Welcome to Monet Cafe and today's lesson is on how to create a focal point. If you like lessons like this, be sure to subscribe to this channel. Alright, so what is it in art that draws our eyes to a point of interest and how do so many wonderful artists use these techniques so masterfully to control where our eye is directed within the painting? So join me in this lesson where I will discuss and break down the different techniques of focal point and how you can use them in your own paintings for dynamic and beautiful results. The human eye is a complex and amazing creation that is designed in such a way that we seek to find a focal point. There is something rewarding and fulfilling to the human soul when we can find something to focus on and lead us to a point of resolution. The first technique I will discuss is a strong one. It's by using contrast and I have broken this down into various subheadings under contrast. One is contrast by color. Next is contrast by value. There is also contrast by shape and contrast by scale. Now let's talk about each of these in a little more detail. First contrast by colors. Pretty obvious in the graphic example. Here is an example of a photograph. It's a very powerful way to create a focal point. Our eye is very easily and quickly directed to differences in color and especially differences in complementary colors on the color wheel. Next is contrast by value. This is one of my favorites. I feel that value, the difference between lights and darks, is a powerful way the artist can lead the viewers eye throughout the painting. In this Monet painting you can see the value differences of the boat on the water and how it instantly draws your eye to that as a main focal point. Also, even without color, value differences can lead the viewers eye to the places of interest that the artist controls. Next is contrast by shape. We can control the focal point simply by varying the shape within another larger group of shapes. How artist Joseph Halston accomplishes this in his artwork? Last in the contrast category is contrast by scale. This is pretty obvious in making one image drastically larger than others as in these paintings by Edgar Payne. The next technique in creating a focal point is isolation. Taking one object or a small grouping of objects away from the main body of elements is a very powerful way to create a focal point in your artwork. As you can see in this Andrew Wyeth painting and it doesn't have to be this extreme, you can take even a field of flowers and isolate a small grouping or a single flower to create a sense of isolation from the rest. Next technique in creating effective focal points is convergence, also called pointing. Notice in this Mary Cassette painting how the elements are pointing towards the envelope. Drawing your eye to that particular element of the painting. Also in Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting, the Last Supper, there are various elements he has used to draw the focal point into the central figure of Christ. Roads and by using perspective is also a very powerful way to create a focal point by the use of convergence. Another focal point technique is by the use of framing. It's setting apart certain objects by borders or spaces surrounding that object to draw the viewer's eye into that particular area of interest. And the last but certainly not the least in the techniques for creating a focal point is focus or detail. This is one of my favorite techniques. I feel that our eye is just so naturally drawn to things that are more in focus and have more detail. It's a common technique used in photography with the aperture setting to control what is in focus and what is out of focus. As I said, it's one of my favorite techniques along with contrast by value. These are a few examples of my own artwork where I have used the technique of focus versus detail to control where I would have the viewer's eye to go into the painting. Now, let's do a quick recap of the different techniques for controlling focus. First is contrast. And under this category, I have the subcategories of contrast by color, contrast by value, contrast by shape, and contrast by scale or size. The next technique is isolation or controlling the focal point by individual or small groupings of certain objects. The next in the techniques for focal point is convergence or leading the eye to a particular focal point by use of perspective or other elements within the painting. Framing is the fourth technique we discussed in creating a focal point by setting boundaries to play certain elements away from the rest. And the final technique we discussed was that of focus or detail using our natural propensity to seek out objects in more detail. And now I thought it would be fun to have a quick little test of looking at some artwork and try to identify some of the techniques used to create a focal point. And keep in mind that successful artists use multiple focal point techniques so you may see quite a few within each painting. Without my input, see if you can identify some of the focal point techniques that we discussed during the lesson. I will have a homework assignment for my patrons on my Patreon page where they'll be creating over the weekend artwork using these techniques to create powerful and effective focal points in their artwork. So I hope you enjoyed that lesson. Please subscribe to this channel, like this video, feel free to comment, give suggestions to make this channel better, become a patron if you'd like, and as always, happy painting.