When creating a piece of art artists have to consider the visual weights of the elements. Here are are the visual weights within the elements and how balance is shown.
Colour
- Hue – warm colours like yellow, orange and red have more visual weight than cool colours like blue, green and purple.
- Value – darker colours seem visually heavier in weight than light colours.
- Saturation – more saturated colours are healthier than dull colours.
- Transparency – opaque shapes have a lot more weight to them than transparent ones.
Shape
- Squares have more visual weight than circles. More complex shapes have more visual weight.
- Size of the shape is very important. A larger shape is heavier but a group of small shapes combined can add to.
Line
- The thickness of a line determines the weights.
Placement
- Objects on the edge or corner have more visual weight.
- The foreground and background can create balance. They can also contrast one another.