THE ELEMENTS OF ART The Elements are the “WHAT” in a work of art; the Principles are “HOW” they’re used LINESHAPEFORMSPACECOLORVALUETEXTURE

Space is an element of art. Space is the area between, around, above, below, or within objects. Shapes and forms—positive space—are defined by the areas— negative space—around and within them. SPACE

In sculpture, positive space is the object and negative space is everything else! In painting, positive space is the object and negative space is everything else!

Mark Rothko Red, Orange, Tan, and Purple, 1949 Oil on canvas 84 1/2 x 68 1/2 inches In some art, it’s easy to see positive and negative space. Positive and negative space is ambiguous in some art. Rembrandt Self Portrait, 1660 Oil on canvas

Here is a print, “Banishment”:

Here it is, reversed: “Banishment”:

If I further remove detail: You are more able to see the negative (black) space.

In this picture there is a foreground, and middle ground, and background *The foreground is the man in the space suite. *The middle ground is the planet. *And the background is the shining sun/star.

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