Unity & Variety!

Mary Stewart talks about unity and variety in Launching the Imagination.  Unity "can be defined as similarity, oneness, togetherness, or cohesion," and "variety can bedefined as difference" (Stewart 66).  She uses a gorgeous example of unity and variety in this section; Mark Riedy's Day at the Beach shows classic forms of unity and variety in a "graceful" way.

Some of the things Stewart notes that create unity are the diagonals formed by the lines in the sand and the arrangement of the umbrellas, as well as the diagonal of the shaddows of the umbrellas, forming an opposite diagonal.  There is also a unity created through the white umbrellas, which are all identical.  Yet there is variety in the piece with the boat and the striped umbrella, and people scattered here and there along the sand.  Together, unity and variety create a harmony within a piece of art, drawing all the elements together.