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17th century, Art-cards, art-kartice, arte-txartelak, Atenção plena, awareness, Álainn ealaíne cártaí, Âge d'or de la peinture néerlandaise, オランダ黄金時代の絵画, サティ (仏教), ითვალისწინებენ ნახაზი, ध्यान में रखना ड्राइंग, सुंदर कला कार्ड, हस्तनिर्मित पोस्टकार्ड, จิตรกรรมยุคทองของเนเธอร์แลนด์, สติ, ແຕ້ມໃຈ, Beautiful art-ბარათები, Beautiful art-kartu, Beautiful Art-kort, Beautiful celf-gardiau, Bela arte-cards, Belega arto-kartoj, Bella art targetes, Bella arte della cartolina, Bella arte tarjetas, Belle art-cartes, bewus tekening, bewust tekening, Bukur art-kartat, cardiau post â llaw, cartões postais artesanais, cartes postales faites à la main, cartoline fatte a mano, cártaí poist lámhdhéanta, Ciente de desenho, Conciencia plena, Conștientă de desen, consciente de deseño, Consciente de dessin, Consciente de dibujo, 留意描画, 美しい芸術カード, 美丽的艺术卡, Dark or Light Backgrounds, dbalý kresba, dikkatli çizim, Drawing, Dutch Golden Age painting, Золотий вік голландського живопису, Золотой век голландской живописи, Имајући у виду цртежа, Красивий арт-карт, Красиво изкуство картички, Красивый арт-карт, Лепа арт-цардс, Открытки ручной работы, Прыгожы арт-карт, Сликарство од холандското златно доба, Убава уметност-картички, памятаць малюнак, паштоўкі ручной работы, eingedenk Zeichnung, el yapımı kartpostallar, Fermosa arte cards, Frumoasa artă-carduri, Güzel sanat-kartlar, Gjörhygli, Gražus menas Atvirukai, Gyönyörű art-kártyák, handgjorda vykort, handmade pocztówki, handmade postkarten, håndlagde postkort, håndlavede postkort, Ilus kunsti-kaardid, incəsənət-kartlar, 수제 엽서, Όμορφη τέχνης-κάρτες, Γνωρίζοντας σχέδιο, 아름다운 예술 카드, 주의 그림, kartolina handmade, kézzel készített képeslapok, Krásný art-pohlednice, Krásny art-pohľadnice, kuns-kaarte, Kunst-Karten, líníocht aireach, Lijepa umjetnost-razglednice, mane bildkartoj, mapag-alumana drawing, medveten ritning, memor tractionem, memoras desegno, Memore di disegno, Mengingat gambar, mindful tegning, mindfulness, minnug teikning, рачно изработени картички, ручно разгледнице, ръчно изработени картички, свесни цртеж, съпричастни рисунка, учитывая рисунок, Oandachttrening, opmærksomme tegning, Oppmerksomt nærvær, Painting, pamiętając rysunek, Pintura barroca als Països Baixos, Pintura del Siglo de oro neerlandés, Piękna sztuka-kartki, Pleine conscience, Pulchra es-cards, rhoncus postcards, ruční pohlednice, ručne razglednice, S vedomím kresba, sati, Schöne Kunst-Karten, Skaisti mākslas-kartes, smṛti, Smukke kunst-kort, tarjetas postales hechas a mano, Tietoisena piirustus, Tietoisuustaito, tudatában rajz, tynnu Mindful, وإذ تضع في اعتبارها الرسم, وعي تام, Vacker konst-kort, Vakker kunst-kort, Vestfirskt póstkort, Wakiyazingatia kuchora, zavedajoč risba, zehinli rəsm, 手作りのポストカード, 正念, 注意图, 注意圖, גלויות בעבודת יד, יפות אמנות כרטיסים, כאַנמייד פּאָוסטקאַרדז, מינדפול צייכענונג Prachtige Kunstkaarten, ציור מודע, שיין קונסט-קאַרדס. Handmade postcards, بطاقات بريدية اليدوية, جميلة أحدث بطاقات, حضور در لحظه, زیبا هنر کارت, طراحی و آگاه
I have been exploring the ‘Colored Pencil Painting Bible: Techniques for Achieving Luminous Color and Ultrarealistic Effects’ by Alyona Nickelsen with much interest. As a consequence I’ve done some thinking about dark and lighter backgrounds.
‘ (…) Busy backgrounds, filled with bright colours that compete with your focal point, will make your viewer tire quickly. There are a number of ways to avoid this potential pitfall. One of the most common solutions is to carefully consider the effects of negative space in you composition. Planned use of negative spaces can help to highlight your main idea- and in effect both unite and balance your composition’.
Nickelsen shows a drawing done by her with a black background and recommends; ‘ The strong black background creates a quite area, allowing the eye to glide playfully along the edges of the three pieces of fruit (….)’. I see this often: compositions with strong black backgrounds.
I see so many art blogs with black backgrounds and I am afraid I feel rather ‘negative’ when I see a potential lively background showed as a negative black space. It makes me think of what I have learned studying Golden Age floral art. The artists of that time started with dark backgrounds and it worked. Floral paintings were much admired. Nevertheless after a while lighter and deeper background became fashionable.
(Tulip, oil paint, by Paula Kuitenbrouwer)
I like to show a flower painting that has a dark background. The flower vase stands deep in the dark and there is a strong focus point. It is pretty but after a while you start to question: where is the flower vase positioned? I would like to walk around it, how would the back look? Wouldn’t it be pretty if the viewer (me) is able to imaginary walk around it without having the feeling to disappear into the night?
I agree with Nickelson that the eye needs a focus point. It need to be guided to the most outstanding or interesting part of a painting. But the mind can handle much more than a focus point; the mind likes to explore and wander. After being glued to the focus point my eyes need a horizon, a different perspective, a bit of an adventure. The Golden Age floral painters understood that and experimented with lighter backgrounds and far horizons.
The viewer needs a focus point, yes. But is he is also able to handle much more as long as the background is in harmony with the rest of the painting. Be aware. Don’t choose automatically. Consider all your options. Do you prefer darker or lighter backgrounds? And why?
Paula Kuitenbrouwer
Paula Kuitenbrouwer sells exquisite fine art cards of her drawings as well as reproductions, and of some drawings smaller business-, gift- or mummy-cards. See Purchase in the header for what is available as well as the price list. In case you like to commission Paula, contact her at mindfuldrawing@gmail.com
Interesting post Paula – I’ll highlight it on who’s made a mark this week?
Katherine, I would be honoured.
Paula
This is a great post… really interesting Paula! I find that so many times the negative space doesn’t get a thought. I particularly like dark backgrounds, because for me I like the mystery. As a botanical illustrator it makes a nice change too, as in the strict sense of botanical illustration the backgrounds are always kept white. I think it is time to experiment!
Thank you, Jessica, I’ve bookmarked your blog to enjoy your future drawings and experiments.
Many thanks for your comment.
I wish there was a way to show you my orchid drawing I call POTINARA…Hisako Akatsuka “Volcano Queen” from a photo I took at an Orchid and Butterfly Exhibit
at the Smithsonian done in half-color, half-grays and known as “Grisailles”. It’s on my website http://www.suzcreations.com. I think it works well, because my idea was to highlight the orchid, because I didn’t want to do an all-color background or draw just the orchid. I think the Grisailles works.
Suzanne, I had a look at your Pontinara and the background looks 3-dimensional. You can ‘walk’ around the orchid, see it in the front while the background is clearly positioned in the back.
Thank you for your comment and contribution to the discussion on dark or light backgrounds.