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Project Overview:

The theme of Contrast is all about exploring opposites—whether in colours, ideas, forms, emotions, or even cultural influences. The aim of this project is to help you explore how contrasting elements can create a powerful visual statement.

Your Task:

1. Explore the Theme: You can choose any aspect of contrast that interests you—colour, form, concept, mood, etc. Some examples include:

Colour: Bright vs. dark, muted vs. bold.

Form: Geometric vs. organic, rough vs. smooth.

Concept: Nature vs. urban, freedom vs. confinement, peace vs. conflict.

Emotion: Calm vs. chaos, joy vs. sorrow.

2. Create Your Visual Work: Whether it’s drawing, photography, digital art, collage, or any medium of your choice, create a piece that explores the contrast you’ve chosen.

3. Document Your Process: Along with your final piece, upload a few images or short videos showing your process. How did you experiment with your ideas? What choices did you make in your work?

4. Share on Padlet: Upload your work to the Padlet board. Along with your image, write a brief description (around 2-3 sentences) explaining your contrast and why you chose it.

5. Engage with Your Peers: Comment on at least three other students’ works. What contrasts do you see in their work? How did they approach the theme differently from you?

Why This Project?

This project is designed to:

Push you to think creatively about contrast and how it can affect your work.

Provide an opportunity for you to engage with your peers before September.

Allow you to experiment with different artistic mediums and techniques.

Remember, this is about exploration—have fun with it, and don’t be afraid to take risks with your work!

We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

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How to Use Padlet

1. Posting an Image:

Once you're on the Padlet page, click the "+" button to create a new post.

A pop-up window will appear. Select "Image" and upload your image from your device.

Once uploaded, click "Publish" to post.

2. Posting Text-Only:

Click the "+" button to add a new post.

In the pop-up window, you can directly type your text (e.g., description of your work or your thoughts on the contrast you explored).

Click "Publish" to share your post.

3. Adding a Comment:

After posting, click on your post (image or text).

In the comment section, type your thoughts or further explanation.

Press Enter to save your comment.

4. Interacting with Others:

To comment on someone else's post, click on their post, add your feedback in the comment box, and hit Enter.

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Hi everybody, the contrast in this piece is shown through the bright colours of objects, against the muted dark background. I used the pointillism technique :)

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1m x 1m, Oil on Canvas. Self-Portrait, 2025.

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This work is inspired by alternative culture that goes against popular music and fashion styles, referencing traditional gothic looks. This created an interesting contrast in colour between the paler skin tone and dark makeup. The title, in reference to a song by the band 'The Cure', which was pivotal in the Gothic music movement, tries to emphasise the idea of feeling a contrast between one's self perception and mainstream society.

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This piece was inspired by a classical marble sculpture I saw. I thought it was really interesting how the absence of a head and limbs did not diminish its presence, instead I thought the form became more about the body itself than the individual identity. In merging the imagery of organic fruit with the form of the female nude and looking into the contrast between permanent and impermanent, my piece aims to question what society values as “beautiful” and how quickly that beauty can become disposable, like things pulled from the supermarket shelf with a best before date.

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Hello everyone, this piece is based on a photo I took on a highstreet in Bristol. I noticed how the rebellious colourful street art contrasted with the modern minimalist advert for spray cans just above it. I used pencils pens and some paint markers.

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I chose to look at themes of growth and decay, using the 6 pomegranate seeds to symbolically reference the duality of life and death. I also attempted to incorporate this contrast in my stylistic choices, leaving the water as underpainting and using loose mark making so that the more rendered objects decay into the background a bit? It’s a bit unclear tbh but the style was fun to explore 

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This piece was inspired by a life drawing session focused on shadows. A large sheet was hung diagonally across the room and the model would pose on one side of it. We were free to move around the room and choose whether to draw the model or his silhouette. We would move the lights around to exacerbate the distortion of the model’s silhouette against the sheet.

