Circles of Light - Fylde: "empty" spaces tell a story

Thursday 19 September 2019

"empty" spaces tell a story - part 1: filling the void

Last week we made drawings from a still life comprising of crown green bowls. Towards the end of the session, it was questioned whether the "empty" space around the subject should be shaded in. Rather than try to explain what would happen if it was shaded in, I thought we would be experimental this week and find out.

The still life we worked from comprised of apples. [Those observant folk amongst you will spot a similarity to last week's subject.] The still life was drawn at the top of the paper allowing plenty of "empty" space below it. Where necessary, a horizontal line was added to enable the paper to be divided into two. [see first image below]

The "empty" space could then be filled either by drawing or adding images cut from a magazine. As the session progressed everyone went their own way from this starting point.

The results demonstrate how an "empty" space, once filled can have a huge impact on the original drawing. I say "empty" rather than empty because these spaces can be as important as the drawing itself. A space in a composition brings its own narrative to the work. more on this next week...

Lots of learning took place. The experimental work is below - some with surprising results.

Very well done everyone: as usual, you rose to the challenge!