Up near the dark woods. Hey, look in that area and you’ll see a couple looking away from us.
I know, I know, every other classmate and teacher said the focal point was the larger couple and the direction they are looking. Your eye is drawn to the left where the people and their body positions point.
Nope.
I look at this picture and I see the dark sinister woods behind the couple. What’s hiding there? What’s watching the happy people? I want to go into those trees.
This is the picture I had to explain and write about for high school art class. The one I had to defend my view after a lesson on focal points. Passed the assignment, sorta.
Art for me, is for the artist and the viewer. Whether or not they see or feel the same should never matter. Why should it? Who determined the meaning of picture or poem?
The best part of art is the individual heart.