image essay #6...positive/negative space

This composition is "Hands of Ataaneous" by Salvador Dali. This is a great example of positive and negative space because for the most part, the plane is broken up very evenly. The hands and the scene between them is the positive space, and the main focus of this composition. The negative space is the rest of the composition that is basically the background.

Negative space is just as important as the positive space. It is needed in the composition to balance out the piece. Like positive shapes, there also are dominant, subordinate, and accentual negative spaces. In some compositions, the negative space is actually more dominant than the positive space. In this piece that is not the case, but the negative space is still crucial. Negative space is everywhere. There is also more negative space in the scene between the hands and even between the fingers.

It is also interesting to notice that the basic shapes of the positive and negative spaces are all triangles. These shapes of the spaces cause the piece to have a sense of unity.