The overall concept of Notan can be broadly defined as harmonious interaction between lights and darks. . . but actually achieving a Notan structure can be accomplished in two different ways.
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notan
Sometimes it’s fun to use a painting strategy that’s foreign to our usual approach. It refreshes the mind, recharges the...
The Japanese concept of "notan" is a compositional strategy based around seeing shapes of light and dark. A good notan drawing will simplify the full range of a subject’s values into a powerful black and white design.
Painting in a state of “flow” is wonderful. You’re happily working, feeling the magic of a painting that is coming...
Chalk pastels (also called “soft” or “dry” pastels) are known for their brilliant colors, but sometimes all that color can...
Sometimes it only takes a small adjustment or two to improve your paintings. I’m sure I’m not the only artist who has looked back on their work from years ago and thought, “If only I had done this or that differently, the results would have been so much better.” We...
With watercolors, it’s not always easy to achieve pure, intense colors and a full range of values. Worse yet, when you scan a watercolor painting for reproduction, you're likely to lose even more of the color and contrast.
Value is a term we use to refer to lights and darks, which are arguably the most important of all the visual elements. Without value variations we could not even see the subject - in pitch black or blinding light or even thick gray fog, for example, we see nothing.