If you are just starting art and design, it is easy to assume that your work is to fill up the blank page but in truth, you need to work with the blank page. An artwork/design is a combination of both positive and negative spaces on the page.

Negative space is the area around and between a subject. It is most evident when the space around a subject forms an interesting or artistically relevant shape. A popular example of this is seen in Rubin’s vase

A recurring message in art classes and tutorials is that as a beginning student, you should: “draw what you see not what you know”, this can be easily done by drawing with negative space. You have no previous knowledge of the negative space unlike the object itself, therefore you would have to dr...