There’s a moment most oil painters know well.

You’ve spent hours on a painting. The colors are interesting, the subject is beautiful — but something feels wrong. It looks busy, or flat, or directionless. And you can’t quite put your finger on why.

More often than not, the problem wasn’t made during the painting. It was made before it even started.

The Foundation Most Painters Skip

Strong paintings are built on a strong value structure. Not color. Not brushwork. Not even composition in the traditional sense. Values — the relationship between light and dark — are the architecture of everything.

And the best place to establish that architecture? Something called a notan.

Notan is a Japanese concept referring to the abstract interplay of light and dark. In practical painting terms, it means this: before you touch a canvas, you create a small black-and-white sketch — no gray, no detail, no form — that captures only the essential design of lights against darks.

That’s it. That’s the whole thing. And yet it changes everything.

Why Notan Works

When you reduce your subject to just two values, you’re forced to make real design decisions. Where do the darks live? Where do the lights breathe? Are your dark shapes connected, or are they scattered across the picture plane creating visual chaos?

A notan tells you whether your painting has a strong underlying design before you’ve invested hours into it. It’s the blueprint. And just like a house, if the blueprint doesn’t hold up — the building won’t either.

The Rules That Matter

Not all notans are created equal. A few things to watch for:

• Keep your darks connected. If you could peel all the dark shapes off the page, they should come off in one piece.
• Avoid 50/50. Half light, half dark creates visual tension with no winner. Aim for a clear dominance — either more dark than light, or more light than dark.
• Simplify. The more complex your notan, the harder your painting becomes. Simple shapes are easier to read, easier to transfer, and more compelling to the eye.

Squinting: Your Most Underrated Tool

The way you find your notan is by squinting. Hard. Until the detail disappears and all you can see is light and dark. That’s the information you need. Everything else is noise.

Practice squinting at your reference until it becomes instinct. It will transform the way you see — and the way you paint.

This Is Just the Beginning

Notan is the first step in a larger process: from notan to three-value sketch, to four-value sketch, to underpainting, to finished canvas. Each stage builds on the one before it. But nothing works if the foundation isn’t solid.

And the notan is the foundation.

Want to Go Deeper?

I’ve just released a full lesson on notan for my Patreon members — including a live demonstration using multiple reference images, a studio assignment, and reference photos to practice with.

If you’re serious about leveling up your oil painting and finally feeling in control of your values, this is where it starts.

👉 Join Vida Evenson Art Studio on Patreon for just $8/month: https://www.patreon.com/vidaevenson

You’ll get instant access to this lesson, the studio assignment, all the reference images — and every lesson that comes after it. The blueprint is waiting. Let’s build something beautiful.

Be Inspired, be Creative, be YOU! 🎨

— Vida Evenson