FOCAL POINT

  What is the focal point in your picture? Where do you want the viewer to look first? What is the most important subject or form in your composition? These questions go to the heart of the idea that a painting is a built thing. The artist who is knowledgeable about composition will consciously structure his or her image to draw the viewer's attention to the important form or forms in the painting. The most obvious way to do this is to place the principal form right in the middle of the composition by itself and to make it large. The center of the pictorial field is a place of great power psychologically. It's a real attention-getter, but it too often becomes an unconsciously relied upon "crutch" for beginners-it's safe. If we look at some master artists' use of form, we can see some sophisticated ways of creating less obvious focal points.
  Contrast is the artist's greatest tool for creating focus in a picture-for directing the viewer inevitably to that area where the principal form is located. Contrast of value is a good example. In a predominantly dark picture, an area of light becomes a focal point. In a primarily light work, a dark area will contrast more and will be a magnet to the viewer's eye. Sometimes we see the skillful use of both in one work. Color, too, can create a focal point. In the mid-twentieth century, a different idea towards focal points came about in the work of some artists. This type of painting is sometimes called "field painting" because it has few if any areas of contrasts. This lack of a focal area redirects the viewer's attention to the whole pictorial field. Jackson Pollack was one of the first artists to develop a body of important work using this type of "overall" unified composition. His vast drip paintings were done to have an evenness of emphasis all over the surface, so that the single surface of the canvas as a whole is the unit of meaning.

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