A great example of a piece of work that has a distinct example of a focal point is Joseph Mallord William Turner’s Snowstorm: Hannibal and His Army Crossing the Alps. This artwork is a great example of how the artist uses many different techniques to guide the viewer’s eyes to the focal point of the work, which is essentially the blinding light from the ominous sun. Turner uses a rich overlay of historical motifs to set the feel for his work. At the lower part of this painting, Hannibal is leading his troops across the Alps to launch a surprise attack on the Germans. Although this is the part of history that the artist chooses to convey, it is surprising that your eyes do not directly go there. However, your vision is directed towards the bright orange sun that is peering through the hazy, gloomy skies that the battle has created. The cataclysmic forces of nature are being displayed using gray, black, and white. This creates various types of contrast in the background that direct your eye around the scene. I would like to bring back the use of dominant, subordinate, and accentual figures. In this piece, this technique is used as well, in order to bring focus on the focal point. For instance, Hannibal (bottom of painting) is barely noticeable, reduced to a speck on an elephant in the background.
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