Expressive Drawing – Equilibrium

Walking the Dog
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 8 - Play 1
Ink on Rice Paper
40.5cm x 20.5cm (16" x 8")

In Chapter 8 of Expressive Drawing, Steven Aimone identifies the importance of equilibrium or balance in nature and suggests a drawing incorporating a sense of equilibrium, speaks poetically about nature and life.

Related Drawings - Asymmetrical
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 8 - Build 1
Graphite and Charcoal on Paper
59.4cm x 84.1cm (23.4" x 33.1")

Steven defines equilibrium as the unity that occurs when opposites or polarities come together like yin and yang. He identifies examples of different types of polarities such as night and day, hot and cold, wet and dry, pain and pleasure, hope and fear, love and hate, light and dark, active and passive, rough and smooth, top and bottom, inside and outside, front and back, left and right, and so on. He explains that equilibrium provides a feeling of stability and is usually a desirable and necessary thing, but sometimes instability gives a sense of life, excitement and tension.

Related Drawings - Symmetrical
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 8 - Build 1
Graphite and Charcoal on Paper
59.4cm x 84.1cm (23.4" x 33.1")

The play exercise for the chapter involves creating drawings with left and right balance without resorting to symmetry. The build exercise entails creating a pair of related drawings. They both have a sense of equilibrium, but one of them is almost perfectly symmetrical and the other is asymmetrical.

Flying a Kite
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 8 - Play 1
Ink on Rice Paper
40.5cm x 20.5cm (16" x 8")

I still haven't got back into the swing of these exercises, but I am persevering, trying to absorb the ideas, and trusting I will be inspired by some of the later chapters.