Composition:

Getting everything to look like it belongs together!

Unity and Variety

Balance:

Symmetrical

Asymmetrical

Radial

All-over

Negative Space

Unity: how is it achieved here?

Wayne Theibauld

(20th C. American)

Unity: how is it achieved here? (Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 16th C. Dutch)

Unity here? (Jackson Pollock, 20th C. American)

Unity?

Variety?

Why does the eye want both?

The Quilts of Gee’s Bend, Alabama (20th C. American)

Unity?

Variety?

Unity?

Variety?

Unity?

Variety?

Balance:

Different objects in a two-dimensional artwork have differing visual “weights.”

Some factors that make an image visually “heavy” include:

Size

Color

Complexity

(Jules Olitsky, 20th C. American)

Symmetrical Balance:

(Dividing a composition along a vertical axis--the simplest way to create a sense of balance.)

Baker OverstreetTash 'n' Nose 2012-2013

Symmetrical Balance:

(Bernd and Hilla Becher, 20th C. German)

Symmetrical Balance:

(Giorgioni, Italian, 1503)

A Gee’s Bend quilt with a symmetrical composition:

A Gee’s Bend quilt with approximate symmetry:

Edward Burtynsky’s Ship Breaking Photographs:

Burtynski Ship-Breaking photographs with asymmetrical balance--how does he achieve balance in these pictures?

Radial Balance:

(Central Asian Bowl, 12th C., tin and bronze)

Artemio at LAXART (2010)

Radial Balance:

(MC Escher, 20th C. Belgium)

All-Over Balance:

(MC Escher, 20th C. Belgium)

All-Over Balance:

(MC Escher, 20th C. Belgium)

All-Over Balance

The Quilts of Gee’s Bend, Alabama (20th C. American)

Positive and negative spaces here:

Also: how is this painting asymmetrically balanced?

(Ito Jakuchu, 18th C. Japanese)

One more Jakuchu composition to analyze:

Unity?

Balance?

Positive and Negative Spaces?

Negative Space:

(MC Escher, 20th C. Belgium)

More interplay between positive and negative spaces by MC Escher:

Project Number Two: Composition Animation We are going to make a video animation that involves creating sets of drawings that have compositions that are balanced using the following strategies: Symmetrical BalanceAsymmetrical BalanceRadial BalanceAll-Over Balance Using the template paper provided and your graphite pencils, ink pens, and ruler, you are going to create at least 10 symmetrical designs that all relate to one another, at least 10 asymmetrical designs that all relate to one another, at least 10 radial designs that all relate to one another, and at least 10 all-over designs that relate to one another. The way to get them to relate (but obviously not perfectly match) is to create a design, then set a blank sheet of (semi-transparent) template paper over that first design, then subtly modify the second design to make it slightly different from your first design. Then place a third sheet of blank template paper over your second design and modify the composition even further. Do the same with the fourth and fifth design, then carefully ink-in all of your designs. When you are finished, you will have a total of at least 40 drawings that will later be sequenced and scanned to create our motion-filled animation.  Hint: simple and bold drawings/designs generally animate more effectively than highly detailed and complex ones. Also: you can create 4 unique sets of drawings to be sequenced among your classmates’ sets, or you can create 40+ drawings that you yourself sequence together to create one full segment of our animation. 

Some examples of Composition/Animations from previous semesters: