I’ve been reading “Appointment With Death” by Agatha Christie. By page 7 I was rooting for the murderer to go ahead and kill. It’s the villain who deservedly gets killed in this story. While reading I realized that I so strongly disliked the villain and rooted for her demise because of her cumulative (negative) effect upon other (positive) characters more than any one thing the villain said or did.
I realized again that in visual fine art a viewer reacts to the subject of the artwork because of the cumulative effects of the objects, colors, and shapes that surround the subject as much as they react to the subject itself.
There’s an art technique called “positive and negative space in art” where you pay as much attention to the negative spaces, the blank “air” spaces, that surround a subject as you pay to the positive spaces of that subject.
In reading this particular book by Agatha Christie I realize at a deeper level why the writers technique of “show don’t tell” is also true in fine art – we best understand, or perceive, a subject, from the surrounding elements.
I am a fan of crime fiction – having been introduced to Agatha Christie by my Granddad when I was a wee girl – and also of using negative space in artwork. I had never thought about the potential connection between the two. I love that and I love the way your mind works.
Lol!! Thank you so much for loving the way my mind works. I’ll keep sharing. 😉 Good for your Granddad for giving you such a good start!! I’ve seen some Agatha Christie based movies but until recently hadn’t read her books. I’m glad to be repairing that hole in my education. 😉 Hope your Thanksgiving is a fun one!