Point of Focus
-If all the world were clear, art would not exist. -Albert Camus
First
decide what the main point of focus should be. There is no correct point of
focus. Each artist will look at the same scene and choose a different point of
focus. And each will be right, because it is their creation. Ways of
emphasizing your main focus objects may be to make then larger, brighter or
clearer than in real life. Other objects can be rendered less distinct or maybe
smaller. What other objects should be included in the composition? Do they add
to what you are trying to accomplish? Or do they detract? Should they be
removed or simply deemphasized?
Another quote might help here:
Art results not
when there is nothing that can be added, but when there is nothing that can be
taken away. -James O. Collins
Visualize the final result. In your every day
life, try to imagine how you could improve the composition of the things you
see.
Claude Manet uses Light and Dark to draw the viewer's eye to the Beer
Waitress instead of the larger, closer foreground figure. 3. Now that you have
decided what your main focal point will be, it is time to sketch your
composition. Brightness, color, size and detail are not the only tools you can
use to draw the viewer's attention. Through clever composition you can
actually guide the viewer's eyes through the picture and cause them to
linger on the point of focus. Most viewers start at the lower left of the
painting move through the scene to the right.
Notice How Manet draws the eye
from the lower left to the right, then back into the painting and not off the
right edge. Lines, clarity, size and brightness can be used to lead the way.
You should not let the viewer keep going right and off of the painting. Use
your composition to lead their eyes back to the focal point.
Can you see the
techniques that Rembrandt uses to draw the viewer's eye to the focal point?
The pictures below are mirror images of each other. Does one seem better than
the other? Why?
