@@ -17,10 +17,10 @@
 ---------------------------------------
 
 `~matplotlib.pyplot.subplots`
-    The primary function used to create figures and a grid of axes.  It is
-    similar to `.pyplot.subplot`, but creates and places all axes on the
-    figure at once, and returns an object array with handles for
-    the axes in the grid.  See also `.Figure.subplots`.
+    The primary function used to create figures and a grid of axes.  It
+    creates and places all axes on the figure at once, and returns an
+    object array with handles for the axes in the grid.  See
+    `.Figure.subplots`.
 
 or
 
@@ -70,11 +70,6 @@
 .. redirect-from:: /tutorials/intermediate/gridspec
 
 """
-
-import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
-
-import numpy as np
-
 ############################################################################
 # High-level methods for making grids
 # ===================================
@@ -90,14 +85,30 @@
 # use `~.Axes.annotate`, but other examples could be `~.Axes.plot`,
 # `~.Axes.pcolormesh`, etc.
 
+import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+import numpy as np
+
 fig, axs = plt.subplots(ncols=2, nrows=2, figsize=(4.5, 3.5),
                         constrained_layout=True)
+# add an artist, in this case a nice label in the middle...
 for row in range(2):
     for col in range(2):
-        axs[row, col].annotate(f'axs[{row}, {col}]', (0.1, 0.5),
-                               xycoords='axes fraction', va='center')
+        axs[row, col].annotate(f'axs[{row}, {col}]', (0.5, 0.5),
+                               transform=axs[row,col].transAxes,
+                               ha='center', va='center', fontsize=18,
+                               color='darkgrey')
 fig.suptitle('plt.subplots()')
 
+##############################################################################
+# We will annotate a lot of axes, so lets encapsulate the annotation, rather
+# than having that large piece of annotation code every time we need it:
+
+
+def annotate_axes(ax, text, fontsize=18):
+    ax.text(0.5, 0.5, text, transform=ax.transAxes,
+            ha="center", va="center", fontsize=fontsize, color="darkgrey")
+
+
 ##############################################################################
 # The same effect can be achieved with `~.pyplot.subplot_mosaic`,
 # but the return type is a dictionary instead of an array, where the user
@@ -109,8 +120,7 @@
                                ['loleft', 'loright']],
                               figsize=(4.5, 3.5), constrained_layout=True)
 for k in axd.keys():
-    axd[k].annotate(f'axd["{k}"]', (0.1, 0.5),
-                    xycoords='axes fraction', va='center')
+    annotate_axes(axd[k], f'axd["{k}"]', fontsize=14)
 fig.suptitle('plt.subplot_mosaic()')
 
 ############################################################################
@@ -126,8 +136,7 @@
                                ['loleft', 'right']],
                               figsize=(4.5, 3.5), constrained_layout=True)
 for k in axd.keys():
-    axd[k].annotate(f'axd["{k}"]', (0.1, 0.5),
-                    xycoords='axes fraction', va='center')
+    annotate_axes(axd[k], f'axd["{k}"]', fontsize=14)
 fig.suptitle('plt.subplot_mosaic()')
 
 ############################################################################
@@ -144,14 +153,13 @@
 # can be passed to `~matplotlib.pyplot.subplots` and
 # `~matplotlib.pyplot.subplot_mosaic`:
 
-gs_kw = dict(width_ratios=[1, 2.2], height_ratios=[1, 2])
+gs_kw = dict(width_ratios=[1.4, 1], height_ratios=[1, 2])
 fig, axd = plt.subplot_mosaic([['upleft', 'right'],
                                ['loleft', 'right']],
                               gridspec_kw=gs_kw, figsize=(4.5, 3.5),
                               constrained_layout=True)
 for k in axd.keys():
-    axd[k].annotate(f'axd["{k}"]', (0.1, 0.5),
-                    xycoords='axes fraction', va='center')
+    annotate_axes(axd[k], f'axd["{k}"]', fontsize=14)
 fig.suptitle('plt.subplot_mosaic()')
 
