Ann Miller - ART 232 - The Design of Light and Dark: Text Art and Notan - July 16, 2026

What gives an artwork its balance and visual energy? This course introduces Nōtan, the Japanese principle of light and dark, as an accessible framework for exploring visual structure in text, letterform, and pattern. Working primarily in black and white, students will learn how shape and space interact to create rhythm, contrast, and visual interest—principles that extend to design, photography, and other visual arts. Through demonstrations and guided exercises, we’ll explore how proportion, placement, and contrast help to shape expressive quality. Projects include refining a single letterform, designing balanced word compositions, inventing a Nōtan-informed alphabet, and using negative space as an active design element. Students will also experiment with unfamiliar scripts such as Phoenician and Bamun, using materials like pencil, monoline tools, ink, watercolor, and gouache. The course builds visual awareness and confidence in using shape and spacing to bring vitality and meaning to many forms of visual work.

ART 232 - The Design of Light and Dark: Text Art and Notan
Ann Miller, Hosted By Stanford Continuing Studies

7/16/2026

Registration Link: https://bit.ly/4nrfqww