Creating a Compelling Painting - Focal Point

I think one of the common goal of all artists is to create a work of art that is compelling or somehow makes an impact on the viewer.

From the standpoint of a representational painter, some of the things that help to create a compelling painting are masterful use of:

• Color Plan
• Value Plan
• Composition
• Eye Movement
• Focal point

Let's start with the last - focal point. This is often a tough one for landscape painters, and can be problematic for wildlife and figurative painters as well.

In short - you need to have a reason for your viewer to be looking at your painting. Your painting needs one primary center of attention in order to grab the viewer's eye and hold it. If there is no focal point, the viewer's eyes will wander aimlessly around your painting, then wander off if there is nothing to capture the viewer's attention.

And the tough part? The rest of the painting needs to be handled in such a way as to support that one primary focal point.

Some focal points come easily: human figures or animals create instant focal points, so place them with some thought and care. 

I'd rather show you what I mean rather than talk about it:

http://richardprather.com/works/503314/evenings-hush

Where's the focal point in this painting, and how does Richard support that?

The focal point is the little area on the middle-right side of the painting, where the white-sided barn, yellow bus/truck, and cow all congregate. If you notice, to strengthen the focal point Richard did a few things:

• the placement of the cow supports the focal point - your eye is immediately drawn to the animal
• there is a mix of shape, color, and value clustered near the focal point
• Richard placed sharper edges at the focal point - this will also capture your attention because he subdued the edges in the rest of the painting.
• the rest of the details, colors, and values in the other parts of the painting have been subdued to draw attention to the focal area.
• Richard placed a tiny dot of a dark red to strengthen the focal point
• The artist also used a very subtle (but effective), diagonal lead-in from the lower-left part of the painting to that cow near the focal point.

Now take a look at these paintings and see if you can determine the focal point for each, and the ways that the artist supports that:

http://richardprather.com/works/189149/a-new-day

http://danyoungstudio.com/4lg.htm

http://danyoungstudio.com/TheFinale.html

Think about focal point in any painting that you create - where do you want your viewer's eye to travel, and how will your support that?