Emphasis makes one part stand out, so the viewer knows where to look first. That part is the focal point. A picture can have smaller accents too, but one area should lead. You placed focal points in The Focal Point.
- Contrast: the lightest light against the darkest dark, or the one bright color.
- Isolation: one thing set apart from a group.
- Placement: at the center, or where lines and gazes meet.
- Detail: the sharpest, most finished area.
- Convergence: lines that lead to it.
Key idea
Emphasis creates a focal point through contrast, isolation, placement, detail or lines that lead to it. Artists often combine several.
Worked example: Emphasis in The Last Supper
How does Leonardo make Christ the focal point of The Last Supper (about 1495 to 1498)?
- Placement: Christ sits at the center of the long table.
- Convergence: the lines of the ceiling, walls and table all lead to a vanishing point at his head (one-point perspective; see Linear Perspective).
- Isolation and contrast: the apostles cluster in groups, while he sits apart, framed by the bright window behind him.
Answer: Central placement, converging lines, isolation and a bright window behind his head.
Why it works
Each tool works on the same habit of the eye: we look first at what is different and at where directions point. When several tools agree on one spot, the emphasis is strong and the picture reads quickly.
Light can do the same job. In Rembrandt's The Night Watch (1642), light falls on the captain and his lieutenant in the middle of a crowd. In Caravaggio's The Calling of Saint Matthew (1599 to 1600), a beam of light crosses a dark room to the men at a table, in the direction Christ points. (Which man is Matthew is debated.)
Common mistake
Emphasizing several things equally: every figure bright, every corner detailed. Then nothing stands out and the eye wanders. Choose one star, and let the rest support it with less contrast and less detail.