Lecture 6 Reflections: Negative and Positive Space

Before we started on the main discussion of this week proper, we did a recap of Week’s 3 lecture, on Golden Mean and the Golden Ratio. Again, we are reminded of how these ratios are so ubiquitous they are like a fundamental measure of everything, whether it’s in the arts, science or nature.

This week, we focused on Visual Elements and Principles, as well as Positive and Negative spaces.

Visual Elements and Principles

Points

• Depending on the visual configuration of elements, can make space (in which the points are contained) look stable, heavy, or crowded

Line

• Series of connected points in a single dimension
• Can be Open-Path Lines and Closed-Path Lines (all vector points are connected)
• Lines can be gentle and soothing, or angry and energetic too, depending on the intensity, texture, and movements of the line

Shape/Plane

• Flat
• Has area but no depth

Form

• Single figure reduced to essential mass, shape and contours
• Provides general information about something without identifying its individuality (can be distinguished from one that is unlike it e.g. a human form can be distinguished from a kangaroo form, but we cannot identify it as a specific individual)
• Can be in 3D also, with empty spaces
• An example given was Henry Moore’s Reclining Figure

Tonal Values

• How light or dark a colour is, therefore each colour can have a variety of tones
• Black and white colours invites us into a suggested world, and makes us want to participate in its secrets

Negative and Positive Space

Chiaroscuro

• Use of dark and light shapes, and contrast, it is considered a harsher form of Tenebrism
• One classic use of Chiaroscuro is in Sin City (a cult graphic, film noir, and graphic novels (popularised by Frank Miller)
• Lines forming shape forming a story and giving meaning
• Using deceptively simple compositions to create narrative and meaning

Tenebrism

• Style of painting developed by Spanish and Italian artists characterised by predominantly dark tones and shadows with dramatically contrasting effects of light
• Refers to candlelight
• Use to create depth on a 2-dimensional canvas

Examples given in the Lecture

• The Nativity at Night by Geertgen tot Sint Jans
• The Sin by Franz Von Stuck

• Use lighting to create dramatic impression
• Mysterious and 3d quality, as if subject is emerging from the shadows

In a monochromatic art piece or work with a limited colour spectrum, one must be able to use tonal variation and contrast to elicit the forms of objects and to engagingly create depth, dynamism and to set the overall tone and mood of the piece. However, from further reading I also found out that there’s another reason for the use of negative, positive spaces and Chiaroscuro – many film noirs in the 1940s and 50s only had a small budget and had to creatively think about how to use a limited budget to create an effective mise en scene. This is the reason I think why film noir uses Chiaroscuro and Tenebrism methods so extensively, and also why I have so much respect for the designers and cinematographers of this style. In a sense, the work of cinematographer’s in the 40s and 50s also reflect the reality of a more traditional art form and how to creatively work within limits. In digital art and painting now, the work you can creatively produce is confined within the tools of the computer interface, but in the real world it is boundless, the only thing that can possibly hold you back is your creativity. And it’s remarkable how the cinematographers in the early heydays managed to pioneer and popularise a new form of lighting by turning an obstacle into an opportunity.

Citizen Kane (1941). Image Reference: Malloy, T. (2012). What is... Chiaroscuro? Retrieved from: https://terrymalloyspigeoncoop.com/2012/12/03/what-is-chiaroscuro/

Nonetheless, modern cinematographers have also further expanded the use of negative and positive spaces, and Chiaroscuro in films. In Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln (2012), there was great use of Chiaroscuro as an effective lighting technique to convey a range of meanings from the inner turmoil of a character to sense of foreboding and apprehension.

Lincoln (2012). Image Reference: Malloy, T. (2012). What is... Chiaroscuro? Retrieved from: https://terrymalloyspigeoncoop.com/2012/12/03/what-is-chiaroscuro/

I have also chanced upon this painting of a mermaid done by Victor Nizovtsev, a Russian artist and illustrator of children’s books. I think there had been use of Tenebrism, with the strong diffusing material of the lanterns creating a warm and soft light on the Mermaid’s body and scales, creating a satisfying, beautiful, and ethereal look with a lower intensity and softer fall-off.

This has been a really engaging lecture and it’s interesting to see how Chiaroscuro and Tenebrism are such broad terms that have several different, yet mind-boggling applications from past to present. Understanding these techniques have allowed me to understand how outlines, shadows, tones etc would create an identifiable element. This in turn would very much help me in my tutorial exercise of positive and negative spaces, as well as in the subsequent stenciling and paper cutting exercises.