Balance

• Balance is an even use of elements throughout a work of art.
• Symmetry is a very formal type of balance consisting of a mirroring of portions of an image.
  • Bilateral symmetry (two-sided symmetry) is the most common, in which two halves of a work of art mirror each other.
  • Symmetry is common in major works of architecture, where it lends buildings a tone of stability and power. Classical Greek temples like the Temple of Artemis at Corfu are rigidly symmetrical. Even the sculpture on the façade (front of the building), is nearly perfectly symmetrical.
  • Radial symmetry is created when an image is symmetrical around a central point or axis, like a sunflower viewed head-on. Radial symmetry creates a strong sense of unity in a work of art, and is common in sacred images.
• Asymmetrical balance is created when two sides of an image do not mirror each other, but still have approximately the same visual weight, amount of detail, shapes, color, and so on.

The Classical Greek sculpture of Doryphoros by Polykleitos is an excellent example of asymmetrical balance with the use of contrapposto, which is often used to give standing human figures a sense of life and animation. In this case, the figure has his weight tensed on his right leg. The left leg is relaxed and bent. Balancing this out, the right arm hangs loosely, but the left arm is tensed. The figure does not stand in a symmetrical way, but overall seems calm and balanced.

Emphasis

• Emphasis, or focus, consists of drawing attention to one or more points in a work. This can be accomplished through any of the visual elements. Focus can be purposefully created within compositions to focus the viewer’s attention on specific areas, imagery, and even conceptual ideas communicated within an artwork.

Motion

• Motion refers to a sense of movement as the eye is guided through a work of art. This can be accomplished by showing figures literally in motion, or simply through the visual elements.
  • The illustration from the Akbarnama, Akbar on horseback, hunting animals within an enclosure, provides an excellent example of motion.
  • The smaller animal figures are darting in all directions hunting one another. Their movements create a strong sense of motion throughout the image.
  • Lines and color also help convey the motion of people and animals. There is a strong zigzag that brings us from top to bottom, or bottom to top. Starting at the top-right corner, the fences form a strong diagonal, accompanied by the slash of green representing a stream. These meet at the left edge, where the momentum then follows Akbar on his large white horse, also emphasized by the line of darker earth that moves in a downward diagonal from the horse’s mouth. This motion then again reverses direction, in a downward diagonal, back to the left edge, which in turn bounces back to the bottom right edge.
  • Our eyes move throughout the image not only because the figures in it are depicted in motion, but also because of the manipulation of the visual elements.

Proportion and Scale

• Proportion is the relationship between the size of parts within a composition, specifically in terms of their dimensions; these parts can be anything from an object to a person’s body parts or facial features.
• Proportion works in ratios, which is the quantitative relation between parts showing the number of times one value contains or is contained within the other.
• Scale is the size of an object or artwork relative to another object or artwork, something in the world outside of the image, or to a system of measurement.
  • Hieratic scale is scale based on relative importance. The more important a figure, the larger they are in relation to the figures around them.
• The difference between scale and proportion in art is that proportion refers to the relation between parts of a whole, and scale refers to the size of figures or objects in a composition. These figures or objects could be small or large in scale, but still be in proportion.