Focal Points
Have you ever noticed that while looking at a picture, your eyes tend to be drawn to a specific area? It’s almost like that part of the picture is screaming, “Hey! Look at me first!” That doesn’t always happen by accident. In fact, many artists spend a great deal of time planning how you will view their picture. They create focal points and pathways in their work.
A focal point is an area in the picture that calls for attention. The call can be blatant, like a noisy child in a quiet classroom, or it can be gentle, like a bubbling brook in the mountains. In Rembrandt’s Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, shown in Figure 6.40, a very strong focal point is evident. The eye almost automatically goes to the figure in the painting.
Figure 6.40. Rembrandt has a strong focal point in his picture. Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, NY.
In many pictures there is more than one focal point. The artist might build a chain of two or more focal points, with the major focal point demanding the most attention and each succeeding focal point diminishing in importance. A picture with two equally demanding focal points can be frustrating to the viewer.
Linear Focus
One of the most effective methods of creating a focal point is to use the lines in the picture to draw attention to the an area. This is called linear focus and it is derived from the viewer’s tendency to not view lines or edges as static images. When viewing a picture, your eyes will tend to slide along a line. If many of the lines converge on a single point or area of the picture, a focal point is created. This also happens with values in tonal pictures. In Figure 6.41, Pieter Pauwel Rubens uses the form of the figure’s body and other pictorial elements to draw the viewer’s attention to the character’s head.
Figure 6.41. Rubens uses linear focus to draw attention to the character’s head. Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY.
The overlaid lines in Figure 6.42 indicate the general direction of the elements in Rubens’ painting.
Figure 6.42. The lines show how the elements of the picture converge at the character’s head. Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY.
Contrast Focus
Another excellent way to create a focal point is to use value contrast. Value is the quality of light or dark in a picture. In theater, spotlights are used to isolate individual actors on the stage. In art, the same approach can be taken to focus attention on specific areas. Rembrandt used contrast focus in almost all of his paintings. If you take a look at Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem in Figure 6.40 again, you can see how the light shining on the prophet illuminates him like a spotlight.
To create a focal point using value, the artist places the highest contrast between light and dark at the focal point. All other images in the picture will have less contrast between light and dark, as shown in Figure 6.43.
Figure 6.43. The contrast in the eyes draws attention.
In Figure 6.43, you can see a more subtle use of contrast focus. Notice how the greatest contrast in value is in the girl’s eyes. The eyes demand that the viewer pay attention to them.
Detail Focus
Detail in a picture will create a focal point. The eye is naturally drawn to areas of the picture that have greater detail. This is because those areas demand greater examination. As an artist, you can use this to bring attention to those parts of your drawings that you want the viewer to look at most.
Another look at the Mona Lisa will show how Leonardo da Vinci used detail to draw the viewer’s attention first to the face and then second to the hands in the painting (see Figure 6.44).
Figure 6.44. Leonardo put more detail in the face to draw attention there. Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, NY.
Color Focus
Another very effective way to create a focal point is to use color. Color is made up of hues that are related to each other. Figure 6.45 shows a color wheel with the primary and secondary colors. Because this is a drawing book, we won’t spend a great deal of time on color. Notice the arrangement of the colors around the wheel. The colors opposite each other are called complimentary colors because they tend to bring out the colors more strongly. Those that are next to each other on the wheel are called analogous colors because they tend to be more pleasing. Think of a rainbow. The arrangement of the colors in a rainbow follows the colors around the color wheel.
Figure 6.45. The colors of the color wheel follow the same order as a rainbow.
If you want to use color to focus attention, place colors opposite each other on the color wheel next to each other in your painting. The greater the intensity of the color, the more attention it will demand.
The Madonna with Canon van der Paele by Jan van Eyck is a great example of the use of color focus.
This picture is shown again in Figure 6.46.
Figure 6.46. The red of the center figure stands out boldly. Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY.
Jan van Eyck painted much of the picture around the central figure, using green, blue, and yellow tones. The color combination sets off the red of the central figure’s robe.
Action Focus
Action and movement are very strong attention devices that are often used in motion pictures, video games, and the Internet. Because drawings don’t generally move, the application of action as a focal point is somewhat difficult. Instead of having something move in the drawing, the artist has to imply movement. Implied movement is movement that is about to happen, such as when you capture a dynamic moment during a dramatic action.
Impending action is a powerful attention-grabber. If the subject in a picture looks like he is about to do something, it naturally calls us to look to see what he is about to do. Michelangelo did a masterful job of capturing impending action in his sculpture of David, shown in Figure 6.47. David is relaxed, yet holding his sling over his shoulder, looking as if he is about to move into action.
Figure 6.47. David looks as if he is about to move. Scala/Art Resource, NY.
These are only a few examples of ways that lines, value, detail, color, and action can be used to focus the viewer’s attention on a point in the picture. Take some time to look at the many paintings by the great masters and see whether you can tell how they used these methods to focus attention on their paintings.
Be careful that you don’t overdo your pictures with blatant compositional devices to draw attention. In practice, the artist should use judgment in the methods used to focus attention. The danger in being too heavy-handed with compositions is that when any technique or method of composition becomes too overbearing, the viewer can feel manipulated. Composition techniques should be used in such a way that they seem natural to the viewer, not contrived.