In this piece I wanted the primary focus to be on the warped silhouette of the model, as we had been taught that in some cultures a silhouette was seen as the most accurate representation of someone’s character. With this in mind I wanted to draw into this strange silhouette, physical features that correspond with its body in an attempt to give identifiable physical form to this pure ‘character’.

In this piece I focused on the contrast between the simplicity of the distorted shadow and the subtle detail of its imagined physical features.

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while creating this photographic composition i wanted to draw on the 900 year old story of king canute and the tide. within his spectacle of humility, he showed the lack of power that humans hold in truly shaping the ecosphere - something which i think has been forgotten. we can follow our narratives of progress and economic growth, dreams of space colonisation and the replacement of humankind with artificial intelligence but when the great flood arrives, when wildfires encompass the land and a 6th mass extinction looms over us, our dominance of nature will be no more prominent than 900 years ago when king canute demonstrated the forces that work outside of human worlds.                                                                                                                                    

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king canute and the rising of the waters

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king canute and the rising of the waters

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For my concept I drew from Takashi Murakami, as his work plays on contrasting themes, and anachronisms. Also the YouTube animation account VIVINOS and their “Pink Bitch Club” series (which I would recommend).

In my desire to experiment more with the prompt, I sought to create a piece with as many kinds of contrast as possible.

The first element I explored was the dichotomy of a glowing tv screen vs matte canvas. Digital vibrance is notably difficult to replicate off screen. Through experimenting with types of paint, and techniques pushing the contrast between shades, hues, and saturation, I was able to recreate a relatively satisfying TV glow.

Other elements of contrast I included were texture, dimension, style, shape.

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In this piece I have explored the contrast created as a result of mutable emotions over a period of time, in particular contrast between different emotions incurred during the cyanotype process of comfort and warmth when first in the sun and those of irritability and agitation following a period of being sat in the heat. These are depicted in the image through constant movement created by the long exposure effect of cyanotype printing, allowing the various positions adopted in an attempt to stay cool to be captured simultaneously

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The initial idea for this painting came about when I saw a painting by Alex Clayton of what I interpreted as a storm (it’s hard to tell what your seeing with an Alex Clayton painting), and the focal point of that painting being the eye of the storm. I loved the idea of creating a painting in the eye of a storm so that’s how I started out this painting, and then my mum passed away. This completely threw me off emotionally and creatively, the original vision for my painting was lost. I continued this painting starting with the beam of energy, which was inspired by the colour’s and imagery from the graphic novel Amulet, that I read when I was younger. The visuals were so striking to me that I remembered them years after reading it, the use of bright pinks and blues was what really stuck in my head. I painted this over the course of a few weeks and every time I came back to it, I had a new idea, this makes the painting visually jumbled, but I really enjoy the outcome. The colour palette of this painting has loads of bold colours , I think my love for these bold colours comes from my love of Hirohiko Araki’s work and his colour choices. In the bottom there are these dark caves, I wanted to contrast the bright colours of the storm above and create this feeling of calm, against the chaos of the storm. The main themes of contrast in the painting are chaos VS calm, but there is also a contrast of free vs focused. The ideas I was focused on painting in the top half of the canvas and the free brush strokes in the bottom half.

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My goal with this piece was to try to show contrast between the past and the present while having them exist in the same moment. My grandmother, who is no longer living, was forced to flee Latvia during WWII. This spring I visited Latvia, which is now a free country, to get my citizenship. Throughout my visit I had the sensation of my grandmother there, just out of sight, watching me and seeing what her country had become. I wanted to evoke the sense of her past and my present layered together amidst the vibrant, spring leaves in a park she loved.

To create the leaves, I used Andy Warhol’s blotted line technique with ink and watercolor to create an organic, somewhat unreal look. In my first attempt, I tried drawing my grandmother’s face on top of the leaves. Even though that created a contrast of black and white vs. color, I felt the leaves overpowered the face. For this version, I tried reversing things. I drew the face on tracing paper and placed it on top of the leaf print. While this makes the leaves less vibrant, I kind of like how the tracing paper layer further distorts the leaves, and gives the image a somewhat hazy/layered and dreamlike quality.

