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Notan is a Japanese term which literally means "light dark harmony". Artists use "notan studies" to explore different arrangements of light and dark elements in a painting, without having the distraction of other elements like color, texture and finer details.
In practice, this involves painting the darks with black and the lights with white (known as a 2 value notan). Sometimes, gray is also used as an intermediate value (3 or 4 value notans). A notan with more than 4 values is pretty much just a value study.
Below is an example of a 2 value notan study of James Whistler's painting:
Notice how simple the notan is? The detail is simplified dramatically and all that is left is this the light and dark elements.
A mistake many artists make with notan studies is using too much detail, but that is missing the whole point of the notan study in my opinion.
How To Use Notan In Painting
Every painting has some kind of balance between light and dark elements. Sometimes there is a strong clash between lights and darks (like in the Renaissance paintings), and sometimes it is more subtle (like in the Impressionist paintings).
However, the balance of light and dark elements in a painting is not always apparent on first glance, as there are many other elements competing for your attention like color and brushwork.
A notan is used to filter out all these other elements so that the balance of light and dark elements is revealed. In a sense, a notan represents the most basic abstract design of a painting.
For example, take the following painting by Ilya Repin:
My simple 2 value notan eliminates all the "noise" in the painting and reveals what would appear to be a strong composition of lights and darks.
In some paintings, the notan design will be a dominant feature, with a strong arrangement of light and dark elements. In other paintings, the notan design will be less influential and other elements will be the focus. This is apparent in many of the high-key paintings by the Impressionists which do not have strong underlying notan designs.
If I do a 2 value notan of this painting by Claude Monet, this is what I get. This is what I would call a weak notan design, as there is no balance between the light and dark elements or an interesting design.
This brings me to the point that whilst you can build a painting around a strong notan design, it is not essential to do so by any means. You could create a beautiful painting without any regard for the notan design, but you would just need to rely more on the other visual elements like color saturation, brushwork and composition.
What Makes A Strong Notan Design?
Here are some key features of paintings which I consider to have strong notan designs:
- Strong value groups (lights grouped together and darks grouped together). This is the opposite of having values scattered all over the place. The painting by Sir Arthur Streeton below is a perfect example of value groups.
- Lights balanced against darks.
- An organic design.
- An interesting pattern created by the lights and darks.
How To Create Your Own Notan Studies
The purpose of a notan study in art is not to show off your dexterity with a brush. It is merely a composition tool to help you design your paintings. So it does not really matter how you do your notan studies.
Here are some of the different ways you can do a notan study:
- On your computer by simplifying the values and posterizing the image (you can do this in most editing programs).
- With white and black paint (the medium does not matter - oil, acrylic or watercolor would be fine).
- With pencils (however I suggest you use a dark grade of pencil).
- With thick, black markers.
The notans in this post were created either by using the posterize technique on the computer or with paint on canvas boards.
(You might also be interested in my Painting Academy course. It goes into much more detail on the fundamentals of art.)
2 Value Notan
When creating a 2 value notan study, I use white for any areas which are hit by some kind of direct light and black for any areas which are not hit by direct light. The usual exceptions to this are objects which have white or black local colors (like a white dress or black suit). But even then, a white dress in shadow can appear darker than a black suit under direct light.
The other method I use is just to split the painting into two value groups - values which are above the half-way point in the painting, and values which are below.
I also note that the use of white and black are merely symbolic. It does not mean the lightest light and darkest dark are actually white and black. White is just symbolic of light, and black is symbolic of dark.
A 2 value notan study is perfect for subjects which have a simple value structure and large shapes, like the painting below by Claude Monet:
You can always tell if a painting has a strong value composition if you can identify the subject through a 2 value notan. Take for example the intricate portrait below by Giovanni Boldini.
With just a 2 value notan you should be able to make out what the subject is. It provides a significant amount of information about the subject with only white and black. This is because Giovanni Boldini skillfully grouped the lights and darks so that there is this strong foundation built on value. This may not be apparent on first glance.
3 Value Notan
Most of the time a 2 value notan will be sufficient, but sometimes a painting will have a distinct mid-tone element which is overlooked when just using white and black. A 3 value notan is useful for paintings with a more sophisticated value structure. It provides more information about the subject, but the fundamental notan design tends to be less obvious.
The painting below by John Singer Sargent, whilst it is not the best example of a notan design, has a distinct light, mid-tone and dark element. In this case, a third value is useful to capture those mid-tones.
