“Teeter-totter”

• This concept is from Paul Georges, who was instrumental in getting figurative painting back into the mainstream after serious painting was dominated by Abstract Expressionism and its many derivatives for most of the last century.

• Teeter-totter: using color and varying its intensity to balance the two halves of a painting.

• Just as a weight on a see-saw has more force when it is closer to the ends, we instinctively want to balance intense color at the far right or left edges of a painting. Color in the center acts differently. We find it more stable. Of course color in the exact center is a bit dull, so the art is in making it dance but still feel satisfying, giving it gesture that seems to be conscious of the whole.

• This balancing act can use variations in size or saturation to achieve a feeling of stability.

• Sometimes, however, a very bold painting can find a balance using two or more different colors, i.e. a small yellow shape can balance a large blue shape. It can work.

• This process takes place unconsciously, but sometimes it is helpful to pull up this concept to figure out why something does or doesn’t work.