The Black and White of It
Yesterday I taught a class on the Japanese concept of notan (NO-tahn) , meaning 'black/white'. I find this means of analyzing the underlying distilled abstraction of a composition to be quite valuable. It gets me back to basics, where I can make decisions that aren't muddied up with lots of useless details or frivolous color. Just simple black and white.
The idea is to
Here are a few of my studies, done about the size of a business card using an 8b pencil.
The idea is to
- use no line
- keep spaces between shapes unequal
- establish a primary value (50% or more), a secondary value, and an accent value
If you create a good underlying value structure and stick with it to the end, you'll have a strong painting when you're finished. It's the same in life. The word of God is the value structure you need to stick with... as the old hymn says:
On Christ the solid Rock I stand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
Here are a few of my studies, done about the size of a business card using an 8b pencil.
And another composition:
Great examples Deborah...thanks for posting these!
ReplyDeleteLittle by little I am understanding notan better. Thanks for this lesson!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, David and Sara. Thanks for your comments, too.
ReplyDeleteI find I need to move fast to see well, and the limitation of only three or four values strengthens the simplification of shapes.
Thanks for this lesson!
ReplyDeleteI am understanding the importance of notan more and more. I think the "fast", get it down is important: as that first, rapid getting down makes you simplify! If I doodle around too much, putting in lines like a coloring book then fill them in, I miss the real idea of the value shapes. I was using four different shade of markers. But, the time it took to get to the next marker, decide etc. I missed getting the real value shapes.
The "size of a business card" is a great one!
Simple: we all know it and can just skip thinking about size until later in the process when I get to planning the exact painting.