Using Focal Blur Effectively -TUTORIAL-

 USING FOCAL BLUR

The do's and don'ts

Short guide by Kitchiki

WHAT IS IT?

Focal blur is an image filter than can be find on Photoshop by clicking: Filter > Blur > Focal Blur

This filter is designed to create an effect similar to the blur you get when taking a photo on a digital

camera! I find it very useful to make a character pop and become the soul focus of the image, while

creating a sense of realism at the same time!

However depending on the composition of the image, sometimes focal blur can prevent an image

from reaching its full potential! Hopefully I can help by sharing what I've learnt about using this

effect!

WHEN TO USE IT.

Focal blur is best used when creating an image that entirely frames a character and has that

character as the only focus point! The eye is trained to look at what is in focus and mostly ignore

what is going on behind! Here are some examples using this method:

As you can see above, these images only need to be focused on the character, there is no need to show

what's going on behind as it adds nothing to the image! What's important with the backgrounds here

are the colours, which don't need to be in focus. You 'II notice that by looking at these images, your eye

will always be drawn to the character only!

WHEN NOT TO USE IT.

As focal blur draws your eye only to the item in focus, sometimes it's best for there to be more focal

points if the story or subject you 're drawing, features more than just the character. If the background

is a large and important part of the image, or if the character appears quite small against the landscape,

it is best not to use the focal blur, as you want the viewer to see the whole picture! Some examples of

images that look best without a blur are below:

The above images are not only about the characters! The backgrounds are equally as important to tell

the story of what is going on in them! The first image strives to create a sense of wonder and

exploration by featuring the murky forest behind and the path between the two characters.

The bridge on the bottom image is a second focal point, along with the birds-as I want to highlight

where they are. If the backgrounds on these images were blurred, these features would be lost and

the larger scale of the world in these images would appear much smaller! I will show you below

a comparison with the bird image:

You'll notice that this version of the image tells less of a story than the first! It may still look nice as a

seperate thing, but it doesn't have the extra story that the background brings with it.

With this version of the image you will only focus on the birds and the bridge is much less of a

focal point. If this was the final version, I would probably crop the image to frame the birds more, as

the extra space of the background is unneccessary and a little jarring to look at.

ALTERNATIVE METHODS TO CREATE FOCUS

When the background is an important part of the image, sometimes people might have trouble

getting the character to pop out against the background, and so will create a focal blur to solve that

problem! In my opinion this can potentially prevent an image from being at its full potential!

Below I will share some other methods you can use without using the focal blur.

In the above image, I have lightened all the colours of the background that appear behind the character,

and the colours are a lot more saturated and darker infront of the character. This makes sure the

character will not disappear into the busy colours of the background-if they were to use similar colours

to the foreground! You'll notice I have also created a sort of frame with the ground and trees, which

curve around the dog, guiding your eyes to the character.

Again, using lighter background colours behind the character, and darker colours (with the walls)

framing her.

This image uses contrast to frame the character! The reds/oranges stand out against the blues.

(Have a look at the colour wheel for more info on contrasting colours)

This image uses the rule of thirds, a method mostly used for photography but can be applied

also to art!

EXPERIMENT!

I hope this was useful to some! Remember, this is my own opinion and what I have learnt throughout

the years! You may have other techniques that work just as well! Also, the rules can be bent, take this

guide lightly! Focal blur is only an option-I really like the effect it creates so use it a lot! But there are

many other great methods to play with!