​Balance refers to the distribution of elements in a composition.  There are several ways to think about balance, symmetrical and radial for example, but in this lesson, we are going to examine asymmetrical balance and use some images from the High Museum of Art’s collection.  Because this is for a specific lesson I teach in class we are going to use scenery as our subject matter.

Asymmetrical balance is that where the elements are distributed unevenly to achieve a specific effect.  The more common method is to control how positive and negative space are spread throughout the picture plane.  Like in this John Menapace photograph.

​In this Edward Weston photograph the image is dominated by the sky, which is mostly negative space.  The effect I get from this photo is to feel much smaller in the context of the image.

​Lucinda Bunnen does the opposite in her photo, it’s nearly all positive space, even the little gap of negative space is occupied by a figure.  This small gap is used to create emphasis, but that’s another lesson.  How does this make you feel?  How does the dominating positive space contribute to that feeling?

​Asymmetrical balance can also be manipulated by dark and light areas.  In this Harry Callahan photograph, the dark black of the building and El line occupy a lot more space than the white of the sky.  While not very comfortable, it definitely makes for an engaging image.

​The image we have looked at so far are a little unsettling, but asymmetrical balance can also be comforting and at the same time make the image exciting to look at.  In this photograph by Eugene Atget the rhythm (yet another lesson) of the dark and light areas, and the positive and negative space create a lively scene from a simple street corner.

​William Henry Jackson does a similar thing in his photograph.

​So much to say about colour!  Books, and dare I say doctoral dissertations have been written about the subject.  Here we will attempt to explain some of the major colour schemes and their effect with fabulous illustrations from the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

​First, let us look at the colour wheel.  This is by no means the only colour wheel, but it is the most accessible and straight forward.  Many early learning students come to know the primary colours and also learn that yellow and blue make green (that was in a television commercial from the 80’s as well.)  If you ever poked through a box of crayons you’ll know the names of the tertiary colours, like green-yellow, even if you didn’t know it’s called a tertiary colour.  If you look at my colour wheel you will see some shapes in the middle, an equilateral triangle, and isosceles triangle, a square, and a rectangle.  These help us plot a few of our colour schemes (groups of colours.)

​A very basic understanding of Greek tells you that this means one colour.  A monochromatic colour scheme is one colour in different tones.  A tone is the lightness and darkness of a colour.  In this Yoruba cloth we can see tones of dark and light blue, along with some blue-green.  This creates a unified effect; good for design, and also good for asking the viewer to explore the subject matter carefully.

​An analogous colour scheme can be defined as four or fewer adjacent colours on the colour wheel.  When together they create a unified effect that is just a little off balance allowing the artist to aim for a specific, emotional response in the viewer.  Look closer at the painting and the photograph below.  What emotional response can you elicit from each?  How is the Sanford Robinson Gifford different from the William Christenberry in the use of colour and its effects?

​Complimentary colours are those that are directly cross from another on the colour wheel.  This colour scheme is more often used in design, think of sports team logos and colours.  The effect is to have strong contrast simultaneously with a balanced effect.  Can you see how the blue and orange in Henry Inman’s painting achieves this?

​ A split complimentary is the isosceles triangle on the colour wheel.  Choose a key colour, find its compliment, then use the colours on either side.  Some prefer to use the compliment in this scheme as well.  It’s up to you.  A split complimentary allows one colour to be dominant, could be for design or specific emotional reasons, and the others colours to help support and balance the key colour.  In the Kay Hassan collage here, the artist is split complimentary to create a dynamic and balanced image.

​A triad can be plotted by using the equilateral triangle on the colour wheel.  The triad is an exciting colour scheme because the colours will both support and contrast with one another.  Keep in mind that not all of the colours need to be at the same tonal range.  This sculpture by James Harold Jennings is an excellent use of a triad. 

​A neat thing about the triad is that one doesn’t need to use all three colours.  You can choose two of the three colours and still achieve a balanced effect.  This painting by Claude Monet is an example. 

​Notice how Carle van Loo uses blue and a very light yellow (Caucasian) tone.

​A tetrad is a more complicated colour scheme to use, and it requires a little practice, but it’s exciting!  If you spin your colour wheel around you’ll see both a rectangle and a square.  The colours at the end of each angle are the four colours of your tetrad.  Sometimes this is also described as a pair of compliments.  Can you find the pairs in the Girolamo Romani painting?

​In this Edward Tayler a balanced and engaging effect is created by using different tones in a tetrad.

​Discord is using a colour scheme and adding another colour outside that scheme.  The name has the connotation of this being a jarring experience, but it doesn’t have to be.  Think of the Google logo, a triad of red, yellow, and blue, with some green thrown in.  Here Ellsworth Kelly throws the yellow out of a triad and adds green instead.

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith does a similar thing and combines the discord with erratic brush strokes to emphasize the effect.

​Using colour is a powerful, but not the only tool in the artist’s collection.  I hope you see that colour is used to create balance, emphasis, and unity, as well as elicit an emotional response.  I also want to point out that a colour scheme does not have to be used very strictly.  Artistic licence can be employed and still use the advantages of the colour scheme.   

​Movement is the way our eye moves around the work of art.  Movement is used to express emotion and direct attention and it can be manipulated to elicit specific responses in the viewer.  The most common element for creating movement is line, both direct and implied, although it is can also be done using shape, colour, and space.

To help you analyse movement, close your eyes, then when you open them, identify the first place your eye lands and continue naming the different points it travels.  Develop some adjectives to describe the movement.  Ask yourself where the artist wants you to look, and how does the artist get you there.

In Joseph Halfpenny’s painting our eyes move up and down the waterfall.  At times, it drifts off the left or right, but those trees on either side direct the eyes back to the waterfall.  It also helps that the two figures at the bottom center are also looking at the waterfall.
https://high.org/collections/the-upper-fall-rydal-westmorelandshire/

​In this painting by William Stanley Haseltine our eyes follow the coastline diagonally across the picture plane.  This is further assisted by the contrast between the light blue of the sea and the oranges, reds, and browns of the mountains.

​This is fun.  In this painting by Samuel F.B. Morse our eyes move around in a circle from the mother, to the baby, to the little girl and then back to the mother.  This is an excellent example of implied line, we are sympathetically following the gaze of the mother and baby, and then return because of the instrument (a bubble blower?) in the hands of the little girl.

​A similar thing happens in this Edward Westin photograph.
https://high.org/collections/shells/

​As mentioned above, movement can have an affect on the emotional impact of the image.  In this Greg Mike drawing, the movement is quite dramatic and frantic and our response to this image is similar.
https://high.org/collections/aloha/

​A similar effect, although more restrained, can be seen in this Juan Eduardo Gomez painting.
https://high.org/collections/piaktipik/

​This George Cope painting has is even more restrained.
https://high.org/collections/a-pair-of-spectacles/

​Try it on your own with this Joseph Decker painting.  Where does your eye travel to?  How does it get there?  What adjectives would you use to describe the movement?  Remember to refer to specific elements in the painting as your evidence.
https://high.org/collections/still-life-with-peanuts/

There are two ways we can define space in visual art.  The first is to think about the inside and the outside, or as we say in art circles, positive and negative space.  The object we look at (even if it isn’t an object) is the positive space and the space that surrounds and supports it we call the negative space.  These two types of space work together like yin and yang and are both equally important.

In the image below the negative space has been rendered leaving the positive space blank so you can see.

​As a general rule1/3 :: 2/3 ratio between positive and negative space creates balance and results in a feeling of completeness.  Look at the Joseph Redofer DeCamp painting below.  A balanced distribution of positive and negative space draws and keeps the eye on the figure.