How can I use this resource?

With this resource, you can learn how to make Notan contrast images. Notan is a Japanese design concept that means "dark-light". It is based on the balance and harmony between black and white, or positive and negative shapes. You can create these images by cutting and gluing paper shapes in a symmetrical way. You can experiment with different colors and patterns to make your images more striking. Notan contrast images are also a great way to develop cutting skills, spatial awareness, and artistic sense. Notan contrast images are also ideal for group work. The individual motifs can be arranged and combined in a variety of ways.

What does this resource contain?

This resource contains 32 templates for making Notan contrast images. You can print the template on white or colored paper and cut out the parts following the lines. Then you can glue the parts on another piece of paper. The resource also contains a base sheet for each motif. The base sheet has a guide for gluing the parts along the edges.

What is Notan?

“Notan“ is Japanese and means “dark-light“. Originally, it was a traditional black and white painting technique in which ascetic Zen monks painted only with black ink. Notan reflects the simple way of life of these monks, because they need only two colors for their art: black - the ink - and white - the paper. Notan is the contrast as well as the balance between dark and light. This design concept from the Far East is easily recognized in the well-known Chinese yin and yang symbol.Yin stands for the dark, soft and passive and yang for the light, hard and active principle. Similar dualities are light and dark, high and low, hot and cold, fire and water, life and death, man and woman, sun and moon, and so on. These seemingly opposite forces are interconnected and interdependent - leading to one another and forming an indivisible whole.“Notans“ is also the name given to the Japanese silhouette with positive and negative forms.

In the Western way of looking at things, the positive form is predominantly seen in the foreground and the negative form in the background. Such a contrast phenomenon can lead to perceptual illusions.For example, you could imagine these circles as three black stones (foreground) in white water (background). The sensory stimuli could also be processed the other way around: A white wall (foreground) with three black holes (background).Just like with paper folding and cutting and symmetry, Notan silhouettes thrive on contrast. This refers to the interaction between the black and white areas or dark and light shapes; between the positive and negative. The fascinating main rule for making Notan silhouettes is: nothing must be taken away and nothing must be added. 

Download this resource and start making your own Notan contrast images! You will be amazed by what you can create with paper and scissors!