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In this piece I’ve tried to take the classical reclined female nude composition but bring some contrast by using digital technology to overlay my pencil sketch. I also swapped the female figure with a male body, trying to challenge the male gaze that’s so embedded in art history. Rather than showing the typical strong, muscular and dominant male figure so often depicted in classical art, I have also tried to present a softer, vulnerable and more relaxed male figure. I’m really inspired by Joan Semmel’s work on subverting gender perspectives so wanted to explore a part of that! Finally, I think the fact that you can’t see a face demonstrates a contrast too. While you are intimately connected to the figure by having a view of his body, you have no idea of his face, his eyes and the mind behind that.

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I explored the contrast between structure and fluidity, ending up on this sculptural textile piece. I distressed this black fabric to show the interplay between the two contrasting forms. The geometric and structural shapes made by the strings in the fabric make up something that is very fluid and malleable. Showing that although they are opposites they often have exist in tandem.

After I distressed the fabric it started to look like a landscape of hills and valleys. Also the shapes made by the fabric when distressed reminded me of contour lines. Although this wasnt my initial intention I believe it also represents a contrast between the natural and man-made world. Hinting at ideas of fast fashion, sustainability and our natural environment. This form reminded my of Maya Lin's "Three Ways of Looking at the Earth"

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To explore the theme of contrast I used stained glass off cuts for my work. I found glass to be an interesting material to convey this concept, particularly in addressing aspects of colour and form. I found the contrast in the work to be most pronounced by the bold and subtle colours, varying degrees of opaqueness as well as the differences in shape, size and texture of the stained glass pieces. Additionally, I was pleasantly surprised with the effect created by the dark grey grout used to fill the spaces in between the glass pieces and led border in amplifying the contrasting aspects I was looking to explore.

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To explore the theme of contrast, I decided to explore the contrast between the freedom of nature, and the constraining aspects of mankind. The floral henna, inspired by traditional Arab henna, as well as the rose thorn cuff, explores how the natural world follows no rules, and its beauty knows no bounds. To contrast with this, the models hand, covering her face, relays the message that mankind has a tendency to take back individuals freedom, controlling what society can see and appreciate.

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I've just returned from a seven-month backpacking trip, and whilst I was in Melbourne, I visited an awesome Yayoi Kusama exhibition. It was mostly made up of interactive installations which played around with space and form. There were these huge inflatables which were printed with polka dots; and because the walls, floors, and ceiling were covered in the same print, it was difficult to determine where the inflatables ended, and open space began. Due to the lack of contrast in pattern and colour, the contrast in the space relied on the 3D form of the inflatables; and the exhibition used lighting to highlight the curves and edges of these shapes. I was inspired by these 3D forms and the nuance of their contrast despite the repeated identical pattern.

Unfortunately Padlet doesn't seem to let you upload more than one image, and so I can't attach photos of the exhibition or the making process, but I will come armed with them on Monday!

Inspired by Kusama's installation, I up-cycled this vintage tie. I wanted to layer polka dots on top of polka dots, as she did. Unlike Kusama, I added a few extra colours in an attempt to create some more movement within the design, and I wanted to use some vintage fabric I had lying around, so I incorporated some stripes too! I like how the stripes contrast with the polka dots. :)

I wanted to incorporate Kusama's use of the 3D, and so I played around with buttons (layered with fabric to erase their holes and so-called 'buttonness'); varied stitching methods; zig zag machine stitching; borders made out of embroidery thread; and I even stuffed two of the polka dots. Next time I'd love to create a tie with just a ton of those stuffed dots!

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This little drawing was inspired by the scenery from a train running through the mountains in Switzerland. The little villages stand out against the lush green nature, their (often) red roofs creating a pleasant contrast. There is something very pleasing and comforting about houses enveloped in the opulent green, especially as the more fluffy-looking nature softens the angular shapes of the buildings.

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This is my first exploration of video performance as a medium, and I really enjoyed it:

At first I experimented with black berries on paper and letting them decompose but I was not satisfied with how it came out. Then I used a white cotton shirt and a mixture of mulberries and blackberries.

