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focussing the viewer's attention - comments welcome please
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Message
Posted
Hey Folks,
I'm experimenting with a style, and welcome any comments please - I am using the technique of 'more' where I want the viewers attention, fading to 'less' towards the less important parts.....e.g. more detail, stronger contrast, more colour, greater saturation.
So I guess my question is, are there any successful treatments that work, and are there aspects I can improve on?
Thanks in advance, again, for any thoughts. Much appreciated.
Posted
Yes I certainly think this works. I like paintings where some parts are left unfinished (for want of a better term). I love Jonathan Yeo's work for example. Design is important too. Focusing the viewers attention in the wrong spot just makes it look awkward. Better to put the scene onto a larger piece of paper, place it better and leave white space around it.
Posted
There is a good article on this vignette technique by David Bellamy in the January 2022 edition of Leisure Painter, it’s worth a look.
Also check out the gallery of John Whitehead on this site , he does some wonderful paintings using this technique, you might get some tips.
Edited
by Andrew Roles
Posted
I've used this technique on some of my watercolours. It's good for enhancing areas. For example, putting a dark wash around a light area and brushing it out a bit. I notice you say you want more contrast, colour saturation and so on. You are doing a great job so far. If I was doing something similar, I would go in with a much darker colour around the left side of the tower and along the white of the roof to bring them forward and create greater contrast. The blue around the tower is of a similar colour to that, of the tower. It is all about experimenting and as Andrew mentions, there are some very good articles.
Posted
Denise has touched on some good points… tone or tonal values will help you here, in my view far more important than colour. Those areas in shadow could be considerably stronger…all of them - emphasise the cast shadow on the roof a bit more! Shadows are your best friend… exploit them to your advantage!
We’re always looking to give the illusion of turning a flat 2D surface into a three dimensional image… tone will help you achieve that!
Generally speaking, if your image looks flat and lifeless, tone or lack of it is nearly always the reason! I’m not suggesting that this is the case here, you’re getting some good contrast, but needs more. This will help to give you a more solid foundation which will also act as a focal point.
Tip: hard edges attract the eye, softer blended edges have the opposite effect, in the main that is, there are always exceptions to the rule!
Looks a good start anyway!
Posted
Thank you to all who commented, for your thoughts and useful points. Some interesting things to take away. I feel I need to be braver with contrast, however I don't always want to have a bright sunny day atmosphere, so will just have to make time to experiment more to get the right balance. Thank you (sorry not to reply sooner, but life got in the way)