Balance & Unity
Balance
Balance (some equal distribution of visual weight) is a universal aim of any composition. The vast majority of image we look at have been consciously balanced by the artist. However, this does not mean that there is no place for purposeful imbalance.
When dealing with pictorial balance, most of the time, this refers to horizontal balance, the right and left side of the image.
The simplest type of balance- to create and recognize- is symmetrical balance (one side mirrors the other). With symmetrical balance shapes are repeated in the same positions on either side of a central vertical axis.
Georgia O’Keeffe
Symmetrical balance (always contains an apparent symmetry) This symmetry can be: predictable, formal or stable.
Conscious symmetrical repetition can be exactly what you are looking for to create prefect balance, but this predictability can sometimes create static images - we sometimes call this formal balance. This most notably happens in architectural balance. Consider how this might re-enforce the function.
Frank Stella, Gran Cairo, synthetic polymer on canvas, 7'½" square, 1962 Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Morris Louis
Asymmetrical Balance Balance is achieved with dissimilar objects that have equal visual weight or equal eye attraction. Similar visual noise/weight.
Visual balance is maintained as both sides of the composition provide a visual emphasis. Often asymmetrical balance feels more casual and less predictable - we sometimes call this informal balance.
Katsushika Hokusai, South Wind and Clearing Weather, Colore woodcut, 10 x 15" c. 1820-1830. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Vincent van Gogh
Asymmetrical Balance by Shape A shape can potentially counter balance a large shape.
Francisco Goya, The Parasol, cartoon for tapestry, Oil on canvas, 3'5" x 4'11", 1777. Prado Museum, Madrid, Space
Asymmetrical Balance by Texture Any visual (or photographic) texture with a variegated dark and light pattern holds more interest for the eye than does a smooth, unrelieved surface.
Jan Vermeer, Woman with a Lute, oil on canvas, 201/4" x 361/2", 1663-64. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Asymmetrical Balance by Position Balance by position often lends an unusual unexpected quality to the composition. The effect seems casual and unplanned but also can, at first glance, seem to be imbalanced drawing the viewers eye in for a closer look.
Edgar Degas, Dancers practicing at the bar, oil on canvas, 293/4" x 32", 1877. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Balance by Eye Direction The last element for achieving asymmetrical balance. Eye direction is carefully plotted, not only for balance but also for general compositional unity. When larger images or shapes direct the eye to a smaller shape or image forcing the smaller image or shape to function as a focal point.
Pierre Fix-Masseau, Exactitude, Gouache, 393/8" x 421/2", after a poster of 1929, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Radial Balance Here all the elements radiate in a circle out from a common point. The sun with its emanating rays or flowers are familiar symbols that expresses the basic idea. The major compositional advantage in radial balance is the immediate and obvious creation of a focal point.
Damien Hirst
Andy Goldsworthy
Allover Pattern Works that exhibit an equal emphasis over the whole format - the same weight or eye attraction literally everywhere. Generally a work that is uniform throughout. It’s official name is Crystallographic Balance but we will refer to it in class as Allover Pattern.
Jasper Johns, Numbers in color, Encaustic and newspaper on canvas, 5'61/2" x 4'11/8", 1959. Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York
Jackson Pollock, Lavender Mist, oil on canvas, oil, enamel, and aluminum on canvas, 7'3" x 9'10" 1950. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Damien Hirst
Eva Hesse
*What we see is that many compositions end up employing serval balance techniques simultaneously - these principles frequently overlap and are used together.*
Robert Mangold:
http://www.pbs.org/art21/watch-now/segment-robert-mangold-in-balance
Unity Unity implies that a congruity or agreement exists among the elements of a design; they look as though they belong together, as though some visual connection beyond mere chance has caused them together. This is also called harmony. To successfully have unity, you must see the whole pattern before you see the individual elements. What is the total pattern?
Rene Magritte
Proximity An easy way to gain unity in a composition is to make separate element look as if they below together, proximity is the easiest way to accomplish this. Group elements together rather than leaving them isolated. This makes the work seem intentional.
Paul Wonner, Dutch still life with Stuffed Birds and Chocolate, acrylic on canvas, 6 x 4’, 1981.
Michael Jones McKean
Unity through Repetition The most widely used device for achieving unity is repetition. The elements that repeat can be almost anything, a color, shape, texture, a direction or angle.
Sara Cwynar
Andy Warhol, Sixteen Jackies, acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas, 20 x 16" each canvas, 1964.
Andy Warhol
Continuation Another way to achieve unity is through continuation which is a more subtle device than proximity or repetition. Continuation means that something continues – usually a line, an edge or a direction from one form to another. The viewers eye is carried smoothly from one to the next.
Edgar Degas, The tub, Pastel, 231/2"x 321/2", 1886. Loure, Paris
Unity with Variety There are ways of creating Unity without falling into the trap of a perfectly symmetrical image. The goal is to obtain unity in an image but allow the image to branch out into variations that enliven the image.
How does a checker board pattern feel compared to the below?
Piet Mondrian, Composition with Red, yellow and Blue, oil on canvas, 25 7/8" x 27 ¼", 1937-42. Tate Gallery, London.
Wassily Kandinsky, Several Circles, No.323, oil on canvas, 4'71/8" square, 1926. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, new York
Gerhard Richter
Balance & Unity Project Requirements and Restrictions
Physical works must be 11x14 inches, the size of the bristol paper (2 collages each 11x14″: One dealing with balance and one dealing with unity)
Collages must utilize images altered in photoshop using crop tool, selection tool, adjustments: hue/saturation, light/value, etc. Print (in color or black & white) and be collaged into the final works. You may also incorporate found images from magazines, newspapers, fabric, drawing, line, etc into your final collage. *Take your Photoshop image size into consideration when printing.
You must use a 50/50 balance of digitally altered images to found images.
Fill the entire page of your collage. No white of the paper should be showing
Glue only (be neat), no tape
Must be presentation ready
Also must be posted to blog
Must have a titles
Must be accompanied by explanation on blog
Student Examples:
REBLOGGING UNITY PROJECTS:
Browse through your classmate’s blogs (blog links are found on our class tumblr under Student tumblrs - you should already be following one another). Reblog 1 of your classmates Unity projects onto your blog and discuss the effectiveness of this 2D element. Make sure it is a 250 words minimum post about your classmate's project. Things to consider: Is it successful? Can you tell the work is about the idea of Unity? Where and how could the work be stronger? etc.
