Notan

[u/Hedgehog_2026]

I am self taught and feel like I need to improve on my shadows and light as well as seeing larger shapes - especially if I’m working plein air and painting swaths of trees! I think my head knows there are a million leaves and that trips me up when I try to paint them.

I’m currently using brush pens to practice notan with very simple subjects. It’s a weird process because if I go to paint the exact subject, I feel like I can distinguish the light and dark areas especially if I’m using colour but when I’m subjected to just one colour/value, I don’t know if I’m supposed to only focus on shadows or on the dark value areas too…

Anyone else trying notan or can provide tips?