WHY CONTRAST IS THE KEY TO VISUALLY APPEALING ART

UNDERSTANDING CONTRAST

If you're new to art, you may wonder what contrast is, but to understand contrast, you first need to understand value! The value of a color is determined by how dark or light it is. In the example next to this text, you can easily see the different values of black, going from black to dark gray to light gray, then to white! Understanding value first is essential to understanding contrast, as contrast is the difference between the lightest and darkest values in a piece of art, whether it's a painting, embroidery, etc. Contrast is all about how the different values relate to each other to make up a clear image. Without contrast in a piece, things can look washed out or unreadable. That's why contrast is so important when you're creating art. There are cases when low contrast can be ideal for specific paintings, too, and we'll get into that at the end of this article. The key is to make your contrast decisions intentionally and not accidentally, and we'll show you how!

EXAMPLES OF CONTRAST IN A BLACK AND WHITE PAINTING

The example below shows the difference between high contrast and low contrast in a simple black-and-white painting. Below is an excellent example of why high contrast is important in making things clear and readable. On the high contrast side everything is highlighted where it should be and everything that is meant to be bold stands out as it should! That isn't the case on our low contrast side; it's tough to see what it is. Of course, you can still tell that it's a flower, but you might have to look closely to distinguish the details. Art needs to be clear, especially if it's something like this where it's an object; it's even more critical in a portrait where it needs to look like someone specific.

EXAMPLES OF CONTRAST IN A FULL COLOR PAINTING

​In the following example, you can see high contrast versus low contrast in a full-color painting. Just like the first example, you can see just how much easier it is to tell what you're looking at in the high contrast painting; even though the color makes it a little more apparent where different objects are in the image, it's still nowhere near as pleasing to look at as the high contrast example. ​

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HOW TO MAKE SURE YOUR ART HAS ENOUGH CONTRAST

It's easy to tell if your art has enough contrast if it's already in black and white, but what if it's in color? How on earth are you supposed to be able to tell what your color values are? It's easier than you might think! Just take a photo of your painting and edit the saturation down to zero; this will give you an exact look at the values so you know if you'll need to make any adjustments! Not that technical? Try this: when looking at your painting, identify the lightest and darkest areas. If you need help determining what those are or if the lightest and darkest areas are at all similar to each other, bump up the contrast! You can mix white with colors to lighten certain areas and darken others by mixing in black. This method can be especially helpful if you're working from a reference because you can go ahead and adjust the saturation of your reference photo too, to see if they match up! ​

WHEN IS LOW CONTRAST IDEAL?

Using light to medium values and low contrast can be beneficial when you're going for a soft, calm, or subtle feel for a painting! Similarly, when going for a moody or harsh feeling for your art, going with medium to dark values in low contrast will bring those feelings. The example next to this text is by Claude Monet shows in this light, low contrast painting that you can still not only offer a lot of definition but also create stunning works of art. The key to using low contrast in your art is that everything must still be readable. In this Monet example, even when I turn the saturation of the painting down, you can still tell you're looking at a building with water and a cloudy sky. The color helps to bring it all together, but what you're looking at is still very clear! Context and the feeling in a painting are things you should think about before using low contrast in your work. Still, in the cases it is used purposely to show certain feelings, it can be absolutely stunning!

The Houses of Parliament, Sunset, Claude Monet

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