What on Earth is Contrast?
Hey Friends!
So nice to visit with you again! It's a great day to be inspired by art. Let's have a fun learning experience! Today, we will be talking about something we see all the time without even knowing it. It's in paintings, pictures, and even sculptures. This thing is called contrast! Contrast is when you can see a big difference between two things that are right next to each other.
If two colors are too similar, then they do not have a lot of contrast
So nice to visit with you again! It's a great day to be inspired by art. Let's have a fun learning experience! Today, we will be talking about something we see all the time without even knowing it. It's in paintings, pictures, and even sculptures. This thing is called contrast! Contrast is when you can see a big difference between two things that are right next to each other.
If two colors are too similar, then they do not have a lot of contrast
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Above, we have two pictures of balloons. Which one do you think is easier to spot out of the crowd -- the red balloon or the blue balloon? Obviously, the red one stands out more, so it’s easier to see. That’s because it has a high contrast and the light blue balloon has low contrast with the rest of the balloons in their pictures.
If the red balloon were orange, it would stick out even more because blue and orange are opposites of each other! All colors have an opposite. An easy way to find a color's opposite is with a color wheel. You find it by seeing what color is directly across from a color. Look at the color wheel below and see if you can find opposites for some of the colors on the wheel.
If the red balloon were orange, it would stick out even more because blue and orange are opposites of each other! All colors have an opposite. An easy way to find a color's opposite is with a color wheel. You find it by seeing what color is directly across from a color. Look at the color wheel below and see if you can find opposites for some of the colors on the wheel.
 | If you look at this color wheel, RED is opposite from GREEN. This means they are also called complements. They make each other stand out. Complements are any colors that are opposite of each other on the color wheel. They are called complements because they actually make each other look brighter. Red and Green are also the colors we use for Christmas! That's because they make each other stand out so well. |
Van Gogh and Contrast
Lets take a look at this painting! This is a self portrait by the artist Vincent van Gogh. Its from the National Gallery of Art. He is one of the most famous painters in the world and he uses complementary colors to create contrast all of the time! What colors do you see here? you probably can point out a lot of blue and orange, right? Well, if we look at our color wheel up above, we can see that Blue and Orange are complementary colors.
That means they are directly across from each other on the color wheel. This also means that these two colors work together to create high levels of contrast. They make each other bolder and brighter, and our eyes love to see that in different kinds of art.
That means they are directly across from each other on the color wheel. This also means that these two colors work together to create high levels of contrast. They make each other bolder and brighter, and our eyes love to see that in different kinds of art.
Contrast right here at the AMA!
 | Gloria Garfinkel is a colorful origami artist who has had her work shown right here at the AMA Museum! If you look at her work, I am sure you notice how much contrast we see. Its all because of the colors she uses. |
