Negative Space Drawing

For a while now I have been intending to do a drawing using negative space but it has taken me a while to make myself do a picture. I have forced myself to do a picture and here it is.
Before I show you the picture I know that some of you may be wondering what is negative space and negative space drawing is. Negative space drawing is when you draw an object by not looking at the lines and drawing the shape itself but rather by drawing the parts that aren't there, like the hole in a cup handle. You draw the area around the object and not the object itself. It is a bit difficult to explain so hopefully a few images displaying this will make it clearer.

First off all you need an object with plenty of spaces and gaps in it, like the chair photo below.

Next you start drawing the spaces and gaps that appear in the shape and not the object, see below for an example. You can choose to fill the gaps or leave them blank .

  Below you can see more of how it should begin to look

And finally we have the finished image.

I would like to point out to you that although I did draw the chair in the photo above (which I took myself) I did not draw it from the same angle which is why my picture looks a bit different. You will have noticed that the two left legs are slightly curved, obviously my brain didn't see the shapes exactly as straight lines with curves in them.

When doing this type of drawing you are not trying to draw the object exactly as it looks, only the shapes that make it. With a bit more practice I could do a better job than the one in the image above which is riddled with flaws. But that is the point of this blog, if you look at the URL it is not 'Chris' Painting and Drawing Blog' it's 'Becoming a Better Artist'. The whole point is to improve and in order you improve you must lack skill. With a few more attempts I could create a much better picture and if yours isn't perfect then don not worry. Just try again another time.

Negative space drawing makes the brain focus on the shapes of an object and not the object itself, this should allow you to begin creating better pictures because the brain sees what is there and not what it thinks is there. Developing an understanding of the shapes that form objects allows you to begin making up images by giving you a base knowledge of the shapes and forms that  objects possess.

Now that that's done it's time to stick it up on my Wall of Progression.