Emphasis (Focal Point)

Emphasis or Focal Point simply means the place the eye naturally travels to in a work of art. It can also be described as the focus or center of interest. Focal Point can be created by light, color, or line and movement in a work of art. Artists create focal points in their work to draw us in and keep us interested.

Show the images below and have students decide where the focal point is in each work of art. Sometimes the focal point can even be outside the work of art.

Sample Projects:

Pass out sheets of paper with a small star somewhere on them. Challenge students to make a drawing that makes that star the focal point.
Georgia O'Keeffe Focal Point Flowers (3rd Grade) art lesson.
The Lorax Focal Point (3rd Grade) art lesson.

Calling of St. Matthew Carravaggio (Italian),1599. Both the direction of the light and the gestures of the arms point the viewer to the person at the table (Matthew).

Parson Weems Fables, Grant Wood (American), 1949. Gestures and the way the curtain and shadows frame the middle of the picture point us to little George Washington ("I cannot tell a lie, I chopped down the cherry tree").

Costa Rica Surfer, Eric Larson, 2000. The curving waves swirl around the surfer and make the center the focal point.

Meditation by Moonlight, Yoshitoshi (Japan), 1880. The bright red catches our attention, then the gaze takes us out of the picture. What is he looking at?

The Bath, Mary Cassatt (American), 1891. The gaze of the mother and child, as well as the way that their arms and legs are pointing downward point our eyes at the feet being washed.

Barrington, MA, Eliot Porter (American), 1957. The light pink against the green and blue draws our eyes to the center.

Baldachino at St. Peters, Rome, Bernini (Italian), 1624. This huge, ornate structure sets apart a special place (the altar) in this huge cathedral.

Lamentation, Giotto (Italian), 1320. Every gaze and gesture in this picture points toward the body of Christ.

Black Hollyhock Blue Larkspur, Georgia O’Keefe (American), 1929. The bright white star shape in the middle catches our attention because of its contrast to the black.

Raindrop, Reiner Arno (Germany), 1991. The central position and the clear focus against the blurry background, combined with the line of the grass point us to the center raindrop.

Woman Sewing, Vermeer (Dutch), c. 1650. Her gaze makes us look at what she is looking at.

Danjuro, Toyokuni Ichikawa (Japan), 1807. All the lines point to the center. Plus, his expression is so different from the geometric shapes in the print that we look there.

Hegeso Stele (Greek), 410BC (tombstone). Gesture and gaze point us toward the box that they are holding (a jewelry box).

Tourists, Dale Hansen (American), 1970. We look up because they look up.

Nets and Suns, Barton Silverman (American), 1991. The arms and legs stair-stack up to the ball and net that are out of the picture frame.

RETURN TO ALL ARTISTIC SUPPORT PROGRAM REFERENCE MATERIALS

VIEW ALL ART LESSONS