Lecture: The Power of Negative Space

Lecture: The Power of Negative Space - A Look at Guernica

Seeing negative space. Why is it important to drawings?

Let's examine Picasso's painting Guernica (1937) for the power of the negative space. The negative space of the painting is almost as strong as the positive forms and shapes.

Picasso's use of negative space is as powerful, as his use of positive space (the objects). Drawing Lession

Guernica - Pablo Picasso, 1937 Reina Sofia National Museum - Madrid

Picasso's use of negative space is as powerful as his use of positive space (objects). In the example below, the black areas represent the negative space and the white areas the positive space. His use of negative space is so strong that it is almost equal to the positive space. These interesting negative space shapes add an additional level of strength to the image.

Negative space to positive space