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Paint and Learn: Basic Color Theory

Basic Color Therapy | Rochester MN Moms Blog

Mom is about to lose her mind. This could be because mom is tired of the rowdy mess of a house or because mom suspects the kiddos need to do something constructive. So mom pops out her phone and sees a million and three ideas on Pinterest. But alas, she is not Pinterest-prepared this very moment. Her organized drawer files of pom poms, glitter, and glue sticks have mysteriously gone missing. She reckons that she’ll have to forego the Frozen-Inspired Olaf Sculptures and the 27 Awesome Science Experiments from Everyday Kitchen Items. “I’ll have to get bicarb soda at the next grocery stop,” she notes to herself. And she resorts to her available go-to: paints. (After all, crayons would not draw enthusiasm, and most of the markers are dried out.)

So let’s paint! If this mom’s household is anything like mine—hypothetically speaking—painting is fun and often beautiful… until the avid mixing results in muddy brown blobs. How quickly things turn. But you know what? I get it. Mixing colors is fun! And it’s even more fun when children understand and discover a few easy principles.

Enter simple activity: Paint a Color Wheel!

Nothing teaches like doing. We’ll paint circles to make our wheel while chatting over color principles. These can be adjusted to the age of your children.

You’ll need: paints, a large sheet of paper, and plenty of water. (You’ll want to make sure that your brush is clean every time you dab for more paint.) Optional: pencil and something that you could trace to make a large circle, for example: a tin canister

I begin by drawing a circle in pencil. Trace something to be sure your circle is a good visual template to paint around. This can be erased later.
Basic Color Theory | Rochester MN Moms BlogPrimaries

Paint red, yellow, and blue circles at the corners of a triangle on your circle.

Teaching points:

  • Nothing can replace the essential primary colors.
  • No other colors can be blended to make red, yellow, and blue.
  • Conversely, we can make any other color with these three!
  • How do these colors make you feel? Red might make you feel hungry, blue is thought to be calming, and yellow is fun… but babies find it overstimulating!

Basic Color Therapy | Rochester MN Moms Blog

Secondaries

Paint orange, green, and purple between the two colors that make them up. *Mixing the primaries adds to the level of discovery.

Teaching points:

  • Two colors make a completely new one!
  • As colors become more complex (by needing to be mixed) the feelings they ensue become more complex or varied; for instance, a pure yellow looks joyous, but orange can seem just as happy, or it could take on a grab bag of different impressions entirely.


Basic Color Therapy | Rochester MN Moms Blog

Tertiaries

Paint the colors in between by mixing the colors on either side.

Teaching points:

  • These are called “ter-she-air-ees,” meaning third.
  • These colors are named after the colors that make them up, beginning with the primary color—red-orange, yellow-green, blue-violet, etc. But since those are long names, modern names have been created—rust, chartreuse, indigo.
  • These colors are considered to be more soothing to the eye. That’s why you’ll see a teal wall more often than a bright blue one.

Basic Color Therapy | Rochester MN Moms BlogGetting Muddy

For kicks, you can show your kids how to get muddy browns and muted grays. Mix colors that are opposite from each other on the color wheel to show them what happens.

Teaching points:

  • Red and green, yellow and purple, orange and blue… they all make different versions of mucky colors.
  • Many artists like Monet never used black or brown from a tube, but rather mixed them to keep paintings harmonious.
  • Black can be made by mixing lots–or all–of the colors together.
  • Shadows are not often black or gray, but rather the combination of several colors. The color tints in the light affect the color of the shadow

Erase your circle stencil, and show off what you’ve created while learning! Everybody loves color. A pretty color wheel hangs much better than a scribbly brown blob.

Unless your house has a lot of brown, I guess.

Keep painting,

A

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