Hi Marion

My absolute pleasure. I love the internet, because other skilled artists have often already done an excellent job explaining whatever it is you want to discuss – and you can just link to their work. SO useful. I shall go and have a look at the work of McGowan; I’d not heard of him before and this sounds interesting. Thankyou! X

Perhaps the most powerful use of negative space I’ve seen was figure painter Alan McGowan using it to carve, with one long, considered stroke of a flat brush, the profile of the sitter more accurately.