Pack a Punch with Black with White!

Brilliant white and bold black -- they pack power!

Why?  In any artwork, first and foremost, the attention of viewers swings to the area of strongest contrast -- where the darkest value abuts the lightest.

This value scale shows black at the far left. Its opposite value is white.  (Near-black "counts" visually as black and near-white "counts" visually as white.)

So, in developing an artwork, when you position the most extreme dark value (black or near-black) next to the most extreme light value (white or near-white) ... the result?  Visual energy!  

Visual energy fascinates viewers enough to keep them looking at the artwork; its energy coaxes the gaze to travel thru the entire piece before sliding away.  This can happen without our being actively aware of it.  Our brains are wired this way.

Moving forward ...

6" x 6" Bulbs and Banners s955 has made prints on 3 separate backgrounds that were placed together in a series of experimental combinations, all to be shown below.

The topmost print below was made on a black-and-white photo of bare tree branches extending shadows across snow.  Think outside the box when looking for backgrounds for your prints!  Why not use old photo print-outs?

Above:  I made the center print on sturdy gray paper previously scribbled with black and white markers.  

Under that gray print lies a collage that incorporates a partial print.  The area behind that print is paper I'd thickly coated with white acrylic paint before scribbling into it with a shish kabob stick.  Directly below is a close-up of that collage....

Before adhering my original 3-piece arrangement to a black matboard background, I experimented. (After going through all experiments, I'll use heavy-body or extra-heavy-body matte gel medium as my adhesive to cement collage elements into place.)

First experiment:  I flipped the collection 180 degrees.  Then I added other elements; below, the new elements are cut from a print made years ago with a homemade printing plate. 

Below:  Another experiment.  This time, the additional elements are cut from the original drawing I made in creating my design that became 9" x 12" Clustered Leaves L433.

Another experiment:  I removed the collage from the 3-print collection and placed it on an entirely different background....

The above background is Far East novelty paper -- white paper machine-stitched with gold thread in swirling patterns.  It struck me that the squiggled lines behind my print resembled these gold swirls.

Next up, still another experiment.  From the 3-print collection, I removed the print made on a black-and-white photo of bare tree branches stretching shadows across snow. I placed it on a new background which I'd printed multiple times with 6" x 6" Sassy Spray s465.  In making those prints, I'd used black acrylic ink on white paper.  Before choosing that paper as experimental background for the kelp print, I coated it with zinc white acrylic paint.  Since zinc white is translucent, the effect was to turn black and white to gray, as you see here ....

What prompted me to experiment with this alternate background? Once again I was struck with a similarity between the tree branch shadows and the patterns created by multiple prints of Sassy Spray s465.  To my eye, the combination of similar patterns creates unity across the entire artwork.  Unity holds everything together.

6" x 6" Sassy Spray s465

To wrap up today's post, I suggest you 

(1) notice the way value contrast can liven up an artwork and

(2) avoid marrying the first idea that comes down the pike. Before committing to something with adhesive, experiment with other options. It's fun!  Your brain cells will dance!

The bold look of black linked with white will continue in my next post, tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by here today! To scroll thru the pages of my stencils and masks at StencilGirlProducts.com, please start here.

Note: My go-to method of print-making is to use a sponge brayer loaded with heavy-body acrylic paint. (Somewhat similar results can happen with Gelli Plate prints.)  

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