How do the elements influence visual weight

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.

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