• 60 ideas
  • Checked October 2026

Opposite Drawing Ideas

Three pairs of opposites per press, each with where the dividing line goes.

Opposite Drawing Ideas

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  1. Whale passing under a rowboatThe waterline crosses high on the page. The boat sits on it, and the whale takes all the space below.
  2. Tiny door in the roots of a huge treeMake the trunk wider than the page. Put the door low among the roots, with one acorn beside it for scale.
  3. Storm cloud and clear skyLightning and rain in the dark half, a kite in the light half. One patch of blue in the storm, one cloud in the clear.

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Split down the middle 12

  • Campfire that freezes into icicles halfway across Divide the page corner to corner. Warm orange shapes above the line, the same shapes in cold blue below.
  • City and countryside meeting at one road The road runs up the middle of the page. Towers and traffic on one side, fields and one barn on the other.
  • Cozy room and a storm on either side of one wall A wall drawn in cross-section is the divider. Lamp and armchair on one side, wind and rain on the other.
  • Dog that is dry on one side and soaked on the other Split the dog nose to tail. Round and fluffy on one side; flat, dripping and half the width on the other.
  • Duck that is calm above the water and busy below The waterline is the dividing line. Above it the duck glides; below it the feet churn in a blur.
  • Hot drink and cold drink sharing one glass Split the glass top to bottom: steam and a tea bag on one side, ice cubes and a straw on the other.
  • Loud half and quiet half of one room Split the room down the middle: a drum kit and jagged sound lines on one side, one open book on the other.
  • One door drawn shut and open at once The hinge sits on the center line. The left half is shut and bolted; the right swings open on a bright hall.
  • One window with noon in one pane and midnight in the other The center bar of the frame is the dividing line. Same view in both panes; only sky and lights change.
  • Park bench with blossom at one end and snow at the other The line runs through the middle slat. Petals and green grass on one side, a bare branch and drifts on the other.
  • Sneaker that is clean on one half and muddy on the other The line runs heel to toe along the laces. One side is fresh white, the other caked and frayed.
  • Umbrella with rain on one side and sun on the other Split at the umbrella's pole. Slanting rain and gray on the left, hard shadows and yellow on the right.

Two halves in one circle 12

  • Cat and dog asleep in one round bed Curl each animal into a teardrop, nose to tail, along the S-curve. Dark fur on one, pale fur on the other.
  • City half and forest half Rooftops crowd one teardrop and treetops the other. One tree on a roof and one cabin in the woods are the dots.
  • Coffee and milk swirling in a cup from above The rim of the cup is the circle. Dark and pale meet in an S, and one drop of each lands in the other.
  • Desert and rainforest in the two halves Dunes and a cactus in the pale half, vines and rain in the dark. One cactus in the forest, one palm on the sand.
  • Fire and water curled together Flames fill one teardrop and a wave fills the other. Put one spark in the water and one drop in the fire.
  • Land and sea meeting along an S Hills in one half, waves in the other. Draw a tiny island in the sea and a tiny pond on the land.
  • Owl and songbird, night and morning The owl curls into the dark half and the songbird into the light. The eye of each bird marks the dot.
  • Pale koi and dark koi as a yin and yang One pale fish and one dark. Each fills a teardrop half of the circle, and each fish's eye is the dot.
  • Pencil and eraser chasing each other The pencil's half is filled with scribble, the eraser's half is rubbed clean. Each one's tip follows the other's end.
  • The plain yin and yang symbol, built with a compass In a big circle draw two circles half as wide, one above the other. Keep the S they make and erase the rest.
  • Storm cloud and clear sky Lightning and rain in the dark half, a kite in the light half. One patch of blue in the storm, one cloud in the clear.
  • Yin and yang of a sun and a moon An S-curve splits the circle. Sun in the pale half, crescent in the dark half, and a small star in each as the dots.

Big and small 12

  • Ant climbing the lace of a giant sneaker Crop the shoe so only the toe fits on the page. The ant, drawn whole, is what gives the scale away.
  • Draft horse and a pony at one water trough They meet at the trough on the center line. The big horse bends its whole neck down; the pony stretches up.
  • Elephant and a mouse under one umbrella The umbrella pole is the dividing line. Let the elephant fill its side edge to edge so the mouse can be tiny.
  • Giraffe and a tortoise at the same fence A fence runs across the middle of the page. The giraffe looks over it; the tortoise looks under it.
  • Hand holding a planet the size of a pea Draw your own hand life-size. Between finger and thumb sits a globe with its own clouds and seas.
  • The moon and a marble drawn the same size Two equal circles with a line between them. Craters on one, a glass swirl in the other. Label neither.
  • Ocean liner and a paper boat in one harbor The paper boat floats in the foreground and the liner on the horizon, so on the page they are the same length.
  • Skyscraper beside a garden shed One ground line for both. The shed fits under the first row of windows; run the tower off the top edge.
  • Small fish swimming in the shape of one giant fish Many small fish fill the outline of a huge one. The one truly big fish facing them is smaller than their shape.
  • Small thinker with an enormous thought bubble The figure takes one corner. Its thought bubble takes the rest of the page and is packed with drawings.
  • Tiny door in the roots of a huge tree Make the trunk wider than the page. Put the door low among the roots, with one acorn beside it for scale.
  • Whale passing under a rowboat The waterline crosses high on the page. The boat sits on it, and the whale takes all the space below.