 ############################################################################
@@ -190,9 +198,7 @@
 
 fig, axd = plt.subplot_mosaic(outer, constrained_layout=True)
 for k in axd.keys():
-    axd[k].annotate(f'axd["{k}"]', (0.1, 0.5),
-                    xycoords='axes fraction', va='center')
-plt.show()
+    annotate_axes(axd[k], f'axd["{k}"]')
 
 ############################################################################
 # Low-level and advanced grid methods
@@ -212,13 +218,13 @@
 fig = plt.figure(figsize=(4.5, 3.5), constrained_layout=True)
 spec = fig.add_gridspec(ncols=2, nrows=2)
 ax0 = fig.add_subplot(spec[0, 0])
-ax0.annotate('ax0', (0.1, 0.5),  xycoords='axes fraction', va='center')
+annotate_axes(ax0, 'ax0')
 ax1 = fig.add_subplot(spec[0, 1])
-ax1.annotate('ax1', (0.1, 0.5),  xycoords='axes fraction', va='center')
+annotate_axes(ax1, 'ax0')
 ax2 = fig.add_subplot(spec[1, 0])
-ax2.annotate('ax2', (0.1, 0.5),  xycoords='axes fraction', va='center')
+annotate_axes(ax2, 'ax0')
 ax3 = fig.add_subplot(spec[1, 1])
-ax3.annotate('ax3', (0.1, 0.5),  xycoords='axes fraction', va='center')
+annotate_axes(ax3, 'ax0')
 fig.suptitle('Manually added subplots using add_gridspec')
 
 #############################################################################
@@ -232,11 +238,11 @@
 fig = plt.figure(figsize=(4.5, 3.5), constrained_layout=True)
 spec = fig.add_gridspec(2, 2)
 ax0 = fig.add_subplot(spec[0, :])
-ax0.annotate('ax0', (0.1, 0.5),  xycoords='axes fraction', va='center')
+annotate_axes(ax0, 'ax0')
 ax10 = fig.add_subplot(spec[1, 0])
-ax10.annotate('ax10', (0.1, 0.5),  xycoords='axes fraction', va='center')
+annotate_axes(ax10, 'ax10')
 ax11 = fig.add_subplot(spec[1, 1])
-ax11.annotate('ax11', (0.1, 0.5),  xycoords='axes fraction', va='center')
+annotate_axes(ax11, 'ax11')
 fig.suptitle('Manually added subplots, spanning a column')
 
 ###############################################################################
@@ -254,13 +260,13 @@
 gs = fig.add_gridspec(nrows=3, ncols=3, left=0.05, right=0.75,
                       hspace=0.1, wspace=0.05)
 ax0 = fig.add_subplot(gs[:-1, :])
-ax0.annotate('ax0', (0.1, 0.5),  xycoords='axes fraction', va='center')
+annotate_axes(ax0, 'ax0')
 ax1 = fig.add_subplot(gs[-1, :-1])
-ax1.annotate('ax1', (0.1, 0.5),  xycoords='axes fraction', va='center')
+annotate_axes(ax1, 'ax1')
 ax2 = fig.add_subplot(gs[-1, -1])
-ax2.annotate('ax2', (0.1, 0.5),  xycoords='axes fraction', va='center')
+annotate_axes(ax2, 'ax2')
 fig.suptitle('Manual gridspec with right=0.75')
-plt.show()
+
 ###############################################################################
 # Nested layouts with SubplotSpec
 # ===============================
@@ -281,14 +287,12 @@
 for a in range(2):
     for b in range(2):
         ax = fig.add_subplot(gs00[a, b])
-        ax.annotate(f'axLeft[{a}, {b}]', (0.1, 0.5), xycoords='axes fraction',
-                    va='center')
+        annotate_axes(ax, f'axLeft[{a}, {b}]', fontsize=10)
         if a == 1 and b == 1:
             ax.set_xlabel('xlabel')
 for a in range(3):
     ax = fig.add_subplot(gs01[a])
-    ax.annotate(f'axRight[{a}]', (0.1, 0.5), xycoords='axes fraction',
-                va='center')
+    annotate_axes(ax, f'axRight[{a}, {b}]')
     if a == 2:
         ax.set_ylabel('ylabel')