I used contrast to evoke the loose grip on control the performer has: everything that leaves her mouth is open to misperception.

As soon as anything is open it is up for being stained with misinterpretation. I wanted to distort the berries that would otherwise be sweet and desirable.

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For this exploration I decided to use a new technique. I wanted to use an embroidery foot of a sewing machine on paper. I tried multiple times and got quite frustrated because I founded it incredibly difficult to make something figurative, which is what I was attempting to do. I landed with this result almost by mistake practising circles on the new background (paper).

The photograph is one I took of a happy memory on holiday. For me it embodies contrast in various ways. The tactile element of the new established photo reminds me of my senses when I took the photo. Although the photograph underneath is of a moving scene it still feels very still, the added stitching gives it movement because the direction and movement of making it is clear. An additional outcome is the reminder of the material its self being 2 dimensional instead of 3D, which we initially see in a photograph. The stitching on top interrupts the viewers perception and creates a more complex outcome.

To be honest most of these things mentioned I only realised after I took a step back from it. This project was like an impulse it felt nice to have the freedom to experiment.

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To explore the theme 'contrast' I have made a collage out of photocopies of pages in a sketchbook. Collage offers the opportunity to hold together disparate parts, much like the bound pages of a book, and the term 'contrast' itself. I wanted to play around with the relation between contrast and similarity or unity. I have cut into various figurative or floral sketches and brought the pieces of coherent drawings into a more abstract arrangement.

With this collage, I aimed to explore contrasts between clarity and abstraction, process and finished artwork, and separation and unity. It allowed me to consider the possible ambiguities and connections within such contrasting categories, as collaged parts form a new whole through contrast.

I can't quite decide whether I think the piece feels a bit too full, or a bit too sparse. I wrote about collage aesthetics last year, so I really enjoyed the opportunity to put some of my thinking into practice and experiment with more abstract collaging for the first time!

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This stacked tower explores the contrast between plastic containers and their solid cast forms. I was drawn to the idea of making a mundane object statuesque through repetition and composition.

My process was heavily informed by the unintentional sculptures around London where stacked objects become works of art. Henny Burnetts ‘365 days of plastic’ inspired the idea of each vessel being individual as i have the ability to reconfigure the tower or lay them out. I created a utilitarian feel by placing the stack on a wooden platform mounted with wheels.

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Looking at the contrast of defined and undefined mainly as a painting exercise but also to see how it made me feel - when doing the defined I felt fixed, specific and ruled to a certain extent versus the undefined that felt open, fluid and energetic.

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The Barbican Centre and St Dunstan in the East

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Hello all.

The first thoughts that flew through my mind when I thought of contrast this summer, were that of London and its architecture with its vast history.The city is filled with contrasting structures, intertwining with the natural world and working in harmony.

Why photography? I wanted to try something that would get me to travel the city, and allow me to capture the moments immediately.

Why a point and shoot camera? In a world where it’s far too easy to adjust, “fix” and filter all images, I wanted to use a tool that would that would allow me to see this wonderful city without a filter.

Vaida

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Replica of my own arm made with cardboard, newspaper, paper straws, latex, bandages and electrical wiring. Coloured using acrylic paint and coloured pencil.

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I wanted to look at contrasting materials that took similar forms, for example networks in technology vs organic networks. This lead me to look at veins, roots and branches in comparison to wires and circuits.

I used cardboard for the base and traced my own arm so it would be to scale. I used newspaper and paper straws to build up the arms and emphasise the veins. The veins are meant to be the focus of the sculpture since I am exploring the contrast between dynamic forms in nature and technology. I layered watered down acrylic paints and coloured pencil to detail the skin. The latex soaked bandages add a skin-like texture. The wires protrude from the veins making there own branch like system. The electrical wire contrasts the soft paper straws and flesh like latex.

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For the theme of contrast I played with colour by creating a digital collage of my friends and I whilst on holiday in Italy. I chose the photos for my work carefully by only using ones we took whilst away together. I also assigned each of us a colour that we tend to associate with each other which stands out against a black and white background.

