Hidden properties of absence reveal meaning. Silence in music and negative space in drawing operate similarly. In music, a rest is not the absence of music; it is part of the composition. Rests give rhythm and timing their shape. Miles Davis is widely credited with saying, βItβs not the notes you play, itβs the notes you donβt play.β In charcoal drawings, blank space is artfully created to form contours; it also creates depth and implies the source of light. Visualize the dark side of a portrait drawn with charcoal, the shadow revealing light and pointing to its source. Employing blank space inverts what is obvious, which in turn communicates what cannot be expressed directly.