Using Negative Space

Have you ever struggled to draw accurate proportions when drawing your subjects?

When we draw, our eyes naturally focus on the subject at hand, right? Pretty common sense, but humor me for a second! Whether it’s a face, a figure, or an object, our time is spent concentrating on the proportions, perspective, and composition of our subject. But what about the space around them?

That’s where negative space comes in!

According to Maria Malandrino, instructor of the popular course, “Fundamentals of Drawing”, negative space is empty space! And there’s so much you can do with it! Its usefulness in design, composition, and storytelling is endless. Let’s see exactly what it is and how we can use it to improve our drawings!

What is Negative Space?

Negative space is essentially an empty area. It could be a blank white canvas in a contemporary museum, space around your main subject, or the space between different elements (i.e., two characters). Some feelings associated with negative space are peace, openness, and loneliness! 

Showing Contrast with Negative Space

If negative space is a wide area of space, the opposite of that would be clutter and busyness. The differences between the negative space and clutter can be used to show contrast in your storytelling!

For example, in a landscape, one can draw a group of trees on one side of the canvas and intentionally keep the other side of the canvas empty using a large field of grass. Depending on the angle of the painting, your viewer might feel at peace when looking at the field of grass in a similar way a traveler feels after reaching their beautiful destination. And the forest can hold a story of its own, such as a mysterious adventure. Maybe the traveler’s next destination!

Improving Your Proportions

Negative space isn’t just a tool for composition or storytelling. It can also be used as a drawing tool! Sometimes we focus so much on one area of our subject that our proportions get lost. To combat this, after you finish a sketch, double-check the proportions by jotting down the shapes of the negative space between each finger. Not only is this a great way to check the accuracy of the structure, but it also adds design to the area around your subject! Even when we’re only paying attention to the shape of our subject, our brains subconsciously pick up other subtle elements in our artwork, like the invisible shapes created by negative space!

Try This: Start a Sketch Using Negative Space!

Exercise your brain to think about negative spaces. Instead of starting your sketch by outlining your subject, try building your subject by outlining the shapes around it to increase your accuracy and attention to detail!

If you wish to learn more foundational art tips, access our FREE lessons on human proportions in Maria Lia Malandrino’s course, “Fundamentals of Drawing” Good luck, artists!