4 Value Notan
For subjects which have 4 or more distinct value groups, you could use a 4 value notan. For this you would use white, light gray, dark gray, black.
As mentioned at the start of this post, if you use any more than 4 values then you are essentially doing a value study, not a notan study. Whilst a notan study and a value study are similar, a notan study is more focused on the abstract shapes and design created by the balance between light and dark. A value study is more realistic and captures the full range of values.
For the painting below by Ilya Repin, I provide 2, 3 and 4 value notans to demonstrate the differences between them. The 4 value notan seems to be useful in this case to capture some of the subtleties of the painting.
The 2 value notan provides the least information and ignores the mid-tones of the painting.
The 3 value notan captures the mid-tones, but I think we could do better with the addition of another value.
The 4 value notan accounts for light and dark mid-tone elements, which appears to be suitable for this painting.
Summary
- Notan refers to the balance between light and dark elements.
- You can use notan studies to explore the different arrangements or patterns of light and dark elements.
- Depending on how diverse the values are in your subject, you could use either a 2, 3 or 4 value notan study. Most of the time, a 2 value notan is all that is needed.
Thanks for Reading!
Feel free to share with friends. If you want more painting tips, check out my fundamentals course.
Happy painting!
Dan Scott
Draw Paint Academy
Hetta Ludik says
Very informative. Didn’t know about Notan! Thanks for once again a
valuable lesson.
Dan Scott says
No problem thanks Hetta, Dan
cvramana says
very informative and value.thanks for your post.first time i am reading such things
Dan Scott says
My pleasure!
MariSunShine says
I will use this in my new painting, very informative.
Dan Scott says
Glad to hear Mari
Jeannie says
What editing program do you use to establish a notan part of a painting? I am very interested in knowing more about that.
Thanks
Dan Scott says
Hi Jeannie. I use Photoshop (which is a paid subscription). But you should be able to do it with other free programs. I will look into it and might do another tutorial.
Jean-Pierre Jacquet says
There’s a good phone app called See Value that does the job.
Annette Emens says
Great information! I’m excited to give it a go. Thanks!
Dan Scott says
No problem thanks Annette! Dan
Lazar Klot says
Very interesting and very helpful! Thank you.
Dan Scott says
Thanks Lazar!
Linda says
I always enjoy your posts. I learn new thi gs with each one. I can’t wait to work on this. Thank you for showing me new ways to look at art and my own work. Always intriguing.
Dan Scott says
It is my pleasure Linda 🙂 Dan
Jennie Olls says
Thank you Dan, I found this post most enlightening and always look forward to it.
Dan Scott says
Glad to hear Jennie! Dan
Ana Maria Heit says
Never heard about notan before! Very useful to understand tones, a subject I’m struggling with. I’ll try it. Thanks dan
Dan Scott says
Thanks Ana glad you enjoyed it
Carole Dubé says
Hello Dan,
Just want to say thank you for sharing your knowledge, I have never learned this much in all the 3 years I have spent in a painting class. I haven’t painted in a long while and now I am eager to get started!
Thank you again,
Carole
Dan Scott says
Hi Carole. Thanks so much for the very kind words. Really glad to read that. If you need anything, feel free to let me know. Dan
Alvin says
Now that’s a good read!
Dan Scott says
Great thanks Alvin
Elizabeth says
How interesting and so very helpful. I will look at painting ideas in a new way now. You are opening a new world to me! Thank you!
Dan Scott says
Thanks Elizabeth! Dan
Dorothy Barton says
Thank you. Those was very interesting makes me think about tones in a different way.
Dan Scott says
No problem Dorothy. Glad to hear the post helped! Thanks, Dan
dorit says
MY TUTOR IN THE STUDIO THAT I PAINT TALK WITH ME ABOUT NOTAN AND I SEARCH IN THE INTERNET TO SEE WHAT U SAY ABOUT IT, IT WAS SO HELPFULL. THANK U A LOT
Dan Scott says
No problem at all! Happy to have helped. Thanks, Dan
Frances Morris says
CAN YOU BUY A NOTAN APP? Is it on Photoshop?
Dan Scott says
Hi Frances
Yes, I use Photoshop. But I believe there are also apps you can download on your phone.
Dan
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Taylor says
Hello Dan, as a new and self-taught artist, I am eager to learn and capture and understanding of the various tools and aspects of painting. Notans are still a struggle. Your writing and examples were very helpful. I will continue with my practice.
Thank you!
Taylor