| When you are looking at a view, your eye sees only one part of the scene clearly in focus. You see the rest of the scene in a more generalized way using your peripheral vision.
A painting should emulate this by keeping the objects in the focal point or focal area in sharper focus compared with objects in other parts of the painting.
Do not make the painting look like a photograph in which the whole scene is in focus.
Two techniques you can use for varying the level of detail are:
• Brush size
Use two brushes that have a great contrast of size and shape so you cannot create too much detail outside the focal point. Use the small brush only in the focal area.
• Drawing styles
Change your drawing style between the free intuitive mode for the background and a more controlled, analytical mode for the focal area. In this painting “Off the Beaten Path”, you can see the Rio Chiuso sign in the foreground is much more defined than the girl on the bridge and the boat in the canal, which fade into the background.
TIPS
• Do not show the same amount of detail throughout your paint-
ing. Keep detail to the focal point of the painting and use less detail away from the focal point.
• Generalize objects and shapes away from your focus area by
blending shapes of one tone together into larger shapes.
• Use sharper edges in and around the focal point and focal areas and softer edges in other areas of the painting.
• Be very careful about key perspective lines. Make them very
accurate, even if they are inlooser, less defined areas.
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