Adventures in Paint & Pastel
Posted on 6/8/2020 3:37:40 PM
By Sharon Will
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"Last Purchase of the Day" 14.5 x 11.5 pastel - Sold
The Thumbnail - As artists we do small sketches to work out our design. And that has been my personal history, using either pencil or markers and keeping it limited to 3-4 values. That value sketch has been golden for me to explore the big shapes and value placement for a strong design. It serves as my road map when I get off track in the painting process. The design or composition after all is the foundation to a good painting and should have at its core a strong abstract design.
Websters definition for a Notan is "The combination of lights and darks especially as used in Japanese art: The design or pattern of a work as seen in flat areas of dark & light values only."
The Yin Yang symbol traditionally stands for this light-dark Harmony. Not necessarily equal amounts of each, but balanced. The Japanese used this light and dark expression from the 1600's, and it made its way to the west after 1850's. Some Notans include gray as an element, others just black and white. But the idea is still the same, braking the design down to its simplest form of flat graphic shapes and contrasts.
I never made the connection with the importance of a Notan until working on the thumbnails for a painting "Last Purchase of the Day" from photo reference.
Photo reference Notan "Last Purchase of the Day" pastel
This street scene at dusk served as my learning curve (above left). I struggled with simplifying the horizontal shapes at the base of the building, or the first floor. There were so many "things" going there all in darker values. Up to this point I was familiar with a Notan, but have never used it. So I reduced the scene down to just black & white shapes, and when I did that, I saw all the strong verticals already there with the building, street poles, windows, road stripes (above middle). It was clear the first floor needed to be a horizontal shape in a light value to contrast those verticals and help point our attention to the figure. The light bulb went off for me!
Above right is the completed "Last Purchase of the Day" 14.5" x 11.5" pastel.
Many Grey Scales are divided up into 10 gradations. For a Notan, the values white through #5 is represented as white, while #6 through black is represented as black. My personal handmade grey scale is 9 values with an obvious middle grey (below). You can swing that middle grey either way on the black/white scale, but I tent to include it as a black.
Below are a few paintings along with their value thumbnails and a Notan that I used in the composition process.
For "Beach Party" (below) I started out with a value thumbnail.
(A) represents how the shapes actually looked in this sunset.
(B) shows the sky shape inverted. But at this point I still couldn't tell which worked better, so I did a Notan of each. 
(A) Beach Party Thumbnail (B) Beach Party Thumbnail
Notan "Beach Party" 18 x 24 Oil
"Beach Party" Notans (above left). It's when I saw this, it was then obvious to me that the lower one or (B) showing the inverted sky shape, portrayed more variety and directional movement, instead of the repeating shapes in the same direction as in (A).
(above right) The finished "Beach Party" 18" x 24" Oil on canvas.
Notan "Winter Farm Tracks" 12 x 18 pastel
"Winter Farm Tracks" Above left Notan, and finished pastel 12 x 18 on right. Color and intensity can often be a confusing element in seeing value and design. So the Notan helped me break it down without the distraction of color.
WHAT to look for in a Notan? Shapes, Movement and Dominate Value!
First I look for a variety of interesting shapes - no two shapes alike. And though not a hard rule, I have found that usually the largest shape has the center of interest in it or is connected to it. I look for the dark shapes to connect to each other, as well as the light shapes connecting with each other. That connection creates movement to take the viewer through the image, as well as strengthens and simplifies the design. Lastly I look for a dominance of one of the values. More black than white shapes, or vice versa. The concept of dominance also holds true for a 3 value thumbnail too. For example if the the largest value quantity is middle values, then lights and darks should be in a descending quantity. Again, just like shapes, no two value quantities should the same, which makes for a more interesting design.
"Winter Farm Tracks" (above) has more white than black shapes, as well as the darks are connecting, so I felt it held up well.
Notan "Shadows" 11 x 14 Pastel
"Shadows" 11" x 14" pastel (above) was easier for me to see it's design in the pencil thumbnail. But then doing the Notan helped me redesign the land and snow shapes even further from what they were in reality, creating a more stylized flow and movement.
Notan "Dinner Time" 12 x 16 Oil
"Dinner Time" 12 x 16 (above) and "Big Red" 11 x 14 (below) are both examples of compositions where there were a lot of shapes and busyness in middle values going on. The Notan me helped rearrange those shapes, decide which to eliminate, simplify and then assign a light or dark to them.
Notan "Big Red" 11 x 14 Oil
Since that first practice with the Notan, it has continued to be a valuable and powerful tool for me to work out compositions, taking them to the core of their simplicity; shape and value. I'll also use it as test for a 3-4 value thumbnail to see how it stands up to being reduced to black and white. Thanks to the Notan, I believe it has helped strengthen my eye for design.
