Postive negative notan

Positive/ Negative Flip Out!

• Notan, the Japanese word for the interaction between dark and light. Creating a black and white collage out of a simple square, and learning about positive and negative space.

• "Notan" is the term used by the Japanese to express "light-dark" as an element of design. In the west we use separate terms such as positive space and negative space, dividing the idea of light-dark into separate components.

• On paper it is easy to see that dark shapes cannot exist without a surrounding area of white. White shapes cannot exist without dark to define it. The two elements are really one. This is an eastern concept of yin-yang that each is what the other is not.

Assignment• Start with an 8”x9” piece of black paper• Using an x-acto knife, or scissors if you are more

comfortable with them, begin cutting out shapes that hinge to the original paper.

• As you cut each piece then you can re-cut into the piece to create more interest and detail.

• It is much easier if all of your cut pieces hinge together so nothing gets lost.

• You want there to be a balance between the black paper and the background – neither should dominate

• You will glue it all carefully to 12”x18” paper

Basic design examplesYours will be more complex

Can you see where each piece was located on the original paper

Cut pieces out and arrange on a larger piece of white paper – ALL PIECES MUST BE USED