Contrast

How it is used

A key word in visual analysis and critiques. Artists create, use or heighten contrast, and a work can have strong or subtle contrast. As a verb, contrast means to compare two things in order to show their differences.

Example sentences

1. The strong contrast between light and shadow makes the figures stand out from the dark background.

2. Compare and contrast the two portraits in no more than 500 words.

Common collocations

• strong contrast
• colour contrast
• contrast of light and dark
• heighten the contrast
• compare and contrast

Related terms

• chiaroscuroThe use of strong contrasts between light and dark to make figures look three-dimensional and to create drama; the word is Italian for ‘light-dark’.
• paletteThe range of colours an artist uses in a work or in a period of their career; also the flat board on which a painter mixes paints.
• textureThe way the surface of an artwork feels, or looks as if it would feel, for example rough, smooth, thick or soft.
• compositionThe way the parts of an artwork, such as figures, shapes, colours and empty spaces, are arranged within the picture or space.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• contrast · Graphic Design
• contrast · Photography
• contrast · Interior Design

More terms: Visual Elements & Composition

• perspective
• foreground
• proportion
• vanishing point
• focal point
• foreshortening