Composition Series: 2. Focal Point

A focal point grabs your attention, it tells your eye where to begin and what the artist wants you to notice. If these are important to you then know how to manipulate the viewers’ eye with these tips.

A focal point is created with contrast.

Like a sentence that is highlighted with underlining or bold type will jump off a white page, a focal point sticks out from the rest of the work.

To create a focal point that is in contrast to its surroundings, use one or more of these techniques.

shift the value- make it lighter, or darker than its background,

or more colorful or saturated in hue,

or Larger,

or more detailed and in focus as in the face in Matisse's, Woman with a Hat;

a position in the sweet spot in the "rule of thirds", like this photo,

or dead center or near center where Christ sits in The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci.

 

It also may have leading lines and "arrows" pointing to it. There are numerous leading lines in the architecture in The Last Supper which lead to Christ.  also the gaze of the deciples and the gestures of their hands and the silhouette of his head outlined by light. 

Picture in your mind, the chorus girls in a Ziegfeld Follies review in top hats and tails, standing in a line on both sides of the main dancer/singer, pointing their walking sticks to him. Or in this case the hands and eyes pointing to Lucille Ball.

 Zigfield Follies Lucille Ball, 1945 

Or leading lines could be like petals of a flower, or train tracks leading your eye to the center.  This is called convergence.

A focal point may be emphasized because it is in isolation- Think John Travolta dancing in the center of the floor in Saturday Night Fever

  

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A Focal points purpose  

is to feed information to your brain.  

It grabs attention and 

creates a starting place 

for the eye. Go back over the images in this article and notice that often an artist will use more than one way to bring attention to a spot.

Work that is without a strong 

focal point has an overall pattern like wallpaper. 

Think Pollock, or Mondrian.

As an artist, it is your choice. 

If you learned something, please leave a comment! Thank you for reading, and happy creating!

Conversation with Jackson Pollock No. 37 by George Sanen