Composition and balance

Practices in this course encourage students to understand how balance can be used to create different moods, atmospheres, and emotions in their work. Whether they want to convey calmness, tension, or excitement, balance plays a significant role. 

A well-balanced composition is visually appealing and has a more significant impact on the viewer too. It draws the viewer's attention and creates a sense of harmony and order, making the artwork more engaging and it is a crucial practice for students to learn how to structure their compositions to ensure that the intended message is clear and resonates with the audience.

In this course students learn to tie different elements together and ensures that the overall piece feels harmonious. This skill is vital when students work with various elements and subjects in their art. All practices aim to reinforces students' technical skills. It involves elements like line, shape, color, and space, which are foundational to visual art. Reflecting those elements, students learn to consider optimal viewing distance, angles, and perspectives to ensure that the composition is balanced when seen from the intended vantage point.

Through the practices students present their work for critique evaluating the balance of their compositions, which allows them to engage more effectively in constructive criticism and refine their work to gain additional perspectives on their work.

Understanding and practising the creation of well-balanced compositions are fundamental to art education. It equips art students with the essential skills to produce aesthetically pleasing and effective artwork, facilitates effective communication of their ideas, and lays the groundwork for their future artistic growth and development. Whether they are pursuing a career in the arts or creating art for personal enjoyment, these skills are invaluable.

Collage encourages artists to visually experiment with different combinations of colors, patterns, and shapes. This experimentation can lead to the discovery of new, unexpected relationships and the development of creative solutions to balance within a composition. Students are asked to try multiple arrangements and combinations before settling on the most balanced and visually appealing composition. They can shift, layer, overlap, and modify elements until they achieve the desired visual equilibrium. This practice of trial and error helps students refine their skills and find the right balance.

Collage assembling frequently involves combining elements from different sources, such as photographs, magazine clippings, and hand-drawn elements. Integrating these diverse materials encourages artists to explore how to harmonize disparate styles and patterns within a single composition.

One of the main aspects of the practices in this course is understanding negative space. Effective use of negative space is crucial in collage assembling. Students must consider not only the elements themselves but also the spaces between them. This consideration of negative space contributes to a better understanding of how it impacts balance.

Materials and Equipment