The edited version of the paintingof the Three Cowboys illustrates this concept well. When one compares the edited version to the original painting, the viewer senses a discomfort as the main cowboy is about to leave the scene and almost bump against the edge of the frame.

The Oil painting of a Rural Farm Scene in Romania and the  image, Fishing in Zanzibar (Oil) are additional examples.

Since the focal area of the painting is the centre of interest, it has the most activity in terms of contrast, texture, colour details, sharpness etc. We will consider these features in my future blogs.

I hope these blogs are instructive. If you have thoughts on other topics that you would like me to address, please let me know. Meanwhile, subscribe to my blog so that you are notified once a fresh blog is posted.

Mohamed Hirji

Blog Post

To prevent the painting from getting too busy, the artist usually places a quiet area in the painting typically around the focal spot. This provides a rest to the eyes, especially when it is placed next to the busy focal spot. This quiet area is designed such that the colors are muted, the edges of the objects less well defined, there is less contrast etc. This ensures that the details of the focal spot are magnified when placed next to a relatively calm area.

This paintingcalled precious is a case in point. Notice only the father penguin and the baby penguins are well defined. The edges of the Northern Lights and the marks on the snow are fuzzy. This allows the penguins to stand out and also provide some rest to the viewer's eyes.

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Precious, watercolor painting

Original Painting  The Three Cowboys, Acrylic

Fishing In Zanzibar, Oil Painting