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!

EXPLORE ART projects: Robert Delaunay Collages

Children's art collage project inspired by Robert Delaunay. Focusing on circles, primary and secondary colors.

Robert Delaunay  was an abstract artist that used orphism, a form of abstraction and cubism.  He focused on circular shapes and qualities of light,  using bold colors in his work. 

Ask your child what they think of his work? What kind of colors do they see? What shapes?  
To have your young child understand how he represented light in his paintings make the analogy when light comes through a window.  On a bright, sunny day light might shine threw your window reflecting different colors just as Delaunay did in his paintings.

Today's art project collage will focus on circles and how primary colors (red, blue, yellow) make secondary colors.  Red and blue make purple, red and yellow make orange and blue and yellow make green.  Using Delaunay's work as inspiration talk to your child about how he represented color and light in his images by using different colors and sizes of circles. 

Materials:

• Tissue Paper (red, blue, yellow)
• Contact Paper
• Scissors
• Circular shapes to trace and stamp with
• Glue Stick
• Paint (red, blue, yellow)

-First layer your tissue paper together and trace several different size circles.  Holding the pieces of tissue paper to together cut out your circles.  This will save you a little bit of time from tracing and cutting out circles on each sheet of tissue paper.
- Next roll out and cut a piece of contact paper.  Then fold it in half and cut it again.  This will give you a front and back that are the same size without having to measure.  Set one piece aside for later and with the one you are going to use peel the paper off.  Leaving the only the clear sheet lay it on the table sticky side up.

-Gather all your tissue paper cut out circles in a pile or a plate and have your child begin to lay them on the sticky contact paper.  I had to remind Cy the paper was sticky so not to get his arm stuck on it.  After they have experimented and stuck several circles down encourage them to start layering their circles.  They can use the glue stick to glue circles on top of other circles.
Talk about Delaunay's work and how they saw different size and colored circles and how he arranged them in his picture.  Ask your child to explain how they are arranging their picture.

-One of the key lessons of this project is to illustrate how primary colors make secondary colors.  Have your child try and few different colored circles on top of each other and then hold up your paper to the light.  The will be able to see how layering the blue and yellow make green, blue and red make purple and yellow and red make orange.  This project focuses on the process of making art and gets your child thinking in the act how they are making these colors. 

-Once they have finished putting on their circles you can peel off the paper of the second piece of contact paper, that you had put to the side, and lay it over the finished picture.  Tip for working with contact paper start at one corner and slowly lay down the sheet smoothing your hand over it as you go.  This will help to not create any bubbles or bumps. 

-A second option we did with our next picture was to add paint to the tissue paper circles collage.  We stuck with the primary colors and used cardboard circles to stamp onto the contact paper sheet. You could also let your child paint over the tissue paper circles with a paint brush using the primary colors.  Remember to stop along the way to see what colors you are making by mixing your primaries together.  

Art with children is all about the process.  Let them explore art materials and express themselves.