Do you recognize this subject?

 

You might call it a painting of shadows because in one sense, that's what it is. It is a notan of a this scene.

If the concept of notan is new to you, it is a Japanese word meaning dark/light.  The yin yang symbol is a true notan.

The original concept is about light and dark being a part of a whole, unified rather than being opposites, where one does not exist without the other and one is equally as important as the other.  Artists are discovering notan as an ideal way to unify light and shadow in their paintings.  If you've been receiving these Tips for some time, you'll recognize this painting of mine.  What you might not know is that it is a painting built on the notan above.

 

Notan works for composing paintings because it synthesizes all the subject matter's shadows into a single dark, leaving all that is not in shadow synthesized in a single light.  By interpreting the notan so that color values used fall within a designated value range, the artist is free to create an infinite number of interpretations of the subject. No matter what colors are used, the painting will communicate light and shadow.  Here's a value scale I created to show that designation.

Using the notan concept, an artist can convert a painting that might otherwise be a hymn into a symphony because it allows as many, if not more, variations as a composer of music uses to create the symphony.

In a few days, we will be releasing a video, free to everybody, in which I teach how to construct a notan and how to use it in a painting. I'll send you an email to let you know when it is ready.   Meanwhile, this week's video lesson, Guiding the Eye with Hue, is now available at the eStore.