Balance and Contrast

Balance and Weight: Actual and Implied

• Actual Balance• Actual Weight• Visual Balance• Visual Weight

BALANCE

• An equilibrium of weight and force; distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady.

Actual Balance

VISUAL BALANCE

• The appearance of equilibrium in a work of art.

Kinds of Visual Balance

• Symmetrical• Approximate

Symmetrical• Asymmetrical• Radial

Achieving Visual Balance

• Size• Color• Shape• Frequency or

Repetition

SYMMETRICAL BALANCE

• Visual or actual equilibrium of visual elements in size, shape, and placement.

Bilateral Symmetry

• Symmetry in which similar anatomical parts are arranged on opposite sides of a median axis so that only one plane can divide the individual into essentially identical halves

RADIAL BALANCE

• Equilibrium achieved by elements emanating from a point, usually the center, in a composition.

ASYMMETRICAL (informal) BALANCE

• Visual or actual equilibrium that is almost but not exactly symmetrical.

tension

Contrast

• Visual Contrast• Conceptual Contrast

CONTRAST

• The use of opposing aspects of the elements of art to produce an intensified effect.

VISUAL CONTRAST

• Degree of visual difference among elements of art in a composition as a means of emphasis.

CONCEPTUAL CONTRAST

• An implied opposition of ideas to emphasize unexpected differences.