Balance

Balance is a feeling of equality in weight, attention, or attraction achieved by arranging elements such as objects, color, texture, etc. throughout the composition. All artifacts such as photography, paintings, drawings, etc. use some form of balance, whether it be symmetrical, asymmetrical, or radial. Depending on the type of balance used, balance can provide its viewers a certain type of feeling when looking at the work of art. For example, tension can be felt within a composition when something is asymmetrical, meanwhile a composition that shows symmetry can leave its viewers feeling more at ease and calm.
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  • Symmetry: A form of balance achieved by the use of identical, balanced, compositional units on either side of a vertical axis within the picture plane.
  • Approximate Symmetry: A form of balance achieved by the use of similarly balanced compositional units on either side of a vertical axis within the picture plane.
  • Radial Symmetry: A form of balance than is even, radiating out from a central points to all four quadrants of the shape’s constraining plane.
  • Asymmetry: A form of balance attained when the visual units on balance either side of a vertical axis are not identical but are placed in positions within the picture plane so as to create a “felt” equilibrium of the total form concept
DO NOW:
Draw these 4 images exactly as you see them in your sketchbook.
Label each image with 1 of the 4 balance terminology types we just learned about posted to the left.    This will be worth 20 points

Your Mission

You will be creating a half-drawn composition. What does this mean? This means you will draw only HALF of an image of your choosing to show one of the forms of balance. First, you will be searching for an up-close image of a person or animal. IF you find something that interests you that is not a person or animal, talk to me first before moving on. 
Once you find the image of your dreams:
  • Cut it out of the magazine NEATLY
  • Decide how you would like to cut your image in half.
    • Clean cut down the middle
    • Diagonally 
    • Zig-Zag
  • Tack down 1 side of the cut image onto black or gray construction paper
    • Keep the other half of the image in your folder 
  • Lightly sketch out the main contours of the missing half with either a pencil or white colored pencil 
  • Using only colored pencils, blend multiple colors together to make the other side look as realistic to your original image
Picture
STEP 1 LIGHTLY sketch the main contours of the subject being drawn
Picture
Step 2 CONTINUED... Color small sections at a time so you can really get the blended colors to look as realistic as possible, using short, flicking-type strokes, layering one color on top of another
Picture
STEP 2 After testing to see which color combinations match the best to your original photo, begin coloring in the same direction as the shapes imply, blending the colors as you go
Picture
Step 3 Pay attention to the direction and the placement of each shape made up by different colors/tones.

Rubric

half_drawn_rubric.pdf
File Size: 51 kb
File Type: pdf
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