copyright Katherine Tyrrell I've been doing a lot of thinking
lately - especially as I drew my very handsome male shoveler
duck in pen and ink - about needing to practice line drawing in
a two value Notan sense if I'm going to have a go at lino-
cutting. I've decided to practice by reviewing how to convert
photos into just two tones using the PS Elements Cut Out Tool so
that I can see if I can develop a better "eye" for doing two
tone work First a quick reminder about what Notan is - plus some
links to previous posts on this blog for readers not familiar
with the concept. Notan is a Japanese concept involving the
placement of lights and darks next to the other to read as flat
shapes on the two-dimensional surface. This use of lights and
darks differs dramatically from the means by which artists had
traditionally manipulated these elements to create seemingly
three-dimensional forms on the picture plane.Some readers will
recall I've written about this previously Line melts into tone
through the cluster of many