8 Keys to Creating a Focal Area

It's called by many names — center of interest, focal area, center of focus, focal point to name a few. The words are interchangeable but the idea is vital to composition. An area in the painting that you, the artist, has deemed to be the most important within the painting and that the eye wants to return to again and again. The decision of what you want to be your focal area is as personal as the subject matter. It can be a group of trees, a boat, a barn, or a streetlight. There are no limits to what you decide to make your focal area. So whatever you decide, there are several ways to make sure it remains the center of interest in a painting. Here are 8 ways to create a focal area.

1 • Placement on Canvas — The focal area is placed so the eye is naturally led to it. (You can see the blogpost I did a while back on designing with grids for a further understanding.)
2 • Highest Contrast — The highest contrast of value in the painting are side by side.
3 • Highest Level of Detail — The place where the most detail in the painting is found.
4 • Most Intense Color — The purest and most intense color is used.
5 • Hardest/Sharpest Edge — The hardest or sharpest edge in the painting. (This is most commonly used along with a high contrast of value.)
6 • Alien Shape — A shape that is not used anywhere else in the painting.
7 • Alien Color — A color not used anywhere else in the painting.
8 • Building/Face Factor — We are naturally drawn to the face of a person. It’s why we see the man in the moon, when the reality is just craters. Man-made structures can work much the same way. Within the landscape they will immediately draw the eye to it, this is partly due to the alien shape factor.

It is often best to use more than one of these. Too many, though, and you must be careful to not create a bullseye effect, where the eye doesn’t leave the focal area and wander around the rest of the painting. Look at the painting above and see if you can see the keys i used to delineate the center of interest.