Normally I’d do this by hand but I’m still away with no printer so I had to make it digitally.

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With this life drawing, I set out to examine the irony of contemporary urban living. Despite urbanisation forcing individuals to coexist within increasingly crowded environments, the multitude of people can often amplify a sense of isolation. I was particularly interested in the contrast between solitude and shared space, choosing the underground carriage as my setting: a place where human proximity is unavoidable. I depicted the train at rush hour, filled to capacity, but rather than connection, each figure turns inward, retreating into their own private world. To reinforce the theme of contrast, I tried to use strong, deliberate lines, pressing my pencil firmly into the page to emphasise the irony in being surrounded by others but living in solitude.

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I decided to hit two birds with one stone and explore contrast both with light/dark, but also with the themes 'life and death'. I chose to use stippling for the stark opposition between black and white to symbolise the tension between existence and absence. On top of that, both light and darkness are interdependent, the same goes for life and death - you can't have one without the other.

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Contrast in this piece was explored by the lack of presence of the girl despite her being the forefront and main focus of the painting. I used a more muted colour pallet for her to give the impression of an absence of life, which stands out against the more vibrant and colourful background. Her being upside down adds to her absence as she is further from communicating with the viewer; instead existing separately.

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This drawing shows a humanoid robot curiously examining a bird. The piece reflects on the contrast between artificial and natural life.

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Sketch of childhood memory box exploring sensory memory and intensified connection to objects for autistic people.

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contrast between synthetic and human female form 

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contrast between synthetic and human female form 

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for my study I looked at the contrast visually between synthetic female form as a representation of female anatomy through an exaggerated lens as opposed to the rawness of realist female form. I divided the two ideas by creating collages to illustrate my idea to start with and combine my own images with that of dolls that I found. After laying out my ideas I looked at the works of the controversial Hans Bellmers’ work such as ‘La Poupée’ (circa 1930) (doll/puppet), a nightmarish series of images and drawings that includes an array of mutilated doll figures that possess a lifeless quality although in hand with a face of a passive female victim. His sculptures were both a self reflection of his own evils and insecurities resulting from the facist media/culture of Germany at the time whilst holding many questions of what La Poupée could hold as a significant contribution to the Surrealist movement. I drew a couple of his works to demonstrate this image as I found the demeanour in which his figures are expressed seem to withhold answers although portraying a slightly predatory gaze perhaps of Bellmer himself but maybe perhaps a response to a patriarchal society. After this research i continued to draw the images i had combined from both my collage and others i had gathered, both in pencil. They demonstrate both a side by side contrast of doll and girl but also a combination of doll figure and girl expression/face, experimenting with the composition of my ideas. I then went on to produce another set of collage images as an extension of my original visual idea, a look into pattern/colour within synthetic form and noir portraits plastered on matryoshka dolls. The faces hold a glamourised gaze echoing the culture of hollywood icons but also the mimicry of the ‘regular’ girl. the last slide image of my collage has really inspired me to elaborate on this take of my original idea.

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In these photographs, contrast is not only a matter of black and white, light and shadow, but of innocence held against the weight of what comes too soon. The girl lies across a bench, dressed in a way that speaks of childhood, a dress light as air, socks pulled high, her body folded into an easy, careless posture. But there, in her hand, a cigarette burns. And with it comes the question of how quickly innocence is asked to surrender, how abruptly the softness of being young is edged away by something harsher. The cigarette interrupts the scene, just as adulthood interrupts youth. The childlike dress suggests tenderness, the possibility of play, yet the smoke carries us elsewhere to provocation, to rebellion, to the heaviness of imitation and performance. What begins as a picture of stillness becomes unsettled. This is a portrait of transition. Not the clean cut of before and after, but the uneasy mingling of both. The sweetness of youth and the smoke of experience, contrasting but also complementing one another.

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This piece is a painting based on a photo I took earlier this summer in Kennington of a group of friends playing cricket in the park. Cricket is a traditional English game, and invokes the image of the rural idyll. I liked the contrast of the almost village cricket scene and the urban tower blocks behind it, creating a dissonance between bucolic ideals of England and modern London city life.

