Last week I addressed how creating opposing diagonals helps give balance to your paintings. The balance principle is loaded with options, but what causes
visual weight within that principle?
When I was a kid, our seesaw was a wooden plank crossed over a saw horse made of 2x4s. It was a fun ride except when one of the kids weighed a good bit more than the
other. We adjusted for that either by shifting the plank so that it was longer on the lighter-weight kid's side OR the heavier kid moved closer to the saw horse. Fun for lighter-weight kid, but the heavier kid got the short end of the ride.
BALANCE IS BALANCE IS BALANCE
Visual balance in painting works the same as physical balance. Just as physical balance is achieved by the
distribution of weight on either side of an axis, so is visual balance. On the rectangular surface -- canvas, paper, board, whatever - the edges of the surface are the boundaries of the visual space, like the ends of the seasaw.
Within that space, a visual element's proximity to either of the sides' edges, and to an axis impacts the balance. The axis is that place in the painting where something gives a strong feeling of vertical emphasis and where the eye
likely will go first.
In Leonardo's Last Supper, the axis is the Christ figure. It is located in the center, yes, but the axis is emphasized by the
diagonal lines tilting towards the head of the Christ.
The figures on either side are equally distributed between the axis and the side's edges.
In Monet's Impression Sunrise, the axis is located to the right if the center, where the sun and its reflection are placed.
But look how all the weight goes to the left side when we move that boat to the left corner. Now it feels topsy-turvy, like it's tilting to the left.
Let's go one step further and place a clone of it between the axis and the right edge, closer to the axis. That brings it into balance. Remember the
seesaw?
So what we see here are examples of how the closer to the edge an image is, the more weight it creates. That same image closer to the axis pulls less weight.
TRY THIS:
- Find photos of paintings by master artists.
- Look for the axis in their paintings
- Then look for how they have balanced their images according to the axis and the edges.
Have a fun weekend of balancing!
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