Old and new 12

  • Brand-new pencil beside a stub Lay them side by side. One is full length with a flat end; the other a thumb long, chewed, its eraser worn flat.
  • Candle and a light bulb, both lit A line down the center between them. The same glow drawn two ways: a soft flame and hard straight rays.
  • Castle wall with a satellite dish bolted on No dividing line here: put the new thing on the old one. Weathered stone blocks, one smooth white dish.
  • Fossil shell beside a living snail Gray, cracked stone on the left; wet and glossy on the right. Both spirals turn the same way.
  • Grandparent's hand holding a baby's hand The grip is the center of the page. Wrinkles and knuckles on one hand; round, smooth and dimpled on the other.
  • Horse cart and a delivery van on one street The center line of the street divides them, and they face opposite ways. Match the wheels in size.
  • New teddy bear and the same bear years later Side by side at the dividing line, in the same pose. One has bright fur; the other has patches and a loose eye.
  • Quill pen crossed over a tablet stylus They cross at the center of the page. Feather barbs and ink drops on one; a clean straight barrel on the other.
  • Sailing ship and a container ship on one horizon The horizon splits sky from sea, and the two ships sit at either end of it: sails against stacked boxes.
  • The same pose in an old portrait and a selfie Two frames with a line between. A stiff pose in an oval mount; beside it a tilted grin at arm's length.
  • Sapling in a pot beside an ancient oak One ground line for both. The sapling has five leaves; the oak's trunk alone is wider than the pot.
  • Telephone with a dial beside a flat phone Split the desk. A curled cord and finger holes on the left; one flat dark rectangle on the right.

Feelings 12

  • Bored and excited at the same school desk Split the desk in two. A head slumped on one hand at the left; at the right, both arms up and the chair tipping.
  • Brave on the diving board, scared in the reflection The board is the dividing line. The figure above stands tall; the reflection in the pool below hugs its knees.
  • Calm and storm in one face The line runs down the nose. One half has a level brow and still hair; the other has rain, wind and a set jaw.
  • Cheerful cactus and grumpy cactus The two pots touch at the center line. One cactus is in flower and leans in; the other folds its arms and leans away.
  • Hot-headed kettle face and cool ice-cube face Two heads face each other across the line, steam from one and frost on the other. Give both the same eyes.
  • Laughing mask and crying mask overlapped They overlap at the center of the page. Every curve that turns up on one turns down on the other.
  • Lonely bench and crowded bench A line across the middle of the page. Above it, one person at the far end of the bench; below, the same bench full.
  • Messy mind and tidy mind in one head Divide the head ear to ear. Tangled yarn spills from one half; folded squares are stacked in the other.
  • One word written nervous and written confident Rule a line across the page. Write the word small and shaky above it, then huge and steady below.
  • Proud with a trophy, embarrassed with one Two figures stand back to back on the center line. One holds the cup high; the other hides it, shoulders up.
  • Shy tortoise beside a bold rooster A center line stands between them. One animal is all closed curves; the other is all spikes and spread feathers.
  • Sleepy cat at noon, wide-awake cat at midnight A wall clock on the center line splits the scene: a puddle of cat at left, huge pupils and an arched back at right.

How it works

An opposites drawing puts two unlike things in one picture and lets the contrast do the talking: a candle beside a light bulb, a whale under a rowboat, calm and storm in one face. There are 60 pairs here.

Read the full guide

Yin yang drawing ideas: two halves in one circle

Yin and yang come from ancient Chinese philosophy: two forces that are opposite but complementary. The symbol is a circle split by an S-curve into a dark half and a light half, each holding a dot of the other. Twelve ideas borrow that layout for fire and water, a city and a forest, an owl and a songbird.

Straight split, waterline or no line

A straight split suits things that share a shape: one window, one glass, one face. A waterline or a fence divides top from bottom. Big and small often needs no line, only two things on the same ground.

  • Keep everything the same on both sides except the one thing that is opposite.
  • Give each side its own palette, warm against cool or light against dark, so the split reads from across the room.

Questions and answers

What are easy opposites to draw?

Pairs that share one outline, such as Hot drink and cold drink sharing one glass or Sneaker that is clean on one half and muddy on the other. Draw the shared shape once, then change only what is opposite.

How do you draw the yin and yang symbol?

Draw a circle. Inside it, one above the other, draw two smaller circles, each half as wide as the big one. Keep the S-shaped line they form and erase the rest. Fill one half dark and add a dot of the other tone to each.

What opposites can I draw about feelings?

Feelings holds 12, each two moods in one picture: Calm and storm in one face, Lonely bench and crowded bench, One word written nervous and written confident. Use the same subject twice so only the mood changes.

How is this different from a metamorphosis drawing?

Metamorphosis drawing ideas show one thing turning into another in steps. Here nothing changes: two unlike things sit side by side, and the line between them is part of the picture.

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