Focal point - visual story sequence

It's interesting how when I think about when I was drawing in my art class at college, one of the things that my art teacher wanted me to do was to fill up the page with graphite. Any white space on the page was to be abolished. I am not saying that this is bad, in all in stances, but in charcoal drawing, or any other type of drawing, I now have lots of white space left. There are a few reasons for this but the main one is that I have only usually got time to focus on one area and the rest of the picture needs to use essential lines that offer clues about the stance or position of that focal point.

So what I am trying to say is, chose the area that interests you on the person or thing you are drawing, and work that particular part up with detail, great line work, good contrasts of light and dark and really make it look good.

The rest of the picture can be a bit vague, but using beautiful lines and subtle marks you can finish a picture off quite well.

What will be important is that the eye is drawn to one point in the picture where it can rest and begin it's travels from. From that focal point, the eye can follow lines to the next part of the picture you want the eye to see. It is almost a narrative that suggests where the eye might look (basically what comes next in the story line.). I will show you what I mean using a painting from Rembrandt who was a painter from the Dutch descent. This painting, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Tulp, starts off with the body as the focal point, then the light indicated that the eye should follow up into the observers, and then to the doctor and then to the observer on the left. This focal point is very clear as your eye is immediately drawn to the body in the middle of the painting. (Test it for yourself , close your eyes for a few seconds and then open them and glance at the painting. What did you see first? That will be your focal point. )

So this is how my eye followed the focal point sequence.

And this is the direction of the lines that leads the eye into the focal point. See how it starts at the body, moves up through the onlookers then the man holding the paper leads your eye to the doctor who's surgical tool leads you back into the body and possibly round to the other observers on the left, the high contrast between the capes of the men on the left and body, mean that when you look at the picture, the white body jumps out at you.

Picture courtesy of http://www.electricgallery.co.uk/index.php/art-history/rembrandt-harmensz-van-rijn/. Accessed 22 Jan 2011.



In drawing it is a bit different but the theory remains the same. All pictures need a focal point. It is the visual story sequence.