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Balance   Balance   Balance   Balance Symmetry Symmetry

Introduction

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Balance in art is the concept of visual equilibrium or the distribution of visual weight in a work of art; it relates to our physical sense of balance. It is the way the elements of art are arranged to create a feeling of stability. Sometimes it’s a reconciliation of opposing forces in a work of art that results in visual stability.

 

In 2-D work, it’s the visual equilibrium of the elements that causes the total image to appear balanced or keeps one part of a picture from looking heavier than another. In 3D works balance can be both visual and actual or physical, if balance isn't achieved, the object can not only look like it may tip over; it may actually do so.

Balance creates a pleasing or harmonious  arrangement of parts or areas in a design or composition.

 

Portions of a composition can be described as taking on a measurable  weight or dominance, and can then be arranged in such a way that they appear to be either in or out of balance, or to have one kind of balance or another.

Balance is like a teeter-totter. If there is one child on each end of the teeter-totter and they are both the same weight, the board will balance. But if one child weighs more than the other, the heavier child will have to move closer to the center of the board to make it balance.

 

Similarly, everything in a picture has weight, visual weight, even the empty space. A line weighs less than a shape. A shape that is filled in with a color or texture weighs more than a shape outline. A form that is three-dimensional weighs more than all of these. Balance in a drawing can be achieved from side to side or from top to bottom. If a design or picture is unbalanced, you as the viewer will feel that something is wrong.

Elements are use to create stability or a sense of dynamic space. Balance should not be 50/50 in a boring mathematical sense. Different elements should add up to balance. People like balance; we are creatures of symmetry and appreciate it in everything. A design is like a real world building: it needs to be balanced or it doesn’t work. 

Choose your path... Asymmetrical Symmetrical Radial

Symmetrical Balance

Symmetrical balance, sometimes called formal balance is an even placement of visual weight in the design.

   

Bilateral symmetry is used to show stability and balance between two sides of a work of art. Lines of symmetry (either real or implied) divide a work and show the two sides to be mirror copies, or being so similar that you see them as the same.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Joseph Stella, Bridge, 1936, WPA Federal Arts Project

Symmetrical Continued...

If something is symmetrical it is visually the same on both sides of a line of symmetry. Balance comes from the equal distribution of elements on the two sides. Symmetrical balance is the easiest to recognize.monotony.

 

Choose your path... Asymmetrical Symmetrical Radial

Asymmetrical Balance

Asymmetrical balance, sometimes called informal balance comes from the addition of the Latin prefix “a” which means not, so asymmetry means not symmetrical.

 

 

 It can refer to a psychological or "felt" balance where space and shape don't need to be evenly dispersed on the page.

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It can also mean balanced with contrasting elements to create unity such as large areas of light balanced with small areas of dark. The elements may not be distributed evenly on each side but they work to pull everything together into a pleasing whole.

 

Asymmetrical balance can be likened to a seesaw balancing objects of differing weights. One large shape may be balanced by several smaller shapes, or a small area of very bright color might be balanced with a larger duller color.

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Asymmetrical balance can be used to show action, variety and unity. It creates uneven spaces that give a sense of imbalance suggesting tension and dynamic visual movement.

Choose your path... Asymmetrical Symmetrical Radial

Radial Balance

Radial balance happens when the parts of a design seem to radiate out from a central point like spokes on a wheel or ripples from a pebble tossed into a pond. It usually takes a round shape or form.

Radial Balance

You see this kind of design frequently in pottery, basketry and architectural design.Flower petals and bicycle wheels show radial balance. Very often radial balance also shows symmetrical balance