Is one in which the elements of the work or relations between the elements are similar or identical?

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journal article

Mind

New Series, Vol. 99, No. 396 (Oct., 1990)

, pp. 583-598 (16 pages)

Published By: Oxford University Press

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2255022

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Journal Information

Tables of contents for recent issues of Mind are available at http://www3.oup.co.uk/mind/contents . Authorized users may be able to access the full text articles at this site. Mind has long been the leading journal in philosophy. For well over 100 years it has presented the best of cutting edge thought in epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of language, philosophy of logic, and philosophy of mind.

Publisher Information

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. OUP is the world's largest university press with the widest global presence. It currently publishes more than 6,000 new publications a year, has offices in around fifty countries, and employs more than 5,500 people worldwide. It has become familiar to millions through a diverse publishing program that includes scholarly works in all academic disciplines, bibles, music, school and college textbooks, business books, dictionaries and reference books, and academic journals.

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The principles are:

Balance

Balance is the concept of visual equilibrium, and relates to our physical sense of balance. It is a reconciliation of opposing forces in a composition that results in visual stability. Most successful compositions achieve balance in one of two ways: symmetrically or asymmetrically. Balance in a three dimensional object is easy to understand; if balance isn't achieved, the object tips over. To understand balance in a two dimensional composition, we must use our imaginations to carry this three dimensional analogy forward to the flat surface.

Symmetrical balance can be described as having equal "weight" on equal sides of a centrally placed fulcrum. It may also be referred to as formal balance. When the elements are arranged equally on either side of a central axis, the result is Bilateral symmetry. This axis may be horizontal or vertical. It is also possible to build formal balance by arranging elements equally around a central point , resulting in radial symmetry.

There is a variant of symmetrical balance called approximate symmetry in which equivalent but not identical forms are arranged around the fulcrum line.

Whether the solution is simple or complex, some form of balance can be identified in most successful compositions. For a further discussion of balance in design see these sites:
Symmetrical balance
Asymmetrical balance

Proportion

Proportion refers to the relative size and scale of the various elements in a design. The issue is the relationship between objects, or parts, of a whole. This means that it is necessary to discuss proportion in terms of the context or standard used to determine proportions.

In contrast, the proportions of a private home are usually more in scale with human measure, and as a result it appears more friendly, comfortable, less intimidating.

Use of appropriate scale in surface design is also important. For example, an overly large textile design can overwhelm the form of a garment or a piece of furniture.

A surprising aspect of proportion is the way ideal proportions can vary for the human body itself. Styles change in bodies as they do in clothing. Prior to the 16th century, for example, the female body ideally had large hips and belly. Only later was a small waistline stressed.

In the 17th century and many other periods, the ideal body was much heavier than we would accept today.

Of course, in the last 35 years the ideal personified by the fashion model has fostered a standard which idealizes exceptionally slender body proportions for women. In this century, sports have provided models for ideal male body proportions. Beginning with the rise of televised football in the 1960's, and the subsequent fitness boom, an increasingly exaggerated muscular silhouette, corresponding to that of the uniformed and padded football player, was presented as the ultimate male form. Only in this period could Arnold Schwartzenegger have represented the heroic ideal body image. This trend reached its most extreme form in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Since that time the emergence of basketball as the predominant American sport has led to a more naturally proportioned fit body ideal for men.

In addition, artists frequently take liberties with the natural proportions of the human body to achieve their expressive goals. A well known classic example is Michaelangelo's David, in which distortions of proportion are used by the artist to depict both the youthfulness of the boy David, together with the power of the hero about to conquer the giant Goliath. The surrealist painter Magritte often used distortions of proportions to create striking effects.

What word refers to the relationship of one object to another in art?

Is the relationship between elements in an image?

What refers to a way of combining similar elements in an artwork to accent their similarities?

Is the comparative relationship of the different parts in relation to the whole?