With Aquascaping, there is much more than just taking care of the fish to keep in mind. Creating a flourishing world or environment for them to thrive in provides its own challenges, but to create something that is also visually appealing to the eye of the spectators and people that will be looking into the tank is considered a real art. In essence, you must be able to create the aquascape with art in mind. For this, a general rule of thumb is to ensure a Focal Point within your Aquascape and to work around that area.
To begin, we must discuss what focal points are. Focal Points are points in a painting, sculpture, or any art piece that creates a central focus for the art itself. For paintings, this can be an area where the most activity is being done, or where attention is brought to the most. For instance, a painting that is 75% background and 25% portrait, the focal point would most likely be the person’s face. This is because that is where everything else is built around. The background, body, and colors all point to the face of the portrait, which is what the picture is originally about.
To create a focal point, one must be able to understand where they want the eyes to be drawn to. When creating the painting or sculpture, is the body the most important? Is the top of the picture or sculpture the main focus? Is the latter so? If so, look to redirect the viewer’s eyes towards that spot. This can be done by toning down surrounding areas or emphasizing the zone that needs to be the spotlight.
There does not have to be a singular focal point, though. Depending on the size and scope of art, you can have as many focal points as you wish, be it two or three or four. This is especially true when working with objects that are not flat, and have multiple different viewing spots that require a different way of thinking from each viewpoint. This becomes extremely tricky, as managing the assets of the work can become muddled in determining which aspect is needing to be focused first, and from which angle. So, although you can have as many focal points as you wish, attempt to keep it to a minimum of one or two, so that you do not need to juggle focal points and areas of emphasis.
