UNITY AND VARIETY

Going Home (c. 1946). Jacob Lawrence.

Jacob Lawrence abstracted his subject in his painting - people in a train. The painting expresses unity because Jacob repeated the visual themes of – people, seats, luggage, windows, and colors in the painting. Notice the varied repetition in the green seats and window shades. However he varied the themes by first giving the people different theatrical businesses. As a unifying element, the artist used the same red to the variety of shapes.

BALANCE

Balance is the achievement of equilibrium, the condition in which acting influences are held in check by opposing forces. We often crave balance in life and art.

SYMMETRICAL BALANCE

Symmetrical Balance is the near or exact matching of left and right sides of a three-dimensional or a two-dimensional composition.

Architects often employ symmetrical balance to give unity and formal grandeur to a building’s façade.

Design for the President’s House (1792). James Hoban.

Probably on of the most symmetrical paintings ever made is the PORTRAIT OF THE HUNG-CHIH EMPEROR, executed by an anonymous court artist in 15^th century China. The ruler sits stiffly facing us, hands concealed by his rich garments. Only a few asymmetrical dragons on the screen behind him an in the medallions on his cloak relieve the overall rigidity of the compostion.

Portrait of the Hung-Chih Emperor, 15th century

ASYMMETRICAL BALANCE

With asymmetrical balance, the two sides are not the same. Instead, various visual phenomena are balanced – according to their visual and referential weights – around a felt or implied center of gravity.

What are the visual properties or weights of colors and forms, and how do we go about balancing them? As with design itself, there are no rule, only principle.

PRINCIPLES OF FORMS AND COLORS

Here are some classic and modern examples of asymmetrical balance:

The Holy Family on the Steps (1648). Nicolas Poussin.

The Holy Family on the Steps is a combination of symmetry and asymmetry. The pyramidal arrangement of the forms allow our eyes to perceive symmetry. Poussin placed St. Joseph in dark shadows leaving only the foot in the light with the staff leaning toward the right. This adds some weight to this side of the painting. Further, at the upper-right corner is the post which sets up another thrust of weight. On the other hand, Poussin created a major interest at the left side by giving St. Elizabeth a bright yellow robe. The warmth of her robe adds to the visual weight in the left side. St. Elizabeth is diagonally related with the clouds at the upper right. Thus, the clouds counter the weight created by the bright yellow form.

The most important figure in the painting is placed in the central axis. This is the strongest position in 2D art. Here, Jesus Christ was the most important figure. Indeed it is appropriate to make him the center of gravity. Mary, on the other hand, was painted in traditional red and blue.

Our eyes are first led to the form at the rightmost portion of the painting. Edgar Degas seemed to avoid the central vertical axis by placing the center of gravity near the right side as set up by the pole running vertically. Right after, our eyes are drawn from right to left to the next jockey wearing a red cap. Then, we see the third form at the farthest point in linear perspective. Finally, our eyes are led to the blue green portion going up to the circular figure at the upper left corner. The whole process is what you call as visual cuing.

Speaking of balance, the painting is asymmetrically balanced because of the diagonal association between two forms: the sun at the upper left corner, and the head of the jockey at the lower right. The sun is the only geometric figure in the painting and it counters the weight of the jockey on the horse near the corner.

Death and Life (c. 1911-1915). Gustav Klimt.

Death and Life is in asymmetry as effected by the principle of form where a cluster of forms in the right near the center is countered by the single form near the edge on the left. Another effect of countering the visual heaviness of the cluster in the right is the visual pull by the symbol of death, ensnaring the woman who is facing the form directly.