Watercolor Painting for Dummies (29 page)
Read Watercolor Painting for Dummies Online
Authors: Colette Pitcher
Tags: #Art, #Techniques, #Watercolor Painting, #General
Remember the teeter-totter? I remember playing on one with a kid who was much larger than I was. The big kid thought it was hilarious to sit on one end and hold the equipment down while I dangled helplessly above. Things were definitely out of balance. I got help from another friend, and teaming up, we two little kids could bring the teeter-totter to a level position. We were back in balance. Balance in your painting is similar, but it’s a visual balance rather than a physical one. And, just like with a teeter-totter, you can achieve balance in two different ways:
Something with
symmetrical
or
formal balance
is equal on both sides. People are symmetrical, for the most part. If you draw a line down the middle of your face, or the middle of your body for that matter, the two halves mirror each other. A checkerboard is another example — it has an equal balance of red and black.
Keeping things equal on both sides of your picture definitely provides balance, but a painting with symmetrical balance may not be as interesting as one with asymmetrical balance, which I discuss next. The trees in Figure 6-1 are in symmetrical balance.
Figure 6-1:
Trees in symmetrical balance.
With
asymmetrical
or
informal balance,
you achieve equality in each half using different numbers, weights, or shapes on each side of the center line. Asymmetrical balance is often more artistically interesting than symmetrical balance.
Instead of identical trees on each side of a painting, you can paint one large tree on one side and two smaller ones on the other. Or you can blur the lines between the two trees as in the paintings in Figure 6-2.
Figure 6-2:
Trees in asymmetri- cal balance.
The teeter-totter example at the beginning of this section talks about asymmetrical balance in which two small kids balance one larger kid on the other side of a teeter-totter. An uneven number of parts creates equal balance because of differing sizes and weights. Now, switch kids with circles. One big circle on one side of a painting can be balanced with a bunch of small circles on the other side. Visually, the page looks balanced.
Pictures can be top- or bottom-heavy as well. If the picture feels heavy in one area, move the elements to make it more visually comfortable or in balance. If you can’t move the elements, remember the lesson and use your knowledge in the next painting. You gain experience with each painting that you make.
Save yourself from discovering your painting is out of balance after you’re too far along to make many changes. Plan your paintings by first making a
thumbnail sketch
(more on thumbnails in Chapter 8). By planning the painting, you create a road map to your destination — a great painting.
Because asymmetrical balance is so much more pleasing to the eye, I show you in this section how to put asymmetrical balance in your paintings using the various elements of design. I focus especially on ways to balance color.
Every element of design can be balanced or unbalanced (Chapters 1 and 5 talk about the elements in more detail). The following list goes through the elements and offers ways to asymmetrically balance each element:
Color:
A small bit of intense color can balance against a big area of gray.
Direction:
A few slanted angles can balance many verticals.
Line:
One wriggly, energetic line can balance against a bunch of horizontal, calm lines.
Shape:
A big triangle can balance against a whole page of circles.
Size:
One big can balance against a bunch of littles.
Temperature:
A small bit of warm red can balance against a big area of cool blue.
Texture:
A bit of rough can balance against a lot of smooth.
Value:
A small dark can balance a large area of light.
These are by no means the only ways to reach asymmetrical balance. The solutions are infinite. After reading my list, think of some ways you can use asymmetrical balance with each element to make an exciting picture.
Weight is a visual determination, not an actual weight in grams or pounds. Look at the elements you have to work with and decide which are heavier and which are lighter. Some elements look heavy. Some elements appear light. So several light elements can balance out one heavy item visually.
