• 50 designs

Notan Art Ideas for a Black Square, Scissors and White Paper

Three designs per press, with the number of shapes to cut and the sides of the square they come from.

Notan Art Ideas for a Black Square, Scissors and White Paper

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  1. Houseplant as white leaves on solid black1 shape, ink only. One continuous black background. Work inward from the page edge and stop where a leaf begins.
  2. Spaces between your spread fingers4 shapes, ink only. Rest your hand on the page and ink the four wedges between the fingers. Add no outline to the hand.
  3. The two triangles inside a bicycle frame2 shapes, ink only. A diamond frame is a main triangle and a rear triangle. Ink those two shapes first, then build out.

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All 50 designs

Symmetric: matching cuts 13

  • Crescent moons on opposite sides 2 shapes, 2 sides. Two curved cuts that meet at the horns. Keep the horns blunt, because sharp paper points curl.
  • Face profiles cut in from left and right 2 shapes, 2 sides. An invented profile: brow, nose, lips, chin. After the flip, four faces look at each other in pairs.
  • Four fish swimming round the square 4 shapes, 4 sides. Cut each whole fish with its back on the edge, all facing clockwise. Every fish gains a white twin.
  • Four half-butterflies, one per side 4 shapes, 4 sides. One wing and half a body. The black wing lands outside, the white one stays in. The edge is the body.
  • Four half-suns with pointed rays 4 shapes, 4 sides. A half circle with five spikes, cut as one piece. Snip between the rays last.
  • Half a beetle with legs on each side 4 shapes, 4 sides. Legs are the risk. Keep them thicker than a matchstick or they tear as you turn the piece over.
  • Half a leaf on all four sides 4 shapes, 4 sides. Cut from the middle of each edge. Flipped out, every black half leaf meets its own white twin.
  • Half a moth on the top and bottom edges 2 shapes, 2 sides. Give the wing a scalloped edge. The two moths end up flying apart, one up and one down.
  • Half a pine tree on every side 4 shapes, 4 sides. Zigzag in from the edge and back out. Four trees end up pointing outward like a compass.
  • Half a vase on the left and right 2 shapes, 2 sides. One curvy cut, in at the neck and out at the belly. Two whole vases appear, each half black.
  • Half-hearts on the left and right sides 2 shapes, 2 sides. The gentlest first cut. Start and finish on the same edge so the piece comes away whole, then flip.
  • One long wave strip, top and bottom 2 shapes, 2 sides. Cut a wavy strip the full width of each edge. Flipped, the crests point away from the square.
  • Three bunting triangles on every side 12 shapes, 4 sides. Fold a paper strip into a triangle template so all twelve match. Number the backs as you cut.

Asymmetric: unmatched sides 13

  • Bare tree above, its roots below 2 shapes, 2 sides. Cut the crown hanging in from the top, the roots reaching in from below. Flipped, both grow outward.
  • Bird flying out of the right-hand side 1 shape, 1 side. Cut it beak first into the square. After the flip the black bird is leaving and the white one stays.
  • Cat on one side, mouse on the opposite side 2 shapes, 2 sides. Make the cat a third of the edge and the mouse a tenth. The plain black between them is the chase.
  • City skyline along the bottom edge only 1 shape, 1 side. One long piece of towers and gaps. Flipped down, it hangs like the city's reflection in water.
  • Five flames along the bottom edge 5 shapes, 1 side. Vary the heights: tall, short, tallest, short, tall. Flipped down they become a dripping row.
  • Icicles hanging in from the top edge 5 shapes, 1 side. Five narrow triangles of different lengths. Flipped up, they stand on the square like a crown.
  • Key from the left, keyhole from the right 2 shapes, 2 sides. The key is long and thin, the keyhole short and round. Line them up so the key points at the hole.
  • Mountains on top, waves on the bottom 2 shapes, 2 sides. Straight zigzag cuts above, curved cuts below. The contrast between the two edges carries the design.
  • One large fern frond from the left edge 1 shape, 1 side. A single piece with many notches. Cut slowly and turn it over like a page so nothing bends.
  • Sun on one side, crescent moon opposite 2 shapes, 2 sides. A spiky half circle against a smooth curve. Unlike edges balance if the two pieces match in area.
  • Three lightning bolts through the top edge 3 shapes, 1 side. Narrow pieces flip badly, so keep each bolt a finger wide. Leave the other three edges clean.
  • Whale tail rising above the top edge 1 shape, 1 side. Cut the tail upside down, hanging in from the top. Flipped up, it lifts out of a flat black sea.
  • Your own hand reaching in from one side 1 shape, 1 side. Trace your hand with the wrist on the edge. Scissors reach every finger because the cut starts there.

Double flip: a cut within a cut 12

  • Apple with its core flipped back 2 shapes, 1 side. Half an apple on the edge. Cut a narrow half core from the straight side and return it into the white.
  • Butterfly with wing bands flipped back 6 shapes, 2 sides. Half a butterfly on two sides. From each body line cut two bands across the wing and flip them back.
  • Castle tower with an arched gate returned 2 shapes, 1 side. Battlements along the top of the piece. The arch is cut from the base line, so scissors can reach it.
  • Eye with an iris flipped back inside 2 shapes, 1 side. Flip out half an almond. Cut a half circle from its straight edge and flip that back into the white.
  • Fish with a smaller fish inside it 2 shapes, 1 side. The inner fish faces the other way once it is flipped back, so big and small swim past each other.
  • Flower head with a flipped-back centre 4 shapes, 2 sides. Half a daisy on two opposite sides, each with a half-circle centre returned. Petals stay chunky.
  • Guitar body with a sound hole returned 2 shapes, 1 side. Half a guitar, neck included, with the centre line on the edge. The half-circle sound hole flips back.
  • House with its door flipped back in 2 shapes, 1 side. A roof-and-wall shape standing on the edge. The door is cut from the base line and sent back over it.
  • Leaf with a smaller leaf flipped back 2 shapes, 1 side. Cut the second leaf from the straight edge of the first and send it back over the line. Leaf in leaf.
  • Nested half circles like a split target 3 shapes, 1 side. Three half circles, each cut from the one before: out, in, out. Black and white swap at the edge.
  • Owl with a belly patch flipped back 4 shapes, 2 sides. Half an owl on two sides, split down the beak. A half oval from the centre line becomes the belly.
  • Three rings: circles inside circles, twice 6 shapes, 2 sides. The split target on two opposite sides. Six pieces in all, so lay them out in order before you glue.

Drawn in ink: negative space 12

  • Gaps between the legs of a kitchen chair 6 shapes, ink only. Draw no chair. Fill each gap between the legs and rungs solid black and the chair appears in white.
  • Garden fence with the sky inked in 8 shapes, ink only. Ink the spaces between the rails and posts. Uneven gaps make a more convincing fence than even ones.
  • Houseplant as white leaves on solid black 1 shape, ink only. One continuous black background. Work inward from the page edge and stop where a leaf begins.
  • Scissors lying open: the three trapped spaces 3 shapes, ink only. Two finger holes and the wedge between the blades. Get those three right and the scissors are done.
  • Sky holes in a bare winter tree 12 shapes, ink only. Pick a dozen gaps between branches and fill them. Stop there. The branches are what you left bare.
  • Spaces between your spread fingers 4 shapes, ink only. Rest your hand on the page and ink the four wedges between the fingers. Add no outline to the hand.
  • Stepladder: fill the gaps between the rungs 5 shapes, ink only. Seen at an angle the gaps become slanted four-sided shapes, each a little smaller than the last.
  • Three-value study of the view from a window 3 shapes, ink only. White, one flat grey, black. Decide which of the three each area belongs to before you ink it.
  • Two facing profiles with a vase between them 2 shapes, ink only. Ink both faces solid. If the two curves mirror each other, a white vase appears in the gap, undrawn.
  • The two triangles inside a bicycle frame 2 shapes, ink only. A diamond frame is a main triangle and a rear triangle. Ink those two shapes first, then build out.
  • Two-value study of a lamp-lit corner 2 shapes, ink only. Squint. Everything light becomes white paper and everything dark becomes solid black. No greys.
  • Your initials shown only by the space round them 3 shapes, ink only. Fill the background and the enclosed holes of the letters. No outline. The letters are bare paper.

How it works

Black paper, white paper, scissors and glue: most of these 50 notan art ideas start from one black square, cut in from the edges and flipped outward onto white. Every idea gives the number of shapes and the sides they come from, and 12 are ink studies with no cutting.

Read the full guide

How the expanding square works

The expanding square is a common classroom exercise; these steps are our own wording. Take a 15 cm square of black paper. Cut a shape in from one edge, starting and finishing on that edge so the piece comes away whole. Turn it over across the edge like a page and glue it where it lands. The hole and the piece are mirror twins, the negative shape and the positive. Every scrap of the square ends up on the page.

Positive and negative shapes in ink, no scissors

Notan comes from the Japanese for dark and light, and the idea covers ink and paint as well as cut paper. The Drawn in ink group holds 12 negative space drawing ideas. Fill the gaps between chair legs solid black and the chair appears in white, untouched: the gaps are the negative shapes, the chair the positive. A two-value study sorts a whole scene the same way, light to white and dark to black; a third value adds one grey.

  • Every flipped piece lands back up, so draw cut lines faintly or cut freehand.
  • Scissors reach any cut that starts on an edge. A shape cut from the middle of a piece needs a craft knife and a cutting mat. With children, that cut is the adult's.
  • Lay every piece in place before any glue goes on, then glue one at a time.

Questions and answers

What is the difference between symmetric and asymmetric notan?

A symmetric design repeats one cut on opposite sides or on all four, like half a leaf from the middle of every edge. An asymmetric design uses unmatched cuts or leaves some sides clean: a city skyline along the bottom edge only. It balances by area, so one large piece can answer two small ones opposite.

What is a double flip?

A cut within a cut. Flip a shape out, then cut a smaller shape from the straight edge of that piece and flip it back across the line into the white gap. The eye is the clearest example: half an almond goes out and a half-circle iris comes back.

What paper works best for notan?

Paper that is black on both sides, because every flipped piece shows its back. Sugar paper or construction paper is thin enough for scissors on tight curves, where card fights back. A glue stick keeps it flat.

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