Visual Element #1- the point

The point is the most simple mark that can be made in a painting. Yet still, as simple as it may be, it has the ability to capture focus and invent pathways and images that don’t actually exist!

The point can be used simply to define a position in space, or more intricately it can be group parts of images together to create an invisible, connected image or pathway. For instance, the mind has the ability to see what may be mere points on a surface and associate them with each other and with the outline of the surface to create an illusion and sensation of “magnetic” forces. These forces don’t actually exist, but they are felt and visualized by the mind and eyes.

Take the following picture to the left, a piece of square paper that has 2 points on the page. Looking at the picture, one doesn’t merely see two points but also some “magnetic forces,” four lines that extend from each point to the corners of the page, and the more strongly felt magnetic line that connects the two points together. This is the mind at work, trying to balance the tension in the page.

The image below illustrates these magnetic forces that are felt and visualized, but nevertheless invisible and nonexistent.

INTERESTING FACT: If a mark on a page is not centered, a feeling of uneasiness in the viewer typically results from this instability.

Do you feel the equilibrium in the first image, and a slight sense of uncomfortableness in the second?

Focal points are used to draw one’s attention to the most important part of a painting.

American artist John Sloan’s “Sunday Afternoon in Union Square”, 1912

In John Sloan’s “Sunday Afternoon in Union Square,” dated 1912, the main figures are centered in the middle. They are the two girls walking carelessly as they look and smile at each other, enjoying the attention they are receiving from the people around them. They seem to appear as one big focal point in the picture, rather than two focal points, because of the way they are looking at each other and also because of the way they are standing in close proximity, creating a combined silhouette, and therefore appearing as one main focal point of composition.

Our focus to them is further amplified by the subsidiary points in the picture, i.e., the faces of the people that surround them. The gazes and stares at the two girls draw our eyes to them even further, and the intense magnetic forces that are felt projecting from the people’s eyes create a tense atmosphere around the young girls, which makes them stand out even more.

Summary: The point is a very powerful tool in art. One of its many uses is it brings an image together and develops meaning through the process of grouping. Another one of its roles is it helps direct our eyes and establish focus.

In the next blog, we will discuss the second basic visual element, the line, which opens up many more possibilities for the artist to illustrate his vision.