Chris Harvey’s notan study in preparation for his painting 6th Floor Vancouver Library
Popularized in Sir Arthur Wesley Dow‘s book on Composition (1899), Notan is a Japanese design concept based on simplified light and dark shapes. The idea is that composition is based on value, and by waiting to introduce the distractions and complications of color and detail, an artist can work with clarified light/dark shapes to refine the underlying balance in a composition. Below are examples of notan by Sir Arthur Wesley Dow.
Create a light/dark study of a scene or abstract design. Consider composition. Fill the paper, and the space around objects. Decide what goes light and what goes dark. Feel free to change what goes light and what goes dark to improve the composition. Avoid getting distracted by line and shading, avoid sneaking in an extra tone. This is about light/dark shapes only. Materials are artists’ choice.
Thankyou for sharingyourwork! I love seeing these artworks online. People who post to Instagram or on Facebook will be eligible to win prizes (see details). No matter where you post, tag us so we can find it. #seattleartistleague #salchallenge #notan
The June SAL Challenge: Creative exercises once a day for 30 days.
The Migration Series In 1941, Jacob Lawrence, then just twenty-three years old, completed a series of sixty paintings about the Great Migration, the mass movement of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North. Lawrence’s work is a landmark in the history of modern art and a key example of the way that …
Hey Artists! For the first day of our creative challenge, the suggestion was blind contour self portraits. As of 10pm Jan 1, there are 100 scribble-fabulous self portrait posts on Instagram with the #30SAL. How exciting! Now here’s your second…. Barbara Cooney Barbara Cooney (August 6, 1917 – March 10, 2000) was an American writer and …
This was the final challenge – the 30th Challenge for 30 Challenges in January! The final prompt was to create an asymmetrical portrait. This suggestion was designed to push a portrait drawing – something that can frequently cause us to tense up trying to get things perfect – into something more bold, individual, compositionally dynamic, …
Charity Lynn Baker is an artist living and working in New York. She’s been drawing a lot lately. Her dream-like narrative scenes sometimes remind me of Marc Chagall’s, only Charity’s are more grounded. Formally trained in architecture, when asked about her compositions, she remarked that she likes humans and she likes geometry. Her drawings are …
SAL Challenge: Notan
[image_with_animation image_url=”9927″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”]
Chris Harvey’s notan study in preparation for his painting 6th Floor Vancouver Library
Popularized in Sir Arthur Wesley Dow‘s book on Composition (1899), Notan is a Japanese design concept based on simplified light and dark shapes. The idea is that composition is based on value, and by waiting to introduce the distractions and complications of color and detail, an artist can work with clarified light/dark shapes to refine the underlying balance in a composition. Below are examples of notan by Sir Arthur Wesley Dow.
[image_with_animation image_url=”9928″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”]
Create a light/dark study of a scene or abstract design. Consider composition. Fill the paper, and the space around objects. Decide what goes light and what goes dark. Feel free to change what goes light and what goes dark to improve the composition. Avoid getting distracted by line and shading, avoid sneaking in an extra tone. This is about light/dark shapes only. Materials are artists’ choice.
Thank you for sharing your work! I love seeing these artworks online. People who post to Instagram or on Facebook will be eligible to win prizes (see details). No matter where you post, tag us so we can find it. #seattleartistleague #salchallenge #notan
The June SAL Challenge: Creative exercises once a day for 30 days.
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Jacob Lawrence Migration Series
The Migration Series In 1941, Jacob Lawrence, then just twenty-three years old, completed a series of sixty paintings about the Great Migration, the mass movement of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North. Lawrence’s work is a landmark in the history of modern art and a key example of the way that …
30SAL Challenge: Chanticleer
Hey Artists! For the first day of our creative challenge, the suggestion was blind contour self portraits. As of 10pm Jan 1, there are 100 scribble-fabulous self portrait posts on Instagram with the #30SAL. How exciting! Now here’s your second…. Barbara Cooney Barbara Cooney (August 6, 1917 – March 10, 2000) was an American writer and …
LAST DAY of 30SAL Faves: Asymmetrical Portrait
This was the final challenge – the 30th Challenge for 30 Challenges in January! The final prompt was to create an asymmetrical portrait. This suggestion was designed to push a portrait drawing – something that can frequently cause us to tense up trying to get things perfect – into something more bold, individual, compositionally dynamic, …
Humans and Geometry; drawings by Charity Baker
Charity Lynn Baker is an artist living and working in New York. She’s been drawing a lot lately. Her dream-like narrative scenes sometimes remind me of Marc Chagall’s, only Charity’s are more grounded. Formally trained in architecture, when asked about her compositions, she remarked that she likes humans and she likes geometry. Her drawings are …