01
Study the gap
Look at the area between two shapes as though it were a shape of its own. Describe its boundary before moving the objects around it.
Independent creative notes at katherinerichards.com
Notice a little. Make a little. Look again.
A quiet creative journal about ordinary materials and deliberate choices. Follow one observation through a loose study, an honest comparison, and a next version with a clearer purpose.
Open the practical guideA working story
The first version gives you something to answer.
An empty sheet can make a small decision feel larger than it is. Begin with a mark, a shape, or a few lines that describe what caught your attention. Let the first attempt establish a question instead of proving an ability.
The next version can be smaller and more deliberate.
Imagine a study of overlapping paper. The first arrangement feels balanced but says little about the gap that made the setup interesting. A second version moves the largest piece and gives that gap a stronger role.
The two versions do not need a winner. One may describe the objects more clearly while the other makes the empty area more active. Naming that difference is already a useful result of the exercise.
A third attempt can follow the newly visible question. Keep the materials familiar and change the crop or the spacing, so you can explain which decision contributed to the effect.
02
Follow an edge
Choose one edge that changes direction or contrast. Make a study that gives that change more room than the rest of the scene.
03
Keep a loose record
Use a quick outline, a few words, or a simple photograph. Preserve the observation without making finish the main task.
A return to the work
Keep an unfinished thought with a clear edge.
Save a small group of studies together with one sentence about the choice each one explored. A loose drawing can be a precise record when its purpose remains attached to it.
Begin another session from that record. You do not need a new theme every time; returning to the same material can make a subtle relationship easier to recognise.
- What I noticed
- A visible detail that another person could locate in the arrangement.
- What I changed
- One decision about position, scale, crop, value, or spacing.
- What became clearer
- The relationship that the new version makes easier to see.
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01
Where does attention begin?
Look for contrast, a repeated direction, or an interruption that pulls the eye toward one area.
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02
Which part is doing the work?
Name the relationship that matters before adding another detail or decorative effect.
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03
What could the next version test?
Choose one change you can recognise in the result and keep the earlier attempt nearby for comparison.
Stay with the question long enough to see it.
The practical guide offers a short visual-study session with materials already nearby. It leaves room for an unfinished result and a useful next attempt.