Focal Point and Eye Movement

I'd like to talk about focal point and eye movement. A focal point is the area of the piece that the artist wants you to notice first. It's the main attraction, the star of the piece. It doesn't have to be in the center (in fact, I find it's more interesting if it isn't), but it usually isn't right at the edge of the canvas. There can be more than one focal point, but they should be ranked, so that there is no confusion as the eye travels through the piece.

What is this magic? How can an artist control the eye movements of viewers they haven't even met? Truth is, you can't. Everyone interacts with art a little differently. But there are some truths about an average person that I keep in mind as I work: Most people look left to right (because that is how we read). So if there is a series of focal points, the main one should be on the left and the subsequent ones to the right. Most people are drawn to where it is different. If most of the piece has somewhat blurred edges, or subdued color and then this one area has crisp edges and/or bright color, the eye immediately goes to that area. Most people are drawn to detail. I like to put the most details of a painting around the focal point.

Our eyes like to follow lines. Artists call them leading lines because they lead a viewer's eye through the artwork. The quintessential example of a leading line would be a path leading up to a house. However, I have used many other sneakier lines that work just as well: bending grass or weeds, parking lines, tree branches, roof lines, etc.

The other thing that I watch for when controlling eye movement, is that I don't send the viewer's eye right off the canvas. If I notice this happening, I'll add a stopping line: a tree, or a shadow (whose edge just happens to point back to the focal point) or something to bring the eye back to the right path. I like using a circular visual path in my compositions.

I walk through an example of the above concepts applied to one of my pieces in the caption below the Featured Artwork. Enjoy!

Featured Artwork:

"The Fishin Cabin". 16"x20". Plein air: Round Hill Road, Durand, WI.

Using the featured artwork as an example: I'll share how my eye travels through the piece. 1. I notice the part of the cabin with the grill and flag first because it's bright red, the shadows point strongly to it, and there are details there. 2. Then my eye travels down the slanted roofline and is almost surprised by the boy fishing. 3. Now I'm thinking to myself, I wasn't watching for him, what else is there to the right, so my eye keeps traveling that way, but the shadows keep sending me up and to the left. 4. Occasionally, my eye will get all the way down to the bottom left corner, but the single pointed weed promptly shoots my eye back up to the main focal point. After I have zoomed around the canvas like this a time or two, then my eye notices the beach across the river in the background and also the texture in the foreground grasses. How did you interact with the piece?