Tutorial - painting by : nik rafin
Tutorial - painting by : nik rafin
| tutorial
Hi guys !! If you ' re still following this ' Mini course ' on COMPOSITION ... Thank you very much ! In this post I ' ll be discussing the SECOND ' INGREDIENT ' of COMPOSITION-THE FOCAL POINT .
FOCAL POINT is simply the CENTER OF INTEREST determined by the artist . It ' s the ' Main Actor ' on the ' Stage '. The ability to differentiate and separate the Focal Point from the rest of the painting and the ability to direct the viewer ' s eye to the Focal Point are extremely important skills .
These are among the accomplishments that separate the professional from the amateur . How to achieve this ? The trick is to imagine an imaginary TARGET CIRCLE superimposed over your subject . It should be placed right on the focal point .
All shapes located in the outer circles become out of focus . The further it gets .. the more out of focus .( Take note that you might want to keep some details otherwise it would compromise the entire painting ... it could weaken the ' story ' of the painting .. maintain some elements that help to reinforce the story / subject ).
In short , a Focal Point must be SHARP , STRONG IN CONTRAST , STRONGER COLOUR TONES . have HARD EDGES ( Dry-on dry / Wet-on dry technique ) and most of the time .. BIG & BOLD .
IMPORTANT TRICK : To easily create a strong contrast in the Focal Point is ... to include the WHITEST WHITE AND the DARKEST DARK colour tones ( Don ' t be mistaken by the DARK vs BLACK tones-they ' re different !!)
Outside the Focal Point , the shapes should be SOFTER / BLURRY , WEAKER IN CONTRAST , WEAKER COLOUR TONES and have SIMPLIFIED SHAPES ( Wet-in wet technique ) There are few techniques that can be used to reinforce the Focal Point . As for the Focal Point itself .. normally I would use the ' Dry-on-dry ' Technique because I want to achieve the hard edges . Hard edges reinforce the Focal Point superbly well . I ' d usually use the ' Dry brush edges ' ( lots of pigment on the brush and less water ) for the shapes around the Focal Point .
Lastly , the ' Wet-on-wet ' or ' Damp in damp ' technique for the shapes that extend further from the Focal Point . This technique would produce the Soft Edges required to soften out and join the shapes- ( Simplified shapes ). However , I will not be discussing in detail on the technical stuff like ' wet-on-wet ', .. and so forth .. u can just search them from the internet . Also I don ' t want you to be confused about the main subject which is the ' ingredients ' of COMPOSITION .
IMPORTANT NOTE : This trick however might require a different approach for Super-realist and Hyper-realist watercolour artists . Till then ! see you in the THIRD part , Thanks !!
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