Day 3: Shape and Balance

Shape: A 2-dimensional enclosed area.

Joan Miro, Nocturne, 1940

Shapes can be Geometric or Organic

Yellena James, Flutter, 2009

Balance: refers the the way the elements of art are organized in an artwork.

Balance can be symmetrical, asymmetrical , or radial.

Leonardo da Vinci, The Mona Lisa

When an artwork has symmetrical balance, it is the same on both sides.

However, it doesn’t need to be exactly the same on both sides to be symmetrical.

*It’s almost like there’s an invisible line down the middle of the artwork.

James McNeill Whistler, Whistler’s Mother, 1871

When an artwork has asymmetrical balance when its elements are placed unevenly in a piece, but appear to have the same “visual weight”.

When at artwork has radial balance, it’s elements are arranged around a central point.

Directions

• Your artwork must have symmetrical

balance.

• One side must be made entirely of

organic shapes. The other side must be

made entirely of geometric shapes.