Harmony by Tammi Rapp

Harmony is perhaps the most subjective of the principles of design. Defined simply as the bringing together of design elements (line, shape, color, etc) and design principles (balance, unity, rhythm, etc) to create a cohesive whole and pleasing emotional response, harmony becomes much more complex when put into practice.

Harmony was first recognized as a principle of design by the Greeks in the Classical era. Applying the principles of music that define harmonious sound, they discovered what is known as the "Golden Mean", a mathematical proportion found frequently in nature that, when applied to composition and layout, will create the most pleasing or harmonious effect.

But layout alone is not what defines harmony. A balance must also be reached with the elements in the artwork. Usually, harmonious pictures have a repeated shape, color, or form that creates a pleasing rhythm. The balance of the work must be taken into consideration -- a picture that has poor balance will leave the viewer feeling dizzy or off-balance, and that rarely creates a pleasing effect.

What makes harmony so difficult to define or recognize is that it relies greatly upon the nebulous "pleasing" effect. When a person sees something, be it a butterfly on a flower, a rainbow, or a car wreck, an emotional response is generated. But different people react to the same visual stimuli in different ways. What one person finds pleasing or relaxing and thus harmonious, another person may find upsetting or jarring and thus disharmonious or discordant.

There are many elements and principles of design that are used to create harmony. The first and most commonly used element is color. Harmonious color is attained by using a consistent color scheme of related colors. This may be using analogous colors (colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel), complimentary colors (colors opposite each other on the color wheel), or even more complex color schemes such as the split complimentary (any three adjacent colors, and the compliment to the middle). Colors may also be related to each other only in temperature (reds and yellows to create warm, blues and greens to create cool) or value (similar levels of brightness).

The next most common way to achieve harmony is through repetition of shape or form. Placing these repetitions in such a way as to create rhythm can also add to or detract from a harmonious effect. Creating a rhythm that is soothing can add to the pleasing nature of an image, while creating a staccato or busy effect can create discord.

When looking for examples of harmony, the first place to turn is nature. Take, for instance, this field of wild bluebonnets and red paintbrush. First, look at the colors: The primary colors found in this image are blue, red, and green -- a triad of pure colors. Note that the colors are also essentially the same value -- when converted to grayscale, the details of the image almost completely disappear. There is repetition of form in the shape of the flower petals, leaves, and grass stalks. There is a rhythm to the placement of the flowers that, while irregular, lends to a peaceful effect. Some other harmonious elements were achieved through the composition of the picture. The overall temperature of the image is cool due to the predominant blues and greens, but the contrasting warm patch of red paintbrush draws the eye, giving the image a focal point. The placement of the patch of red paintbrush is centered approximately on the line of the golden mean.
	Harmony can also be found in the blending of nature and man's efforts, such as in this picture of flowers in a garden. While nature selected the harmonious color schemes for the individual flowers, the gardener strategically planted flowers that would blend together harmoniously. The repetition of the small purple and white flowers as well as that of the larger iris creates a unity and rhythm once again. In this instance, size also plays a part in the harmonious effect. Here, you have the larger iris nestled among many more of the smaller flowers. This creates a sense of balance and completeness.
Architects are often looking to nature and harmony to create buildings that inspire or invite relaxation. Take, for example, the Animal Kingdom Lodge at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Here, the architects and artists used repetition of line and shape, rhythm of the line, and colors primarily in the warm earth tones to create a very harmonious and pleasing atmosphere. Furthermore, the rhythm and organization of the lines and shapes directs your attention to the focal point of the lodge, the giant window at the end of the lobby.
	Not all architecture demonstrates harmony, however. Consider the building for It's A Small World at Disneyland, California. Here, the artists designed the ride facade to repeatedly use simple rectangles and triangles as well as a simplistic color scheme. While the concept of the attraction is world harmony, the building becomes so busy that it actually leads to a discordant, but exciting, effect.
The Ancestral Puebloan building Pueblo Bonito at Chaco Canyon exhibits elements of both harmony and disharmony. The unity of color and value, and repetition of shape (bricks, lines...) lead to a harmonious effect. But at the same time, the original intent was for the buildings to be intimidating, and to achieve that effect, the architects built these buildings against the face of a stone cliff. By using materials taken from that cliff, they achieved an effect wherein the cliff face extended the height of the building and it was hard to tell where man-made structure ended and nature began. This is an example of how the viewer's interpretation of the subject matter determines harmony or disharmony.

Online Resources

1) Mount Fuji from Lake Shoji
By Kawase Hasui
In The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco
URL: http://search.famsf.org/4d.acgi$Record?42002&=list&=1&=kawase
&=And&=2&=0&=keywords&=Yes&=hasui%20&=&=&=Yes&=&=f

The primary use of cool colors emphasizes a harmonious feeling, and the warm colors are of approximately an equal value to the cool colors. The setting and time of day are peaceful, which adds to the sense of harmony. The shape of the needle clumps on the foreground tree is repeated in the tree shapes on the hill in the middle-ground. The foreground tree also takes up the portion of space consistent with the Golden Mean. The angle of the lines in the mountain is repeated and reflected in the angle of the foreground tree branches. The rhythm of repeated elements is soothing, and the image is well balanced. All of these elements brought together created an image that I felt really represented harmony.

2) Dawn of Creation
By Wyland and Steven Power
In Wyland Gallery (online)
URL: http://www.wylandgalleries.com/index.cfm?CFID=604820&CFTOKEN=102287
56&&CategoryID=11&ProductID=612&do=newreleases

This picture again uses a cool color scheme, with highlights of soft warm light. Shapes are repeated throughout the image: using 3 whales, repeating various fish below the whales, the rays of sun on the top of the painting are repeated and roughly echoed in the light ripple marks on the bottom of the image. The sweeping curves of the mountain form are repeated in the curves of light in the upper part of the water. The Golden Mean is applied in the layout of the painting as well. This, again, was an ideal example of harmony in action.

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