extra research

Quick note for your parents:

Parent supervision suggested: art can be very expressive and sometimes surprising in content. I encourage parents to look these up with the kids and make it a fun activity, together!

Now that you understand the basics of positive/negative space

Let’s explore some design and art theory!!

You’ve already learned some cool tricks negative space can do, like create a focal point, outline the subject, tell your eyes where to go, and tell a story!

But guess what, THERE’S MORE!

The relationship between positive and negative space is like magic.

It can do crazy things and make us see something completely differently. It’s the basis for optical illusion!!

Let’s test it out!

Find something in your house that has high contrast black and white. Like a calendar, a piece of art, or a tv (turned off) in front of a white wall. Now that you’ve found it, star at it for 10 seconds. Try not to blink!

Now, close your eyes and what do you see? The inverse of what you just looked at!

When your eyes are closed, for a split second, the object that is black in real life should appear white and the white wall appears black. CRAZY, RIGHT?!

Here’s a similar trick! Look at the photo below and ask yourself, what do you see?

Is white the positive space or the negative space?

If black is the positive space, you might see a vase when you first look at the photo.

If the white is the positive space, you would see two faces.

Remember that positive AND negative space can both be main characters in a picture. Similarly, your mind can flip back and forth on which one is negative and which one is positive space. This is another RAD TRICK that artists use!

Do you ever look up at the sky and look for shapes of animals in the clouds? Investigate these photos in the same way. Do you see one thing when you focus on the darker color and a different thing when you focus on the lighter color?

Observe how the objects in the picture appear different when you shift your focus from one to the other.

This is a trick that has been used by artists and graphic designers for yeeeears. 

One of the artists most popular for this is MC Escher.

He is one of the most famous graphic designers. Much of his work uses positive and negative space in this way. Pay close attention when you look at his print titled “Sky and Water I” and also “Plane Filling I”

In these works, he uses positive and negative space in a way that makes you question which one is the object and which is the space around it? It’s a really interesting trick!!

Here are some other designers and artists who use the same effect: my pinterest board on positive/negative space