Notan is a Japanese word meaning dark-light. Originally, it was used as a pure design principle working with two values-white
and black-where black is negative space and white is positive. The purest notan is the Yin Yang.
In contemporary realistic painting, we have adapted that principle to represent light and shadow in a composition: all in shadow is represented in black, all not in shadow is shown in white.
By making this initial observation and determination, we have a head start towards interpreting our images as we see them rather than struggling to determine what values they contain.
With few exceptions, all that is in shadow will fall within value ranges of 10 to 5 and all not in shadow will fall within 5 to 1. Study the scales to the right of this photo and compare to the values within the
photo to get the point.
Once you get the hang of how this works, you will know that when you are working in any shadow area, no value will be lighter than 5 and when working in a not-in-shadow area, no value will be darker than 5. You can use
any color scheme under the sun and it will read right to the human eye.
You can change the intensity... You can change the hue... As long as you keep the value relationship, the sky is the limit. You can access the archive of all my newsletters at anytime by going HERE. |
|
|
|
