Emphasis is a principle of art which occurs any time an element of a piece is given dominance by the artist. In other words, the artist makes part of the work stand out in order to draw the viewer's eye there first.
Why Is Emphasis Important?
Emphasis is used in art to attract the viewer's attention to a particular area or object. This is typically the focal point or main subject of the artwork. For instance, in a portrait painting, the artist usually wants you to see the person's face first. They will use techniques such as color, contrast, and placement to make sure that this area is where youreye is attracted to first.
Any piece of art may have more than one area of emphasis. However, one typically dominates over all others. If two or more are given equal importance, your eye does not know how to interpret it. This confusion may lead you to not enjoy an otherwise good piece of work.
Subordination is used to describe the secondary or accent elements of the artwork. While artists emphasize the focal point, they can also de-emphasize the other elements to ensure the main subject stands out. An artist may, for instance, use red on the subject while leaving the rest of the painting in very muted browns. The viewer's eye is automatically drawn to this pop of color.
One might argue that all worthy works of art employ emphasis. If a piece lacks this principle, it may seemmonotonous and boring to the eye. However, some artists play with the lack of emphasis on purpose and use it to create a visually impactful piece.
Andy Warhol's "Campbell's Soup Cans" (1961) are a perfect example of the lack of emphasis. When the series of canvases are hung on the wall, the entire assembly lacks any real subject. Yet, the magnitude of the collection's repetition leaves an impression nonetheless.
How Artists Add Emphasis
Frequently, an emphasisis achieved by means of contrast. Contrast can be achieved in a variety of ways and artists often employ more than one technique in a single piece.
A contrast in color, value, and texture can certainly draw you to a particular area. Likewise, when one object is significantly larger or in the foreground, it becomes the focal point because the perspective or depth draw us in.
Many artists will also strategically place their subject in the composition in areas that are known to attract attention. That may be directly in the center, but more often than not it is off to one side or another. It might also be isolated from other elements through placement, tone, or depth.
Yet another way to add emphasis is to use repetition. If you have a series of similar elements then interrupt that pattern in some way, that naturally gets noticed.
Looking for Emphasis
As you study art, remain mindful of emphasis. Look at how each piece of art naturally directs your eye around the piece. What techniques did the artist use to achieve this? What did they want you to see at first glance?
Sometimes the emphasis is very subtle and at other times it is anything but. These are the little surprises that artists leave us and discovering them is what makes creative works so interesting.
Sources and Further Reading
- Ackerman, Gerald M. "Lomazzo's Treatise on Painting." The Art Bulletin 49.4 (1967): 317–26. Print.
- Galenson, David W. "Painting Outside the Lines: Patterns of Creativity in Modern Art." Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001.
- Mayer, Ralph. "The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques." 3rd ed. New York: Viking Press, 1991.
FAQs
Use lines and shapes: The use of lines and shapes in a painting can create a sense of direction and movement, leading the viewer's eye from one area to another. Diagonal lines and S-curves are particularly effective in leading the eye through a painting.
How to lead the eye in art? ›
Diagonal lines have the most capacity to lead the eye and they tend to make a design or image look more “dynamic”. Since they are neither vertical nor horizontal, diagonal lines can seem unstable, like they are about to fall or they are moving somewhere. Diagonal lines can also show perspective.
What is eye direction in art? ›
The direction is a cue to the viewer's eye to move elsewhere. We refer to this force as visual weight and to the perceived direction of visual forces as visual direction. Both are important concepts to understand if you want to create hierarchy, flow, rhythm and balance in your composition.
What does direct eye contact mean in art? ›
Replete with a number of social connotations, eye contact can convey confidence, attraction, humor, and even enmity. Portraying this loaded interaction in art can enable a work's subject to transcend the picture plane and establish a personal connection with the viewer.
How do you direct a viewer's eye through your design? ›
Emphasizing Size and Scale
Larger elements tend to grab more attention, so use them strategically to highlight important aspects of your design. Proportional scaling can also create a sense of depth and hierarchy within your composition, guiding the viewer's eye from one element to another.
How do you move the viewer's eye movement in art? ›
Moving the Viewer's Eye
Movement is dictated by the way the objects are placed on the picture plane or by the way the artist uses the elements of art throughout the artwork. Hokusai's Under the Wave off Kanagawa is an example of how an artist can move the viewer's eye.
Where the artist draws your eye to first? ›
The “center of attention is also called the focal point. A painting can have a main focal point with secondary focal points. Contrast creates emphasis and determines the focal point. This can be contrast in color, value, texture, shape, space or line.
Why do artists like drawing eyes? ›
Eyes are often associated with focus, truth, clarity, light, vision, prophecy, awareness, and observation — and so are a perfect symbol for artists striving to evoke imagery that surfaces these concepts to the conscious mind. Offered in no particular order. The image above is the False Mirror, by René Magritte.
What makes a drawing eye catching? ›
This means using different colors, shades, and tones to make things more visible. Use different colors to create a sense of depth, and use different shades of color to indicate different elements. 2. Use focal points One of the best ways to grab someone's attention is to use focal points.
Where do people look first on a page? ›
1. The top-left corner gets the attention first. When users land on your site, their eye path starts from the upper-left corner and moves down and right from there.
Leading lines guide the viewer's eye through the image and towards a focal point, whereas the rule of thirds divides the frame into a grid, with the goal of placing the subject at the intersecting points to create balanced and visually appealing images.
What color catches the eye first? ›
In many cases, the human eye sees yellow and bright variations of green first. This is because these colors are in the middle of the color spectrum, which means that our eyes are very sensitive to these colors.
What is the 3 second eye contact rule? ›
With eye contact, there's a three second rule. If you hold someone's gaze for longer than three seconds, you enter a situation known as "kiss or kill". Longer eye contact signals one of two things - either you are attracted to the person or you want to attack them.
Is eye contact an art? ›
One of the simplest yet most powerful tools to enhance this connection is mastering the art of eye contact. Eye contact has been shown to establish trust, build rapport, and convey confidence in social interaction.
How does the eye move through a painting? ›
Lines are the most obvious way, whether as obvious, hard edges or as implied lines, which include the invisible eye-lines that point from someone in the image looking at something. Lines 'point' because we see them as having a direction and they encourage the eye to travel along them.
How can you draw a viewer's eyes toward the focal point of your painting? ›
For example, using highly saturated color on a neutral background or shading the focal area lighter than its surroundings are both ways to draw the viewer's eye. Artists can also combine multiple elements to increase the contrast and further strengthen the focal point.
What technique catches the viewer's eyes to the focus of your image? ›
Using a focus gradient can lead the eye to the important elements of the photograph. Setting up a shot in which the foreground is blurred and slowly recedes through the image to the point of sharp focus will draw viewers to specific objects within the frame.
What are some ways we can imply movement or guide a viewer's eye throughout an image that you ve made? ›
You create flow through a combination of visual weight and visual direction. Elements of greater visual weight (focal points) pull the eye and become resting places. Other elements impart direction and move your eye from one point to another through visual cues such as arrows and lines.
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