Here's How:
Define a Focal Point
A focal point is the most striking object in your field of view. It can be the center of activity, or the point you are drawn to concentrate on the most. Focal points draw a viewer's eye inviting their gaze to linger and explore. A focal point may be supported by other items that help draw attention to it. Focal points can showcase particular items in doll houses, create a sense of activity, or draw a viewer into a story line.
Every miniature vignette or collection should have a main item you want viewers to notice. That will be your focal point. List items that might be focal points in your scene.
Give Your Scene a Reason For Existing
Without a focal point, a viewer isn't sure where to look and their eye will wander around trying to decide what it should rest on. Lack of strong focal points makes viewers less sure of what they are supposed to be seeing. With their small size, doll houses and miniature scenes need strong focal points. A focal point in a scene or miniature room is like understanding the punch line of a joke. Without that understanding, the purpose is lost.
Write down what you want your viewers to notice as the main point in your scene or collection. Where will you focus their attention?
Train Your Eye to Look for Focal Points
Great artists use some standard techniques to create focal points. You can train your eye to look for the techniques they use, and transfer those skills and your understanding to creating stronger miniature scenes.
The three main ways to create focal points are:
Color
Contrast
Structure.
Which of these can you use to draw attention to your focal point?
When working with doll houses, where is your eye drawn to first? Is that where you want it to go?
Use Color to Define Focal Points
Color is an instant attention focus. Artists often draw the eye with complimentary colors, colors which are opposite each other on the color wheel. The main compliments are are red and green, orange and blue, yellow and purple. About.com's Guide to Painting has a good description of complimentary colors.
In general, complimentary colors used beside each other make each other look more intense or brighter, and will pull the eye towards them. Any strong bright color will pull the eye, or colors played against one another will draw viewers attention as well.
What colors will you use?
Use Contrast
Contrast puts sharp definition behind your main figures or parts of a scene to make them stand out. In general eyes will seek out lighter colors against dark ones. In darker scenes, color will disappear or seem to fade. Red may seem to have the same value as green for example. In dark scenes, white, yellow and pink will stand out and draw the eye much better than red, blue or purple.
To draw attention to a particular area of a miniature scene, make sure it stands out in contrast to its background. Contrasting details which draw the viewers eye are also effective.
Define Lines For The Viewer's Eye
The way a scene is built or shaped can help point towards the focal point, or draw your eye onto it. Lines of action in the scene heading towards the focal point; hand direction, floorboards, lines of furniture, lines created by the way weapons are pointing, lines in terrain or a room that pull the eye across to a particular point, will all draw your attention towards an item in the scene.
Try to create lines in your scene that will help pull the focus onto your main point. In general your eye is happiest following curves before it will follow straight lines.
Use Open Space Carefully
Large fixed objects usually take over as the main focal point. A window or a fireplace are examples of this. A mountain or hill can become an instant focal point in a railway or gaming scene. When creating miniature scenes, only have a fireplace or a doorway/window obvious in the scene if you want to imply or create action with that opening. Use large windows or strong terrain features to draw attention to your figures or a piece of furniture arranged in front of them through the principle of contrast. Downplay backgrounds so they don't pull attention from the focal point.
Enlarge Your Point
Hang a large painting or a collection of paintings that occupy more than half of the width of the furniture piece above the piece of furniture. This helps give the item a larger presence in the overall room.
Flank groups of figures with smaller less important groups that frame the main group. Frame pieces of furniture with smaller pieces, chairs, occasional tables, plants in large pots to help make them stand out and draw attention to them as the focal point.
Groupings are very important in the small space of doll houses.
Use A Collection to Draw Attention
Use a group of special items on a table, a tablescape to help to tell a story. Add related but unique items into standard backdrops like bookcases to pull attention to a piece. Set a group of figures near a point of action, leave tools or equipment beside an item you want to draw attention to in a railway scene.
Use Contrasting Size for Emphasis
Sheer size can easily create a focal point. One mounted horseman in a field of foot soldiers creates an instant focal point. A two story house in a village of single stories will draw the eye. A large bookcase on a wall becomes a focal point. A table in a dining room can easily become a focal point you may not want. Downplay large size with camouflage if necessary. A table runner or place settings on a dining room table will break up its overall size, so will arrangements of items on bookcase shelves, or a single building mounted on a hill beside a two story structure.
Use Light To Draw the Eye
Set a lamp on your focal point or above it to encourage the viewer to look in a particular area. Use lighter, darker or brighter colors to draw attention to a particular group of figures or items.
In some scenes, terrains, or doll houses you can adapt colors to create a ray of sunshine that falls on your group for emphasis. Shimmering glitter, ice, reflecting water or metallic effects will also pull light and draw your eye towards a focal point.
How can you light your scene to accent the focal point?
Underline Your Point
Underscore a focal point for emphasis. A carpet under or just in front of a piece of furniture can make it a focal point. An interesting road surface or water feature in front of a battle group can draw attention to that group. A wider section of water can pull the eye towards a section of a rail line. Color or texture changes in landscaping can pull the eye towards a particular feature standing on that section. Window boxes can draw attention to doll houses.
Will an underscore technique help set your focal point apart from the surroundings?
Place the Focal Point in a Frame
Your eye will see similar sized objects on either side of a particular piece as a frame for that piece. Place two chairs on either side of a sideboard, or balance a chair and a slightly smaller plant on either side of chest of drawers. Set your figures in between balanced sections of a terrain, or between similar sized but smaller figure groups. Balance a section of a model railroad with portions of forest or fields.
Try to keep your frame either equal or give it a pleasing asymmetry that keeps it in balance with the overall scene while drawing the eye.
Tips:
- List possible focal points for your scene. What do you have to work with, what can you add. Which strong features do you need to downplay?
- Assess the relative strengths of possible focal points and how they help relate to the story you want to tell. (Do you have a story line or a theme for your scene? If not, it is helpful to prepare one)
- Determine what techniques from the list above you can easily use to emphasize your focal point. Pick the ones that are easy yet effective.
- Work on your scene to refine the emphasis to point towards your focal point. Move items in space, change colors, backdrops, foregrounds or bases and lighting. Are there any small items (cushions, clothing items) you can adjust to pull attention or relate items to each other?
- Take a photograph or ask what people notice first. Are they noticing what you want them to see? If not, analyse why not, and adjust your scene or collection where it needs adjustments.
What You Need:
- Paper and Pencil
- Clear Idea of What You Want Your Collection or Scene to Say
- Friend or a Digital Camera to Record and Report On Your Scene.
