LAYERED POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SPACE

Drawing skills can be enhanced with design practices with a pair of scissors. The free cutting of shapes encourages new and sometimes wonderfully unexpected forms which might never have been conceived by thinking only with a pencil. This exercise aimed to do just that and free students from their drawing inhibitions, giving plenty of time for experimentation.

A 6" X 9" construction paper can be cut on 1 side axis, both, and top and bottom if the background format allows. Above is a simple "single cut" into the left axis. The cut design (positive shape) is tuned over to the left and realigned to the axis. The white area is the negative space.

This demonstrates a "double cut" and follows the same beginning procedure described on the left. A large shape is cut, redesigned and cut again. The first shape (#1) is aligned to the left and the 2nd (#2) aligned to the axis on the right. Now, positive and negative shaped spaces are on both sides.

This display adds a "triple cut" added on to the right axis of the same large 22" x 28" board. It is created by cutting the first shape twice and alternating shapes from side to side and realigning them on the axis. The left top and bottom shapes are the single and double cuts previously shown above.

After many practices with 6" x 9" newsprint, students were required to show single, double triple and interval cuts (next page) on a full sheet of computer paper, labelling each. The 3 small shapes to the right show all cuts using both the right and left axis.