Negative Space & Still Life

During this classroom assignment, we were to draw the negative space of a still life put in front of us. The purpose was to be able to see things in life, all around us, and be able to see the negative space as well as the positive.

Using contour lines, we were only supposed to draw the negative shapes, and not the positive details in the still life itself. Once we accomplished that, we then were to experiment using lines in the negative space. In doing this, you can still see what the still life was in a way, even though there were no added details to the positive space.

What I decided to focus on in the still life was the frame, the stool, the lamp cord, the large and small pottery. When you look at my drawing, you can see the negative outline of them easily once you know what was included in the still life. The negative space is filled with crosshatching and fluid like lines. I wanted to show two values, dark and light in the negative space.