About Notan Drawing

Notan is a Japanese word meaning dark-light. The principle of Notan is the interaction between positive (light) and negative (dark) shape.

The idea of this interaction in Notan is embodied in the ancient Eastern symbol of the Yin and the Yang, which consists of mirror images, one white and one black, revolving around a point of equilibrium. Here the positive and negative areas together make a whole created through a unity of opposites that have equal and inseparable reality. In the Yin and the Yang symbol, as in Notan, opposites complement, they do not conflict. Neither seeks to negate or dominate the other, only to relate in harmony. It is the interaction of the light and the dark, therefore that is the most essential component of Notan drawing. The Notan concept is to develop positive white designs into negative black shapes and then reverse the design process. Ideally, the finished artistic work should be 50% light and 50% dark creating equilibrium and balance.

We put thirty spokes together and call it a wheel; 

But it is on the space where there is nothing that

the utility of the wheel depends. 

We turn clay to make a vessel; 

But it is on the space where there is nothing that

the utility of the vessel depends. 

We pierce doors and windows to make a house; 

and it is on these spaces where there is nothing that

the utility of the house depends. 

Therefore, just as we take advantage of what is, we should

recognize the utility of what is not. 

-Lao Tse 600 B.C.

To understand Notan, therefore, requires a special effort on our part; it demands a totally new orientation to seeing. The effort is well worth the while if it enables us to see Notan -the basis of all good design -as it exists all around us.