Balance & Emphasis
TashaDavis
S.T.E.M. Foundations is a class that basically teaches about things we will need in our future life and technology combined with art. My class and I were working on a combination of life and art. We were learning about some things called Balance and Emphasis because not only are they art techniques but also, very real aspects of life. We learned that the definition of Balance is equal on both sides. Emphasis is when something stands out from everything else. Emphasis is like Accentuation or Uniqueness. After we learned about Balance and Emphasis, we had to create a collage using only colored construction paper using Balance and Emphasis.
The purpose of learning Balance and Emphasis was to show us how, like colors and lines, our lives are and can be based on Balance and Emphasis. This was important so that in the future we could use it on a larger scale. We could use it to keep the work portion of our lives larger than the fun part of our lives and emphasize the fun portion so that our lives will seem balanced.
During the making of our Balance and Emphasis collage, we were only allowed to use colored construction paper, glue, scissors, and Balance and Emphasis. We had to use what we had, to make whatever we were making, and make it look like a well-constructed piece of work.
The coolest thing that I learned during this project was that good work doesn’t have to be fancy. I’m glad that I learned this because now I know that if you try your hardest, you will be successful.
My biggest struggle was that at the beginning, I was told that I couldn’t use markers. To overcome this, I chose a design that was simple, symmetrical, and could contrast well with pink. This project was challenging because when it comes to drawing, markers are my life. I just can’t normally make a piece of art without them. Truth be told, I was still in denial on the day the collage was due. In fact, I only just finished it just as I entered the class.
I like pink and white so I decided those would be the only colors that I would use in my collage. Then I chose a well-known symbol that was long, and thin. I chose the batman symbol and emphasized it in white against the pink background. It looked perfect in that the batman symbol was balanced in the center of the pink paper just right and was given the correct amount of emphasis.
When I created this project, there were several qualities of the mind that I believe I used. A list of all the qualities would be: Persistence, Inquiry, Collaboration, Communication, and Creativity.
I believe that I used the quality of Creativity in this project because when I chose my color palette I had to think, and use my imagination to the extent that I was choosing which colors were going to clash and which colors were appealing to the eye. In this case I believe that the definition of creativity is when you create something appealing to the eye that yourself and others can enjoy.
One of the other qualities that I used during this project was Inquiry. I believe that I used inquiry in this project because I had to think about what I thought before and ask myself if what I thought before makes sense. I had always thought it made sense because it was so simple. I had to ask myself if one side of my balance and emphasis collage was unequally balanced or if one side would have too much emphasis. If it had too much emphasis, it could distract from the rest of the artwork. On this condition I decided that it would be a little easier if I chose a symmetrical symbol to go right in the center of the page instead of cutting colored scraps of paper and gluing them together. It would be harder than it really was. On this basis, I would say that the definition of Inquiry would be when you are questioning what you are thinking about or doing, and seeing if you can't make what you are thinking about or doing any easier or better.