THE TOOLS
MATERIALS:
- Primary color acrylic paint + Black and White (I love this brand, it is so easy to squeeze out and no wasting paint ever!) You can also use gouache or tempera depending on the age of the kiddo
- Cardstock/Bristol or canvas panel (I like the 9×12 cardstock or Bristol board for this project)
- Parchment Paper/Wax paper or paint palette,
- watercup
- Paintbrushes, I like a few different sizes to play with
- Pencil + Eraser
NOT PICTURED:
- an old rag or paper towel (to wipe your brush)
- Gold Paint Pen (optional)
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THEME: Color Mixing: Tints, Tones, Shades (for a fun intro into color mixing 101 project click here)
ART LINGO: Color Theory + Organic Shapes + Tints, Tones, Shades
APPROX TIME: 30-45MIN
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
COLOR!!!! I’m obsessed with Color Creation and organic shape doodles, I love the magic that happens when you mix colors together to create a color you didn’t have before and I love exploring shapes that dance and move on the page with no real rules to follow! I’ve combined both of these ideas into a sweet little art project anyone can do at almost any age! (even my 2 year old loves to experiment with color mixing, thou most of it turns to a beautiful rich ‘mud’ in the end) 🙂
This is a fantastic project because it is all about the imagination: Drawing some free flowing shapes inspired by nature and using just 5 colors to see how many new colors we can create (31 new colors is what we are creating today)! Once finished I love to ask my kiddos: Can you give each color it’s own unique name? it’s own feeling ? The possibilities are endless! It also teaches our budding color theorist all about color mixing, tints, tones & shades…WOO HOO!
You ready?? Go get your materials and Let’s jump in!
STEPS
Step 1:
Grab your parchment paper and put a nice dollop (A little bigger then the size of a quarter) of each of your primary colors: Red, Yellow, Blue + Black and White (See photo 1)
Moving onto our paper, grab your pencil and draw a small circle in the middle of your page, now give that circle 12 long ‘stick arms’ spaced evenly (not perfect) but evenly enough around your circle (think of a clock how it has 12 numbers that go around the entire circle. (see photo 2). You want to make sure you don’t go off the page and leave some room for your organic shape drawing. Once you have your 12 ‘arms’ go ahead and draw 12 fun shapes at least as big as a quarter at the end of each arm (see photo 2). I was inspired by the natural shapes of river stones and agate gems so that is where my shapes come from, I encourage you to have fun and create your own too!
Using your pencil, press lightly and number your shapes 1-12, this will help you when we get to the color mixing part. Go ahead and write each color we will be creating next to the following numbers (See Photo 2)
1: Red, 2: Red-Orange, 3: Orange, 4: Orange-Yellow, 5: Yellow, 6: Yellow-Green, 7: Green, 8: Green-Blue, 9:Blue, 10:Blue-Purple, 11: Purple, 12: Purple-Red (I like to have my kiddos write these out before we start, once we get to color mixing it can be tricky to remember what goes where).
Now here comes a slightly tricky part, you will want to put two additional smaller shapes on each ‘arm’ of your color wheel for your tints and shades (see photo 2). I like to do these shapes slightly smaller then my first organic shape so I have the room, and I make sure they are nicely spaced and not too close together.
Step 2:
Now it’s time for the fun to begin! I pre make all my colors in one go so I have them all ready to paint!
Begin making your secondary colors below your primary colors (see photo 3)
If you are all…”WAIT…..what is that you are saying?????” check out our intro to color project here for a fun color wheel/ color mixing / Puzzle making lesson.
Once you have your Primary colors + Secondary colors it’s time to make our Tertiary colors (A color made by mixing a primary color + a secondary color together). To do so let’s start with Red: Take a dollop of red paint and mix some of your orange to create your red-orange tertiary color. Now take some of your orange and add yellow to it to make your orange-yellow tertiary color. Continue doing this till you have all your 12 colors for your color wheel. When you are ready begin filling in each color on your color wheel with your new colors you just created (see photo 2 & 4)!
PRO TIP: Make sure you make a nice amount of your secondary and tertiary colors so you have enough color to split between your tints and shades in the next step. It’s perfectly okay if you have to remake a color, see if you can match it up to your original hue but if not don’t worry, remember it’s all about having fun and creating new colors!!!
Step 3:
Now that you have your 12 beautiful colors for your color wheel it’s time to make our tints (adding white) and our shade (adding black). I like to start with my primary colors here (see photo 5). Take a dollop of red and mix in a bit of white to create a red tint (see photo 6) Paint your new red tint in the shape right below your large red shape (see photo5). Do the same thing for your yellow and blue before moving on to your secondary and tertiary colors!
Step 4:
Next up is making our shades. Follow the same steps as you did when adding white but now add just a tiny amount of black to your Red paint to create a darker red tone. (See photo 6) Paint your new shade in the third small shape on your color wheel below the tint color (See photo 5). Continue with the rest of your primary, secondary and tertiary colors until your color wheel is completed! (See photo 6)
Step 5:
Once you have all your colors layered in go ahead and add the finishing details by painting the arms of your color wheel, I used a super fun gold paint pen (See photo 7), I love the POSCA brand but you can also use a colored marker or create a new color using the paint already on your pallete.
Sometimes I let my colors dry before doing this step but if you don’t have the time don’t worry!
Step 6:
Before you wrap up look at your parchment pallet, isn’t it beautiful?!!! How many colors did you make? (See photo 8) Can you give each one a fun name? Wouldn’t that be the best job ever to name colors all day?!!!!!
Until next time, keep on creating friends!!!
xx Mrs. K!
