When you are figure drawing, that figure is the positive element of the drawing. The figure is what you are focussing on and trying to represent on the page. But look around that figure and you will see negative space – the part of what you can see that is not the figure. You could imagine this by thinking of a cookie-cutter that takes away the shape of the figure, and whatever is left is negative space.
there is shaded negative space between the model's arms and body. Additional negative space has been created because the drawing has a drawn frame.
Negative space is the surroundings of the figure, and it could also be a shape held within the confines of the body. Imagine a figure with a hand on one hip, and the elbow held out akimbo from the body. Can you imagine the triangular shape that out-turned elbow might make, with the arm forming two sides of the triangle, and the line of the body forming the third?
Negative space helps you to compose the shape of the body on your page. In the example of the triangular negative space formed by an out-turned elbow, you can check the triangular shape on your page with the triangle you see in reality. If the angles are similar, and the lengths of the line are similar then perhaps your drawing is a good representation of the model. If the lines and angles are out then this might be a cue to re-check your drawing – something is not right.
You might be thinking that you could just check the arm you have drawn, against the arm of the model, and not worry about negative space. You could. But it is easy to become so involved with your drawing that you cannot see it clearly. Using negative space is a way of seeing your drawing with fresh eyes for a moment.
You can generate more negative space by using a frame around your drawing. The negative space can become an integral part of your picture, informing how you place the figure on the page.