What is a Notan and How Do We Use It?
At one of the October Arizona Plein Air Painters paint outs, there was a question as to whether a Notan is a value study or a black and white design study (of course, using 2 values). I had always been taught it was a Japanese term for a black and white design study.
Think Yin and Yang
I did a lot of research on the web and found the more I looked, the deeper the rabbit hole. The following information is based on my personal take on notan and how to use it. I’ve also given references that includes 3 and 4 value study notans. I haven’t found anything that goes beyond a 4 value notan so I’m going to stop there.
What is a Notan?
In simple terms, it is a black and white design study for your painting. Use black for values 0 through 5 and use white for values 6 through 10 (watercolorists use white for values 0 through 5 and black for values 6 through 10). Some artist use value 5 for a more dominant dark or dominant light design.
This is a ten tone value scale with zero as black and ten as white.
Here are some examples of paintings by Corot, Daubigny and Hokusai from The Project Gutenberg EBook of Composition by Arthur Dow. It is available as a free pdf download.
Barry John Raybould
On his website, Barry John Raybould states Notan literally means concentrated/weak. From the Chinese nong (thick,strong,concentrated) and dan (weak,watery). Apparently, Arthur Wesley Dow anglicised the words to Notan In his book on composition.
I also found this youtube video on Raybould’s site, “A Guide to Notan: The What, Why, and How.” It has a good definition and examples of Notan structure and values.
Mitch Albala
Mitch Albala’s youtube video “Notan - Exploring Shape and Composition,” is an excellent talk on why notan is a black and white design study and not a value study.
Karen Margulis
Karen Margulis’ youtube video, “Pastel Demo with a Notan Underpainting,” shows her notan design choices and how she paints using the notan.
Notanizer
There is an iPhone app called the Notanizer that turns your photos into notans and also value studies. Here’s the link to the Notanizer app for Android.
On Oil Painters of America blog, Notan Sketch VS iPhone by Rusty Jones, Rusty makes a valid point that basically states you ought to know how to do it yourself. We’ve all seen people using painting apps or just photographs, print it on canvas and call it art. Is it? I think I’ll leave this rabbit hole to someone else :)
All in all, we artists see motifs differently, use different tools, different mediums, brushstroke, etc. In the end we all strive for the same thing, to make a darn good painting!
Do you use notan sketches to design your masterpieces? Let me know how in the comments.
Happy Painting!