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Collins Dictionary defines "escape route" as follows:
1. a planned means of escape from a dangerous situation
2. a way out of a difficult situation
3. a means of distraction or relief, esp from reality or boredom

So what does that have to do with art?

In simplified terms, escape routes allow the viewer's eye to move around a piece of artwork. Hard edges all the way around a shape (like a hat, a mouth, a figure) confine the eye to that area, making it difficult to escape.

Composition.

There are many principles and elements of design that artists can use when planning and executing a painting - things like shape, contrast, variety, and rhythm, to name a few - and many ways to guide the viewer's eye around the page. Today I want to talk about "escape routes."

Escape routes.
What I refer to as "escape routes" are the lost and soft edges in a painting that allow the eye to roam around the page.

Lost edges may be indicated with a soft gradation between adjacent areas. Notice in the image of Friendly Face, above, that it is impossible to determine where the man's hairline begins and ends, as well as his right eyebrow which is only suggested in shadow.

Look, too, at all the lost and soft edges in and around the facial features, particularly the mouth. Even the the buttons on the model's shirt and the ink pen in his pocket have escape routes.

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If a shape has four sharp edges, the eye is boxed in, or "put in jail." One or more blurred edges will alleviate this problem ... It is edges, to a large extent, that determine the movement of the viewer's eye through the rectangle of your picture surface.

 

~Alex Powers

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You can also soften edges using color and value.
There may be a "hard edge" with a color change but not a value change, as I've indicated with red arrows on the desaturated image below - around the man's hat, along the shadow side of his face, neck and shoulder.

Now go back to the full color image at the top of the page. Does squinting help you to identify the escape routes?

Planned escape routes - always a good idea!

Paint. Love. Repeat.