Artist: Katsushika Hokusai
Title of Work: The Great Wave off Kanagawa
Year Produced: 1829-32
Medium: Woodblock print
Source of image: http://totallyhistory.com/art-history/famous-paintings/

Artist: C.M. Coolidge
Title of Work: Dogs Playing Poker
Year Produced: 1903
Medium: Oil Painting
Source of image: http://totallyhistory.com/art-history/famous-paintings/

A piece can also obtain balance through asymmetry. This means that even though the piece is not the same on both sides of a division, the forms in it create a sort of balance, which can be achieved in many different ways. The top piece managed to create a balance between the sky and sea, with them taking up similar amounts of space in the piece, though not symmetrical. The bottom piece contains a similar amount of weight on each side of it, even though it is using greatly varying figures, to achieve balance. Even though there are more figures on the right, the figure in the chair and the chair itself seems weightier that those on the right side, thus achieving an asymmetrical balance.