Introduction to Composition Arrangement
Primary 6 · Creative Arts
Introduction to Composition Arrangement
Lesson 1 of 4
20 min
Let's begin
Keza is drawing her family's compound for the class exhibition. She draws the house, the cow shed, two banana plants and the water tank, all on the left side of her paper. The right side stays empty.
When she holds it up, Mugisha tilts his head. "Your picture looks as if it is going to fall over!" he says. Keza has drawn everything well. So what is wrong? The answer is balance.
Composition is the way an artist arranges things in a picture: the shapes, colours, objects and people, and the empty spaces between them. A coach arranges players on a football pitch; an artist arranges shapes on a page. In this unit you will learn three big ideas of composition: balance, perspective and proportion.
Nothing in a drawing really weighs anything. But some shapes pull your eyes more strongly than others, and artists call this visual weight.
A picture is balanced when the visual weight is spread out, so that no side seems heavier than the other. Keza's picture had all its weight on the left, so it seemed to tip over.
In symmetrical balance the two halves of the picture are mirror images. If you folded the paper down the middle, the two sides would match, like a butterfly's wings. A house drawn from the front with the same tree on each side is symmetrical. It feels calm, steady and formal, which is why it is often used for important buildings, flags and certificates.
In asymmetrical balance the two sides are different, but they still feel equal. Think of a seesaw at break. A heavy child sits close to the middle and a light child sits far out at the end, and the seesaw stays level. In a picture, one big shape on one side can be balanced by:
Asymmetrical balance feels lively and natural. Most landscapes and scenes from daily life use it.
In radial balance, shapes spread out from a centre point, like the spokes of a bicycle wheel, the petals of a sunflower or the rings on the lid of an agaseke basket.
You need: a sheet of paper, a pencil, scissors, and scraps of coloured paper from old calendars, magazines or sugar packets. Leaves and bottle tops work too.
Katsushika Hokusai made this famous print in Japan nearly 200 years ago. Boats are caught in the waves of a stormy sea.
Tip
Heavy near the middle, light far out
Balance a picture the way you balance a seesaw. Then squint at it: if one side still pulls your eyes, add a small bright shape to the other side.
Try each one first, then tap Show answer to check.
What does "composition" mean in art?
Answer: The way an artist arranges the shapes, colours, objects and spaces in a picture.
Ishimwe draws a church from the front. The left half and the right half match exactly. What kind of balance is this?
Answer: Symmetrical balance.
Uwase's painting has a big dark mountain on the left. Name two things she could add on the right to balance it.
Answer: Any two of: a small bright sun, a group of small houses or trees, a person in a bright red shirt, a few goats. Small and bright shapes can balance one big shape.
Which has more visual weight: a small pale grey stone or a small bright orange flower of the same size?
Answer: The bright orange flower. Bright colours pull the eye more strongly.
Make it: Draw your home or your school compound using asymmetrical balance. Use the cut-out shapes to plan it first, then squint to check it.
What you learned today
Sources and credits
The rest of the lesson, the diagrams and the exercises (Try it yourself and the practice questions) are written by Ganzaa.
Quick check
Mutoni folds her drawing down the middle, and the two sides match exactly, like a butterfly's wings. What kind of balance does her drawing have?
