Asymmetrical Balance 1

The first exercise involves achieving asymmetrical balance. Think of this as compared to symmetrical balance, either radial (snowflake, daisy) or bilateral (butterfly wings, many leaves).

Here I work with a 10 x 12" white paper with five various sized irregular but still rather smooth shapes. The idea is to create a balance that feels right while staying clear of any symmetrical balance. Although the exercise called for somehow pasting the black blobs, I laid them all out on the floor and shot down on them. This will actually prove most useful for some upcoming exercises, and it let me get in a few examples for critique here.

My first example probably missed the mark with those two smaller blobs along the bottom. Isn't that symmetry glaring? One might also say the same about two largest--at least they have some angle to them.

This next example seems slightly better but notice how we have a large and a small--how each pair lines up exactly with each other. Nope, I did not notice this while laying out the blobs.

Does this last example come close to asymmetrical balance? Well, kinda sorta close, I think. My best shot.

This is a fun exercise! It's all about finding and developing one's own sense of balance. My little Notan book is so full of text going along with this exercise. I will present some in tomorrow's post when we go a little further into these examples.

If you find this interesting, I encourage you to pick up a copy (only $8.95 at Amazon) and give it a try. Or, you can just live vicariously through me. I don't mind. ;-)

And ya, I know... these images look like either a Jersey cow or a Gateway computer box.