Fashion Design Drawing

Balance

When several objects are balanced at different
angles, one above the other, they have a common
center of gravity. In a drawing there must be a sense
of security, of balance between the opposite or coun-
teracting forces, regardless of where the center line
may fall. This is true no matter what the posture
may be. A standing figure whether thrown back-
ward or forward, or to one side or the other, is sta-
tionary or static. The center of gravity, from the
pit of the neck, passes through the supporting foot
or feet, or between the feet when they are supporting
the weight equally.

In a way, the pendulum of a clock when hanging
straight, or perpendicular, represents a standing
figure without movement. It is static, stopped. So is
the clock. But start the pendulum swinging. It de-
scribes an arc, moving back and forth, but always
about a fixed center of gravity. The position of the
pendulum when at one or the other extreme of its
swing or arc, from its center of gravity, represents
the extent to which a figure may be thrown out of
balance. And this position would also represent the

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greatest rapidity of motion in the drawing of a
figure in action. Yet even in the most extreme motion
there must be a sense of security, a feeling that the
figure, like the pendulum, could come back to a
fixed center of gravity. This feeling or sense of bal-
ance which must be recorded in the flow or sweep of
a drawing is continuity and rhythm.

Fashion Design Drawing - Figure Drawing Balance 2.jpg