One of my all-time favorite lessons to do with my high school Art 1 students is the Radial Balance Art Lesson! It’s fun, engaging, highly-successful and best of all—it requires no major prep work for teachers. Yep, you read that right! The Radial Balance Art Lesson is practically prep-free.
All you need are a few basic supplies: protractors, maybe a ruler or two, some copy paper, a marker, and either 9″ x 9″ or 9″ x 12″ white drawing paper. Access to a lightbox (for my students, we just use the windows in the hallway near my classroom) will be very helpful. For media, I typically use colored pencils and markers, but you can totally let your students’ creativity fly with pens, paint, or whatever suits your fancy!
Once you have the supplies, it’s smooth sailing. Just show the PowerPoint I’ve created, and students can jump right into their Doodle Page. This part is a great time-filler to use as students finish another artwork, something to work on while paint dries on a different artwork, or a Sub-Day activity.
After the Doodle Page is created The Radial Balance Art Lesson is broken down into 4 simple steps, and to make it even easier, I’ve included 4 instructional videos in the PowerPoint to guide them along the way. It’s a no-fuss, high-impact lesson that will have your students creating stunning designs in no time.
A Long-Awaited Update!
This post has truly been a LONG time in the making! I first blogged about my Radial Balance Art Lesson back in November of 2019, and I was so excited to share it with other teachers. But then, well… we all know what happened in March of 2020. With all the chaos and unexpected challenges of that year, updating the lesson kind of took a back seat. So, I’m thrilled to finally bring this lesson back to life and give it the facelift it deserves!
Why I Love the Radial Balance Art Lesson
What I adore about this lesson is how it encourages students to explore symmetry and balance in such a visually dynamic way. Radial balance designs naturally draw the eye into the center, and the repetition of shapes and patterns creates an almost hypnotic effect. Students love it because the results are so striking, and they can really let their imaginations run wild with color and form.
Another great thing about the Radial Balance Art Lesson is its versatility. It’s perfect for students of all skill levels, and you can use a variety of media to achieve different effects. Whether students want to keep it simple with black-and-white designs or go all out with vibrant, kaleidoscopic colors, there’s something in this lesson for everyone.
Easy to Implement, Fun to Teach!
If you’re looking for a lesson on the Principle of Design, Balance, that’s both engaging and easy to implement, the Radial Balance Art Lesson is your go-to. With the included videos, your students will have all the guidance they need to create amazing radial balance designs.
I’m so excited to finally add this updated Radial Balance Art Lesson to my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Whether you’re new to radial balance or have been teaching it for years, this lesson will help your students create beautiful, balanced works of art with minimal prep work on your part.
So grab those protractors and markers and see how fun it is to go from Doodle to Radial Balance Art!
