There can be beauty in the space between things. Those shapes are called “negative” and they can help you draw the “positive” shapes of your subject.
Do you see the shape of the space that isn’t what you think you are painting or drawing?
These shapes can have evocative elegance and add to the rhythm and definition of your subject, but the primary reason to learn to observe them carefully is that by doing so you can much better see the shapes of the things you think of as your subject.
To assess negative shapes, ask yourself questions such as “What is the longest dimension?” or “What is the angle of this line?” Hold your pencil up in front of you to match the angle or measure the length compared to the width (details on how to do this will be covered in the next lesson).
