Explore Art Projects: Complementary Hand Prints/ Thankful Tree

Today's post is Part II of Complementary Colors.  Make sure and read Part I for a brief overview of the color wheel and complementary colors.

Complementary Handprints

For an art project to incorporate complementary colors I had Cy make handprints.  We used four different colors of paper, red, blue, green and purple.  If I did this project again I'd use only the 3 primary colors for paper.

I explained to Cy what complementary colors were, the colors opposite of each other on the color wheel, while we looked at a color wheel.  I picked a color and asked him to find the opposite color or complementary color on the color wheel.  Then we moved on to the paper.  I got out the paint we were going to use and laid out all the pieces of paper.  


Cy then had to find the complementary color in paint for each piece of paper.  He lined them up getting ready to make our hand prints.

I actually painted Cy's hand with a wide brush to then let him print it on the paper.  Only in part because his washable paints were running too low to pour out on a plate and let him smoosh his hands in.  Similar to finger painting this is a great hands on art experience!

He got a few hand prints on each piece of paper and we set them aside to dry.

Thankful Tree

I wanted to do something with these complementary hand prints to extend the lesson and fun.  What better than a Thankful Tree with the handprints as the leaves.  (now my husband might disagree because the tree landed roots in our living room)

Taking a roll of the brown packaging paper I unrolled enough to trace Cy's body laying down.  He was the actual tree.  He laid down and extended his arms up just like branches. (that is the dog in the corner wondering what in the world are we doing)

I traced him and then went back in for some tree bark details, running lines throughout the tree.  And cut it out.  Cy picked a corner of the living room and up went the tree with a little tape.

With the tree up we went back to the complementary hand prints, cutting each one out to then be our leaves.  I took 5 of them and wrote out a letter of Cyrus's name so he could then arrange them in order.
 
I rolled tape on the back of the hand prints and Cy got to put them up.

We also added a few more paper shapes for leaves to write down things we are thankful for.  Cy came up with toys, nice things, teachers, helping mommy, crayons, and family. Gotta love it!

Working art concepts into your child's art making can be as simple as painted hand prints, matching crayons or just a discussion about colors and their relationships as they are working.  Get Hands on Art, develop an appreciation for art, your little artist and quality time spent with the two.

Enjoy! Next week Hands on Art goes Pop. With turkey hand prints inspired by Andy Warhol see you Wednesday.

Explore Art Projects: Complementary Color Lesson

Part I:
Mini Color Theory Lesson, Complementary Colors

Color theory is a combination of terms, definitions and concepts that explain color.  The goal is to create a logical structure for color.  One concept is the color wheel, invented by Sir Isaac Newton, is a logically arranged sequence of colors.

colors4life.com

Definitions within the color wheel are:

• primary colors: red, blue, yellow
• secondary colors which are the combination of 2 primary colors: red + blue = purple, blue + yellow = green, yellow + red = orange
• tertiary colors are the combination of a primary and secondary color

You can introduce color concepts to young children first starting with the basics, naming their colors.  Once they can name and recognize colors introduce the color wheel.  Show your child the 3 primary colors and work  on naming them while they are making art.  Next introduce secondary colors and how 2 primary colors are mixed together to make each secondary color.

Build upon this for awhile and incorporate it into art making.  When working on a project ask your child to name the colors they are coloring or painting with.  See if they can remember their primary colors.  If they are using a secondary color can they tell you what 2 primary colors made it?  This is something to continually work with and incorporate into art making until they can show a solid understanding.  

Cy has been working on art projects with me for over a year, combined with a lot of time spent coloring (his favorite thing to do).  He can name his colors and tell you primary colors and how to make secondary colors.  So for our latest Hands On Art project I introduced a new concept Complementary Colors.

Complementary colors are colors that are opposite of one another on the color wheel.  Yellow and Purple, Blue and Orange, Red and Green  Show your child a picture of a color wheel, pick a color and ask them to find the one located on the opposite side of the color wheel.  

If your working with older children or just for some more information for the adults: the complementary color of a primary color is the color you get by mixing the other two primary colors together, the complementary color of a secondary color is the primary color that wasn't mixed to get the secondary color. 

For younger children under 5 or if you're just starting out with this concept keep it simple with them naming the opposite color on the color wheel.  Incorporate it into conversation while they are making art and work on a few projects that focus on complementary colors and they'll get it in no time.

Make sure and see our Hands on Art: Thankful Tree (featuring complementary hand prints) for a project idea!