Principles of Art

Balance

Do you recall when you first learned to dance, skate, surf, or ride a bike? Balance was important in your being able to do these activities, and when you were balanced, you felt comfortable. Do you remember what happened when you lost your balance? You felt panic and immediately tried to get your balance back.

Just as you like to remain balanced when riding a bike, artists like to have balance in whatever they create. Art needs good balance.
To understand balance in a drawing, think of children and a parent on a seesaw.

In this image, the apple and pumpkin and the figures are badly balanced. Each of these pictures seem too weighted on the right side.

There are three types of balance. They are as follows:

symmetrical (formal)
asymmetrical (informal)
radial

If you put a picture’s largest object at dead center and have objects that are an equal size on each side, your picture will have perfect balance but hardly any movement. This sort of balance is called symmetrical balance. Symmetrical balance is good for solemn pictures.

Look at the following pictures. In the first picture, a grapefruit at the left balances the pumpkin and apple, which are close together and near the center of the picture. In the second picture, the father and son sitting close to the center of the seesaw balance with the child sitting on the end of seesaw. This balance is called asymmetrical balance (informal)—the smaller objects balance larger objects and nothing is dead center. The picture does not have very much movement, much like the pictures you saw in the symmetrical balance part. However, this type of balance looks interesting and exciting.

Notice, also, that the apple in the first picture overlaps (comes partly in front of) the pumpkin. Overlapping helps give a picture the illusion of distance. It leads your eyes into a picture. It makes a picture more interesting.
Asymmetrical objects or shapes cannot be divided into identical halves.

Radial balance radiates from a central point. A good example of radial balance is the wheel of a bicycle. The spokes radiate out to a round rim and tire from a central axle. Radial balance is balance where everything stems from a central point. Examples of radial balance follow.