Art and artists
Line Safari
Go hunting for eight kinds of lines and draw one of each: zigzag, wavy, dotted, spiral and more.
Thinking sheet · Art and artists
Negative Space Detective
Draw the empty spaces around a chair instead of the chair itself. It’s a trick real artists use.
- Grades
- 3–5
- Time
- about 25 minutes
- Topic
- Art and artists
- Kids practice
- negative space, seeing shapes, advanced observation
What kids do
“Look at the holes and gaps, not the object. Shade in the empty spaces!”
- Shade only the spaces around a chair
- Now try a plant or a pair of scissors
- What did you notice when you drew the spaces?
How to run it
- Turn a chair upside down on a desk for lots of interesting gaps.
- Outline the gaps first, then fill them in.
- The object should appear by itself, like magic.
Talk about it
- What shape was the biggest gap?
- Why is this trick useful?
- Can you find negative space in a famous logo?
Take it further
Find a logo that hides a picture in its negative space.
Pairs well with
Free for home and classroom use. Print as many copies as you need.
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