Mona, John Whipple

John Whipple

(Winter Park , Florida)

Mona

oil and charcoal on birch panel

c. 2004

While we explore the idea of balance and how it functions in this design,

consider: which shape or shapes in Whipple's painting are most powerful?

which is/are most interesting and intriguing to you?

Look for a discussion of Whipple's dynamic shape-making

toward the end of the critique to follow…

John Whipple's painting entitled Mona offers a most intriguing visual arrangement; the painting reveals Whipple as both an accomplished shape-maker and an exceptional practitioner of compositional balance. It also showcases the dynamic nature of asymmetrical arrangement.

A design is said to be balanced when elements are arranged in such a way that establishes a feeling of equilibrium. Generally, designs can be balanced in two ways: symmetrically , which involves a central axis or axes with elements mirrored to either side, and asymmetrically , in which a variety of elements in varying and contrasting placements still work together to establish equilibrium.

At first glance, Whipple's balanced composition may seem to embrace some elements of symmetry. There is an implied central axis, running vertically through the right edge of the neck, up through the middle of the lips and between the nostrils, and ascending up through the right edge of the nose where it meets the right eye at top. And, loosely speaking, there are elements mirrored on either side of the axis (eyes, nostrils, lips, flowing vertical bands hair).

But, while these hints of symmetry are present in the arrangement, you can see that

the symmetry here is radically tweaked. One eye, for example, is placed far away from the axis (almost all the way to the left side of the space), while the other butts right up against the axis at top-center. This right eye is also placed higher up in the space than the left, creating an implied diagonal in an arrangement dominated by horizontals and verticals. And, most obvious of all, the band of dark hair on the left is very narrow and engages the edge of the space, while the band of hair on the right is quite broad and placed prominently in the design's interior. In the end, the role of symmetry is secondary at best in the organization of the design.

What really balances this painting is a series of large organizing shapes that relate to one another asymmetrically! Notice, first, the large, modified, and cropped oval shape of the face, prominently featured in the upper left. It gains prominence in three ways: its scale (it is quite large); its role as container (it contains all the important narrative and descriptive features-- eyes, nose, lips); and its upper left placement ( the most powerful location in the design space).

So, you might ask, what visual force or forces take part in the design to balance this dominant shape in such a powerful placement?

This is where your answer to the question we asked above

comes into play.

The large, golden, negative shape at the right edge of the design is the most powerful and interesting shape in the painting. It is dynamic indeed, and its yin-yang, light-dark relationship with the adjacent shape of dark hair is the key to the balanced composition. Notice how these shapes are the longest of any in the design. They also share the longest, hardest edge in the arrangement. Its delightful, wavy rhythm draws attention to it, pushing our attention to the right, and balancing the design, left to right. Finally, notice how this edge intersects with the edge of Mona's shoulder, near the bottom. This “pressure point” brings our focus to the bottom-right, helping to offset the upper-left pull of the face.

One final note: formal considerations contribute to the effectiveness of the design's narrative and emotive content as well. The radically tweaked symmetry, apparent in the unorthodox, Cubist-like placement of the eyes, implies more than one vantage point and contributes to the feeling of mystery and ambiguity connected with the woman, so tenderly portrayed.