As an  artist, you want to paint your future masterpiece in an effort to draw interest to your main point of focus.  There are certain things you can do to accomplish this.  One is to surround the center of interest with complementary colors.  Another is the composition itself.  The genius of famous artist, Grant Wood, in his work, American Gothic, is the way the background of the farmhouse literally keeps the viewers eyes locked in to the farmer and his lady.

If you will note the angle of the roof between the two directs your eyes to the face of the main subjects.  To make sure your eyes do not travel around, the darker color of the porch roof redirects your eyes.  Even the window sills do the same thing.  If that isn’t enough, the prongs of the pitchfork does the same thing.  But even if that’s not enough, and your eyes began to wander down to the darker hues of the clothes, the strong complement of the light colored shirt on the farmer, and the white color on his wife’s blouse brings your eyes back to the face.  Then if you happen to notice the red barn (and who couldn’t notice it?), you still can’t concentrate on it for long because the dark shoulder makes your eyes travel back up to his face.  To concentrate on the rest of the painting instead of these two “main characters”, the center of interest, you need to block them out with a piece of paper (or whatever).  You can’t get away from them.

Grant Wood’s directing his viewers to keep captivated on the center of interest was planned and intentional.  Give your artwork serious consideration of some of these points.  Carefully prepare your art compositions.  Consider the work Grant Wood put into planning this great piece of art.  It will make for a much more appreciated painting.