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Within the theme of contrast I decided to focus on alternate sensory worlds through the lens of autism. I am particularly drawn to pattern and texture and chose to express this by creating a children’s illustration incorporating various sensory objects that are often used for self regulation within neurodiversity. The central child within an inclosed space represents the overstimulation felt through forced conformity or lock of access to needed resources in existing within the dominant neurotypical societal norms.

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With the chosen theme “contrast” I have decided to make a dress using this theme as a guideline to how I want it to look. I used recycled materials and old clothes to create this dress. I love layers, patterns and texture when it comes to making clothes so I wanted to incorporate this in the design. For the top I decided to keep it separate to the skirt since the skirt is quite heavy and it would only stretch and pull at the top; but put together it will look like one piece. I dyed the bottom of the skirt black so that there is the contrast from white to black. I also thought that using stripy and polka dot fabric contrast from each other as well as some fabric having white dots and some fabric having black dots which also contrasts from each other. While making the top I was debating if I should add frills on both sides of the straps, in the end I decided to keep one side plain to make it asymmetrical, one side interesting, one side simple. I wanted to incorporate nature in this piece so I decided to put some feathers in the bow on the top representing life and it being light in weight. While on the other hand I tied some bones at the end of the ribbon tied at the back of the top represents death and heaviness since bones are can be dense and heavy.

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At surface level, this piece plays with the idea of expectation. The contrast between the size of the insect on paper and its actual size highlights the complexity and intricacy of what most people would think is relatively insignificant compared to larger organisms. This accentuates the idea of the insect as an individual, calling us to reflect on how we view the value of living creatures. I wanted to question why we deem something merely smaller than us, something which has simply evolved different mechanisms other than intelligence to survive, as expendable compared to human life.

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This is part of a small series I made on the theme of contrast about the disconnect I have felt between childhood and adulthood over the past year. During the summer, I visited the farm which my mother's family live on in southern Germany (a place I used to often visit when I was small) and felt more distant to the place than I had ever felt before.

The backdrop, a child-like drawing I made of a photo I took while on the farm in the summer, contrasts with a photo of me in a suit belonging to my father, dressed in a way I imagine a child thinks a 'grown-up' would dress.

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This oil painting aimed to be an exploration of contrast visual forms. The textured impasto background, whilst monochrome, catches natural light in shifting ways, making the surface itself active and dynamic. I painted the figures using the contrast of complementary colours, blue and orange, direct opposites on the colour wheel. I wanted to amplify this contrast through the dramatic use of light and shadow, which carve out their forms from the monochrome background. Finally, the two portraits are actually the same figure, but inverted —one upright, one upside down, a decision I made to not only contrast their orientation but also reflect back on the theme of contrast itself.

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I decided to challenge myself and focus specifically on the contrast of colours, combining and blending together opposites of the colour wheel. I took inspiration mainly from the portraits of Kate Revill due to her naturalistic style combined with a nonnaturalist colour schemes, focusing on two colours such as pink and blue, as well as going further to create rainbow-like colour combinations, to enhance the shadows and highlights of the curves of the face and skin. My objective was therefore to create a contrast between a naturalistic portrait whilst using a non-naturalistic colour schemes. The media used was water colour, blending the same pallet onto the background to bring the whole piece together. If I was to create this art work again, however, I would stick with doing the background in only one colour, to ensure the focus is fully on the portrait. To elevate this further I decided to edit a picture of the original piece adding the effect of opposite colour schemes to contrast the original (I wasn’t able to display this however due to only one attachment being allowed).

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I wanted to capture the contrast of human and alien features inside outerspace, and display these symbolically. I tried to include harsh and sharp points for the face of the “alien” , a worked over more rugged feel for their face. In contrast for the human I made their facial structure much more soft and had the colour and features more simplified. I did this to show the safeness in the human and how they are familiar to us , wheareas the alien is more unpredictable and we don’t know what their intentions could be.