Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Negative Space Exercises

 I sometimes doodle characters with the idea of using negative space between them. Negative space in general makes things read more clearly and it also helps me with character design. 

After I draw one character on a page I try to make the next one fit into the negative spaces of the other one's silhouette.  The more characters I draw on the page the more challenging it becomes to fit a new character between the negative spaces of the surrounding characters.

This forces me to draw shapes that I might not otherwise think of if I was just drawing straight ahead.

Here are some HB style animals as examples:





..and some random animals


..some humans












I've also been working on some beatnik mice. A friend suggested I call them "Squeakniks".


I put some on T shirts.
 


If you like any you can find them here: