Popping Focals

Who doesn’t like a little drama? Well, with half the world just in love with over-the-top reality TV and crazy viral videos, maybe a good deal of people actually prefer a lot of drama. But, rather than going over the top or trying to shock, let’s look at ways to get a big punch out of something singularly simple–focal points. It’s rare to have a piece of art that doesn’t have a focal point, but while some are quite subtle, others are undeniable and sometimes, even hard to look away from. Ideally, subtle or not, you want the focal point to pull a viewer in but have their eye stay to investigate the rest.

So, if you make that focal point pop, you also want to create it in such a way that what you have is a nice place to stop, but nothing so overwhelming as to keep the viewer from exploring the details that surround it. Encouraging the viewer to spend time looking at the work allows them to develop a more particular knowledge of, and maybe a personal connection to, the piece, which makes the viewing more of an experience than just a pleasant glance.

This piece here is a pretty dramatic example. The colors are what snap you to attention, but when you focus, it is on the large rivoli crystal. We do love our shiny stuff, and this one is too huge to miss. However, the rich rainbow colors that are gently wrapped around it begs to be explored as well. Once you’ve taken in the sweeping lines of graduated color, you still want to step back and take it all in. It’s dramatic, but relatively simple, and the combination will hold the viewer for a long, pleasant moment.

This kind of drama can be found throughout the collections by Arbel Shemesh that you can see on Etsy here.

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