What is Japanese Notan?

Notan (pronounced no-tan) is a Japanese term that means ‘light and dark harmony/balance. ‘ It’s a design concept that looks at how light and dark elements of a composition interact only using black and white. Notan is the underlying value structure of your painting.

What is Notan collage?

Introduction to Notan, the Japanese word for the interaction between dark and light. Creating a black and white collage out of a simple square, and learning about positive and negative space. Lesson Objectives: 1.

Is Notan Japanese or Chinese?

“Notan is a Japanese word meaning dark-light. The word, however, means more than that. The principle of Notan as used here must be further defined as the interaction between positive (light) and negative (dark) space.

What is the most familiar symbol that symbolizes Japanese Notan art?

circular yin and yang form
Notan is a term that refers to the Japanese idea of balanced light and dark areas in a composition. One of the most familiar symbols illustrating this concept is the circular yin and yang form from Eastern philosophy.

Why is notan important?

Why Is Notan Important? It is important in a painting because it is the fundamental building block of your design. It is the abstract design of the painting in its simplest form – without any color. You need a strong notan design as a framework for building the rest of the design of the painting.

Who invented Notan?

Arthur Wesley Dow
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*.

Why is Notan art important?

It is important in a painting because it is the fundamental building block of your design. It is the abstract design of the painting in its simplest form – without any color. You need a strong notan design as a framework for building the rest of the design of the painting.

Who invented notan?

Why is notan art important?

What is a Notan drawing?

“Notan” is a Japanese term referring to exploring the harmony between light and dark. Artists use Notan sketches to explore the composition elements of a scene and the relationship of major shapes. A good Notan drawing simplifies a scene into three values… dark, light and halftone.