Space

Real space is three-dimensional. Space in a work of art refers to a feeling of depth or three dimensions. It can also refer to the artist’s use of the area within the picture plane. The area around the primary objects in a work of art is known as negative space, while the space occupied by the primary objects is known as positive space.

Positive and negative space
The relationship of positive to negative space can greatly affect the impact of a work of art. In this drawing, the man and his shadow occupy the positive space, while the white space surrounding him is the negative space. The disproportionate amount of negative space accentuates the figure’s vulnerability and isolation.

He Can No Longer at the Age of 98 by Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes Spanish, about 1819 – 1823

Some artists play with the reversal of positive and negative space to create complex illusions. The prints of M. C. Escher often feature interlocking images that play with our perception of what is foreground and what is background.

Bird/Fish MC Escher 1938

Three-dimensional space in two-dimensions
The perfect illusion of three-dimensional space in a two-dimensional work of art is something that many artists, such as this artist from the Dutch Golden Age, labored to achieve. The illusion of space is achieved through perspective drawing techniques and shading.

The Choir and North Ambulatory of the Church of Saint Bavo, Haarlem Pieter Jansz. Saenredam Dutch, November 1634

FANCY TERM – Trompe-l’œil (French for “deceive the eye”) is an art technique that uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects exist in three dimensions.

Fresco with trompe l’œil dome painted on low vaulting, Jesuit Church, Vienna, by Andrea Pozzo, 1703

Space in Sculpture

Refers to the area between, around, above, below, or within elements in a work of

art.Positive space is the part of the work that is filled with subject matter the actual physical forms making up the sculpture

Negative space is the empty space around and/or above, below, or within the sculpture. All sculptures have negative space surrounding them; only sculptures with hollows and voids within them have negative space intermixed with positive space within the form of the sculpture.