AMANDA BRETT WATERCOLOUR ARTIST
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PaintBox Tips​

PaintBox Tip #31 Creating a focal point

31/10/2022

2 Comments

 
PictureBlacksand, painted en plein air in Raglan NZ. Available from Splash 2022, Wellington NZ
A key issue for any artist is creating a focal point.

Have you ever asked yourself "Where should I start?" or "What's my story?"

This is where your story is and where you want your viewers to look. Everything else is background.

There are many ways to achieve this, my favourite is to divide my painting surface into thirds vertically and horizontally, aka the golden section, then use one of intersections for my focal point. This means that (unless your painting is square) your focal point will be unequal distance from any edge of your substrate, creating a discordance, a little bit of a shock – why isn’t it equal? It just feels like the natural spot!

Many students ask me “where should I start?”. It doesn’t really matter except that, especially for beginners, a good place to start your painting is at the place that’s most exciting for you, the thing that got you interested, then build a background around it. This ensures you keep the background in the background and your focal area is full of exciting stuff and further, you’re enjoying what piqued your interest to start with.

A focal point is also discussed as “your story”. Again I’m often asked “what do they mean, what is my story?”  It doesn't have to be anything deep, dark and meaningful unless that's what you want to communicate. Your story is a description of what inspired you to paint:
Eg I like the way the light hit the tablecloth and refracted through a glass of drinking water, making a super bright highlight on a pear and beautiful light and shadow shapes that danced over the folds of a tea towel.

Write this in your sketch/notebook with your sketches, to keep your memory alive. This is a good habit for several reasons, but first of all, it aids your thinking processes; further, it’s your evidence of originality and your body of work and even more, galleries may ask you for descriptions; when stressed over preparing for shows the last thing you want to do is have to write descriptors – your early writings hold the key to your original inspiration.

Along with your drawings, sketches and composition thumbnails, it is a good idea to write a list of accompaniments so you’re not stuck for ideas and feel forced to finish without having thought through thoroughly (crikey!) before you started.

For example a table top painting might also include a vase and flowers, a suggestion of a chair, bottle of tomato sauce, a lemon and a spoon. In the background: light though a window, painting on the wall, books on a bookshelf and a table lamp. Once you have given your focal area a good start you can then move on to painting other areas of the painting and adjust and balance the painting later.

It really all comes down to planning and understanding what you want to paint and why. Asking yourself these questions will help you to get to the heart of the matter quickly, help you to focus your concentration and get to picking up that brush sooner!!

do feel free to comment or ask a question!

ciao cari pittori!!

Picture

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    PaintBox Tips, secrets, random thoughts,
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    Poetry in watercolour is made in the freedom of the here and now. Amanda Brett

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Copyright © 2022 All images and text on Amanda's blog and website are the legal property of Amanda Brett and may not be reproduced without express permission from Amanda Brett or her authorised agent. Thank you for respecting her art and the livelihood of all artists.
Quality Guarantee: All my watercolours are painted with only modern professional grade watercolour paints on Museum exhibition grade watercolour papers, they are extremely lightfast and will become a family heirloom and passed down to subsequent generations. ALL art of ANY medium should be hung away from direct sunlight. If​properly cared for, watercolour paintings will last as long, if not longer, than oil paintings. I only paint on 100% cotton rag paper, mostly Arches and Fabriano, and frame to conservation standard with acid free materials.
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  • Home
    • News
    • About Me
    • More About Me & Watercolour
    • What I See
  • Gallery Shop
    • SHOP New Original Paintings
    • Shop Limited Edition Prints
  • Tuition
    • Weekly Watercolour Classes >
      • student's page
      • For Beginners
      • Feedback & Photos
    • Beginners One day Workshops
    • PaintBox Tips featured posts >
      • PaintBox Tips
    • Workshops - Italy
    • Video Lessons
    • Watercolour Magic on Youtube
    • FAQs
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