If we think in terms of Notan then we must always ask ourselves one single question “…is “it” to be included in the dark shape or the light shape?”  Since other options are eliminated our subject is defined in more dynamic terms.

In last week’s post I generally described what a notan is and how it works.  In this and future installments I will break the concept down in each of  the stages of a painting’s development, from concept to completion and show how notan’s strength of structure is carried through to the end. But first, a little more about American painter and respected instructor, Arthur Wesley Dow.....

.....In the late 1800’s Dow’s ideas were revolutionary.  American artists of the time were focusing on replicating the subjects of their paintings as they viewed them with little artistic interpretation. Most were primarily copies of a reality. Dow taught his students that the function of art is not to copy but rather to create through the elements of composition, i.e.: line, mass and color. His teachings have became the foundation upon which the movement in art in America is based today. With this said, let’s look more closely at what notan does for us.

The ultimate beauty of using the concept of notan in visual art is that artistic choices are greatly simplified which adds much strength to our thoughts and the resulting art works.  Even beginning students who usually shy away from planning and jump right into copying what they see benefit.  Inexperience restricts creative ability. The simplicity of the notan concept helps students  make clear quick choices in a direct way that allows creativeness to become intuitive based.  As an instructor, I've found, over the past several years,  that my students who use this concept, no matter their skill level, more quickly adapt to the idea of value and color contrasts in their work. For this reason, I see significant leaps in their understanding and knowledge of value and color as they progress with skill building. The learning curve is greatly enhanced.

  Subject photo                                                  Example A: Line Drawing of Subject

The Demonstration

 To begin, in this demonstration,  I have selected a group of buildings on a hill as my subject matter. While the photo has possibilities it is not perfect and I did several line drawings to determine a satisfying composition.  In this case, I am keeping the house and the small buildings to the left and grouping them with the large trees in the back into one simple shape.  I've eliminated the obscure buildings on the right and will add foliage there which will help to frame and give importance to the house.  The foreground zigzag is modified to improve entry into the subject. These decisions were made through a small series of line drawings   (only one, my final choice, is shown above).

    Example B: Notan                                                     Example C: Notan

In the next step I've created two differing notan's of my subject.  Each is composed in roughly the same size ratio as the canvas I will do the painting on. Normally, I would do more of these until I get one that appeals to my sense of design, balance and harmony in space division.  However, for the purposes of this demonstration I am showing only two. On the left in Example B note that the house shape is in light and in Example C it has been placed in dark.  This gave me the ultimate contrast for consideration in the focal point of my composition. Other differences include the background trees in #B are in dark and in #C in light. 

I felt that Example B gave a better sense of tying the foreground, middle-ground and background together than does Example C.  For this reason, I will, in the next phase,  begin to explore what color variations I can create using Example B before progressing into the final painting.

Further thoughts on designing with notans....

It is vitally important to understand that all middle values have to be placed in either dark or light in a notan. A  conscience decision must be made in deciding which catagory they will join. Make this decision first so all subject mid-value's are treated the same in each notan. By doing so we create a dominance of dark or light. This dominance creates a strong design structure that will hold up through the painting process and provides drama to the subject. Illustrators have used this trick since Dow to successfully capture their audience.

When looking at raw subject matter squinting is helpful as the shapes may be easier quantified into either dark or light for the first notan which is typically pretty much a copy of what one see's. Subsequent notan's become more creative as variations are created, usually defying what we originally saw as realitiy.

One final thought.....we humans are good at making things difficult.  If there is a hard way to do it we will find it.  In creating notan's we are forcing our minds to think simply and in shapes, not in line, detail and certainly not in complex layers of value. This may be difficult at first for some.  Don't give up on this concept. Practice helps and the outcome is much improved art works. 

 When creating a notan it is recommend that black markers or charcoal be used instead of a pencil.  Remember, the idea is to configure "shapes" into light or dark, not line. There is a tendency to begin drawing with a pencil or pointed object in hand and to think too small and to lean towards detail.  With a marker or charcoal stick we think more broadly and thus our marks are also broader which lend themselves to shape rather than line.

    Color Study of Example B

NEXT IN THE SERIES:  Color studies and placing color value shapes with notan.

 Nōtan (濃淡^?) is a Japanese design concept involving the play and placement of light and dark as they are placed next to the other in art and imagery.  Definition by Wikipedia.com 

The idea of Notan was presented to artists in the United States in the late 1800’s by artist and noted teacher, Arthur Wesley Dow in his book “Composition: A Series of Exercises in Art Structure for the Use of Students and Teachers”, published in 1899*.  Dow’s idea was to compose the elements of a subject with the tools of design rather than methodically copying what we see. This focus on a harmoniously composed subject rather than a copy of it was a brand new concept a hundred years ago but has become the backbone of composition and color usage in American illustration, print making and fine art today.

Notan for Summer Chores", created with oil on canvas, 2x3" actual size

I began teaching art over 30 years ago and learned a long time ago that breaking a concept down to its simplest form is the quickest way for a new idea to be understood quickly by students so it can be put it to good use. The value system as artist’s use it can be confusing to the unskilled and, over the years, I’ve seen students struggle to master it.  Some, unfortunately, never conquer it in their work.

Always searching for a better way to get ideas across, this past year I introduced the idea of notan into my classes with amazing results. Since then, I’ve seen the light bulb glow brightly time and again for students who in the past were not consistently utilizing value placement successfully.  Even novices who are newly introduced to the idea of value have quickly grabbed the concept through the use of notan.

The Power of Notan

The idea of notan brings simplicity to the arrangement of shapes and value/color harmony and in doing so adds great strength to an image.  Categorizing everything into light or dark abstraction without variations is simplicity in itself.  The great American artist, Georgia O’Keefe, once a student of Arthur Wesley Dow, commented that Dow’s method “could be used to make every aesthetic decision. It also provided an alphabet, so to speak, that could be arranged and rearranged, resulting in a great deal of individualism.” 

Personally, I find that creating several notan's of a subject more quickly establishes a composition that has dynamic visual strength than a whole series of studies utilizing several values.  I’ve been in the habit, for many years, of developing my compositions with thumbnails of 3 to 5 values.  While this worked well, it never created the straightforward strength of design that I experience now with fewer choices.  Notan forces me to quantify by putting more eggs in one basket, so to speak, thus establishing dominance.  It’s a simple concept with a hugely powerful impact.

Color study from notan for "Sunday Chores", 6x8" oil on canvas

In the example shown here, a notan was established from a photograph of the subject.  This simple plan immediately shows whether the design has strength or is flawed.   With only several decisions to make regarding the arrangement of the picture’s elements the design evolved successfully. As you can see in the notan regulated color study the strength of the design was not tempered or lost as color was added. The study retains the same strength as the black and white notan.

In next week’s blog post, I will show the photograph that the idea for this study came from and explain the compositional choices that were made in creating this design from the confusion of the photo and how color/value shapes were established using the concept of notan along with the final painting created from these beginnings.

Future Posts

If you have found this post of interest then you will want to follow this series on notan.  I’ll discuss in-depth and demonstrate with examples its use in composition and show the various ways it applies to value and color.  However, as always I strongly encourage all students to obtain further assistance by seeking good instruction from qualified instructors. Working alone is a long and uncertain path to creative excellence.  Working with a trusted instructor or mentor keeps you on point and moving forward on a well defined path.

Happy painting…

Sharon