Balance - Some Examples

There are two kinds of balance....

Visual Balance

Created by the distribution of equal shapes on both sides of the picture.

Symmetrical Balance - Formal 

If you draw a vertical line down the center of the picture the right side would be a mirror image of the left. Has a static feel.

Asymmetrical Balance - Informal

          Asymmetrical balance occurs when several smaller items on one side are balanced by a large item on the other side, or smaller items are placed further away from the center of the page than larger items. One darker item may need to be balanced by several lighter items. This is more difficult to achieve but has a casual feel.

Balance of Elements

Balance between the elements that make up the composition, texture, value, color and shapes. My second post, "Balance is Everything and Everywhere" covered this topic but I have some illustrations to clarify.

Both these images are boring and monotonous as they need more change to be balanced. The image on the left needs more small complex shapes while the image on the right needs more large, simple shapes.  

This image is heavy with change and needs more repetition to be balanced. All the shapes, colors and textures are different creating a chaotic disorganized composition.  

Let's see how the balance of elements works in this informally balanced painting.

Repetition

1 - All the shapes are triangles that repeat.

2 - the five colors repeat

3 - the lines repeat in a diagonal directions.

Change

1 - The size of the triangle shapes range from large to small.

2 - The colore change from dark to light.

3 - The lines change in color and direction.

The painting is also organized because the smaller triangles are grouped together to form a focal point. The larger shapes occur around the perimeter.

Here is a composition that has both organic and geometric shapes but they both repeat enough and weave together to create balance. The small complex organic shapes (people) are grouped together to create a focal point. The painting is composed of two big shapes, one light and one dark.

None of the above compositions are wrong or bad, just a difference between higher quality balanced and lower quality imbalanced compositions.