White space refers to the blank (white) area between written characters or graphic regions. It may also refer to, in visual arts, as negative space, the portions of a page left unmarked. In my art I haven't used much white paint or left a canvas blank in areas. It always seem to me to feel unfinished or like it was a mistake made. And the use of white as a highlight seems like such a cop out to the spectrum of colors created naturaly by highlights. The word 'negative' space it self isn't very appealing. Working mainly in acrylic and watercolor there are few times when the use of white seemed to work for me. In oils, white is used to add light. Oil painting is a process of adding light to dark layer after layer. Where in acrylic and, even more so, watercolor you are taking away light by adding paint layer by layer to cover up the light source, the paper or canvas.
So in fear of success I tend to cover up all the white. I've recently been giving up my control issue of domonation of white space and liking the results of the pure light with-in the painting. Keeping a cannel open to my soul, no vail of color. Allowing the lines to tell the story directed from my hand.
