refers to the process of
adding values to a drawing so as to
create the illusion of form and/or
three-dimensional space.
Examine the various forms created
with shading on the completed
drawing of the swan. (Illustration
01-36)

Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may
not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott.
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10
BRENDA HODDINOTT - BIOGRAPHY
As a self-educated teacher, visual artist, portraitist, forensic artist, and illustrator, Brenda
Hoddinott utilizes diverse art media including graphite, technical pen, colored pencil, chalk
pastel, charcoal, conté crayon, and oil paints.
My philosophy on teaching art is to focus primarily on the

enjoyment aspects while gently introducing the technical and
academic. Hence, in creating a passion for the subject matter,
the quest for knowledge also becomes enjoyable.
>Brenda Hoddinott<
Born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Brenda grew up in the small town of Corner Brook. She
developed strong technical competencies with a personal commitment to self directed learning,
and the aid of assorted “Learn to Draw” books. During Brenda’s twenty-five year career as a
self-educated civilian forensic artist, numerous criminal investigation departments have
employed Brenda’s skills, including Royal Canadian Mounted Police and municipal police
departments. In 1992, Brenda was honored with a commendation from the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police, and in 1994, she was awarded a Certificate of Membership from “Forensic
Artists International”.
Her home-based art career included graphic design, and teaching recreational drawing and
painting classes. As supervisor of her community’s recreational art department, Brenda hired and
trained teachers, and designed curriculum for several children’s art programs. In 1998, Brenda
chose to end her eighteen-year career as an art educator in order to devote more time to writing,
drawing, painting, and developing her websites.
Drawspace
incorporates her unique style and innovative approach to
curriculum development. This site offers downloadable and printable drawing classes for
students of all abilities from the age of eight through adult. Students of all ages, levels and
abilities have praised the simple step-by-step instructional approach. This site is respected as a
resource for fine art educators, home schooling programs, and educational facilities throughout
the world.
LEARN-TO-DRAW BOOKS BY BRENDA HODDINOTT
Drawing for Dummies (2003): Wiley Publishing, Inc., New, York, NY, this 336 page book
is available on various websites and in major bookstores internationally.
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Drawing People (2004): Winner of the Alpha-Penguin
Book of the Year Award 2004, Alpha - Pearson Education – Macmillan, Indianapolis, IN,
this 360 page book is available on various websites and in major bookstores internationally.