cave environment...

[perryarts]

I'm working on this new painting about some mysterious cave. i want it to be a bit abstract, but i want it to still have focus. I think it's lacking something and i want to know what you think i can do for it.

http://www.inspired-technologies.net/forum/files/cave_408.jpg

[peterhurman]

just a thought about the composition. when the image first loaded up i couldnt work out what it was. it wasnt until i saw the guy on the left hand side that it became clear. apart from that i like it

[perryarts]

yeah, that's why i think i need to add some obvious focus...

[Books]

I say that you brighten the spot where the light is coming in. This will silhouette the guy on top and make more contrast there, drawing our eyes to him. Then brighten where the light hits the rocks, this will draw our eye into the cave. Make sure his pose and the rock he's on have a little more clarity to the top than the bottom so it pops out. If worse comes to worse, you can always crop/shift the canvas (maybe extend it left and upwards a little) so that the guy isn't on the edge of the page so much and little closer to that rule-of-thirds hot spot.

[Silly]

I'd add some more contrast, Put a spotlight on the guy, it's almost all the same brightness now.

[saz]

i agree you need to add more contrast to the image to determine the areas of interest more specifically, also adding something in the foreground will add more depth to it, making it more visually intersesting.try complementing colours to each other to make certain areas pop out more.