Color Studies for Kids By C.L. Swanner 2011 C.L. Swanner All rights reserved.
Special Thanks To: God, who designed me with a great love for His creation and gave me the ability to explore His creation through art, My wonderful family and friends who always love and support me, My dear friend and editor, Wendi Jackson, My very first art class at FCTH Co-Op Thank you for encouraging and inspiring me to do this! Permission is granted to the purchaser to reproduce this book for noncommercial, individual or classroom use only. Permission is not granted for school-wide system reproduction of materials. This study was designed for children age 8 and up; however, certain parts could easily be adapted for younger children. Color Studies for Kids 2011 C.L. Swanner, all rights reserved. http://theswansnest.wordpress.com/
Table of Contents Recommended Supplies......p.4 Part 1: The Science of Color....p. 5 The Visible Light Spectrum..p. 6 Additive Primaries and How We See Color..p. 7 Subtractive Primaries and Pigments...p. 8 Part 2: Color Theory...p. 9 The Color Wheel...p. 12 Analogous Color Mixing..p. 13 Complementary Color Mixing and Tones..p. 14 Value Studies...p. 15 My Crazy Pattern.p. 16 Color Mixing with Pencils, Markers, and Crayons....p. 17 Color Resources on the Web..p. 18
Recommended Supplies Part 1: The Science of Color Prism or clear glass of water Plain white paper Sunlight or a full spectrum flashlight Flashlights with red, green, and blue filters or colored cellophane Crayons, colored pencils, or markers Part 2: Color Theory Paint (tempera or acrylic) or play dough (red, blue, yellow, black, and white) Plastic paint palettes (Styrofoam plates or freezer paper will work) and plastic palette knives (wooden craft sticks will work) Paint brushes and brush cleaner (dish washing liquid will work) Aprons/smocks Plastic cups for water Paper towels Heavy cardstock if painting Multi-colored construction paper Magazines to clip Examples of warm and cool color schemes in art and/or home décor Crayons, colored pencils, or markers Plain white paper for drawing, etc.
Part 1: The Science of Color Let s start with a look at where color comes from and how we are able to perceive it. God actually created color on the very first day of creation, because that is when He created light (see Genesis 1:3-5). All of the colors we can see come from the visible light spectrum. Without light, there would be no colors for us to enjoy. Our perception of color is a beautiful and complex process, as you will see. God could have made everything black and white, but He didn t. He gave us beautiful colors to enjoy, and aren t you glad He did? God clearly put a lot of thought into His amazing creation! Go over the worksheets on the following pages with your students, and have the students fill in the colors as labeled using crayons, colored pencils, or markers. There is no actual mixing done on the worksheets in this first section, since we will primarily be dealing with the colors of light. Colored light mixes differently than the pigments used to put color on paper. We will do actual color mixing with pigments in Part 2. For more information: NASA has a great website loaded with information and visuals on this subject at http://missionscience.nasa.gov/ems/01_intro.html. Pay special attention to the links for Wave Behaviors and Visible Light in the right hand column. I have included links for this and other helpful resources on color at the back of this book if you need more information. Ideas for further exploration: Use a prism or glass of water to make a rainbow for the kids to look at. You ll need sunlight or a full spectrum flashlight (sunlight works much better than a flashlight) and a piece of white paper in addition to the prism. Hold the prism between the light source and the white paper so that the light is refracted onto the paper. Just play around with the angle until you get a good rainbow reflected on the paper. Have the kids paint or draw their own picture featuring a rainbow with colors in the correct order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Let the kids experiment with mixing additive primaries using 3 flashlights with red, green, and blue filters. If you don t want to invest in actual colored filters, you can use colored cellophane or clear cellophane colored with markers. Place a different filter on each flashlight, and shine the flashlights onto a white wall in a dark room. To mix the colors, shine any two of the flashlights on the same spot. What happens when you shine all 3 flashlights on the same spot?
The Visible Light Spectrum Light travels in waves. Different colors of light have different wavelengths. A wavelength is the distance between the tops (crests) of the waves. Wavelengths are measured in nanometers (nm). A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter VERY SMALL! Wavelength White Light Longer Wavelengths (Radio Waves, Microwaves, Infrared radiation invisible to human eyes) Red (700nm) Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet (380 nm) Shorter Wavelengths (Ultra Violet, X-Ray, Gamma Rays invisible to human eyes) White light is actually made up of 7 different colors that we can see. When white light passes through a prism or water particles, the colors in it are bent (refracted). Colors with shorter wavelengths (like violet) bend more than those with longer wavelengths (like red). This causes the colors to separate, and we see a rainbow. This process is called dispersion. After the flood, God used the first rain clouds to produce this phenomenon as a symbol of His promise to never again destroy the whole earth with a flood. (see Gen 9:13-16)
Additive Primaries (Light) These are the colors used by computers, TVs, and your eyes. Blue Cyan Magenta White Green Yellow Red White light contains all 7 colors of visible light. The more colors of light you add to a mixture, the closer you get to white light. That s why mixing colors of light is called additive mixing. 1. White light, containing all of the colors of visible light, hits the green ball. How We See Color Light Source 3. Special color sensors in our eyes, called cones, detect the reflected green light, and we see green. Green Ball 2. The green pigments on the ball reflect only green light rays and absorb all of the other colors of light. God has designed us with 3 types of cones, sensitive to red, green, or blue light. These cones work together to mix colors for us in our eyes! What a thoughtful and creative God we have!
Subtractive Primaries and Pigments All colored objects contain pigments. Pigments work by reflecting certain colors of light and absorbing the rest. When you mix pigments together, you reduce the amount of light that is reflected. Basically, you are subtracting light. That s why mixing colors with pigments is called subtractive mixing. (Note: If you are feeling adventurous, you can try actually mixing the colors below on your paper using colored pencils or markers. Simply color each large circle LIGHTLY with the appropriate primary color and notice what happens in the areas where they overlap. However, mixing with pencils and markers can be unpredictable, so I recommend just coloring in each section with the appropriate color as labeled.) Blue Cyan Red Purple Black Orange Green Painter s Primaries Yellow These are the colors we generally use in art class. Magenta Blue Black Red Green Printer s Primaries Yellow These are the ink colors a color printer uses. You can frequently find these colors listed on packages of printer paper as well. White objects contain no pigments, so they reflect all of the colors of light that hit them equally, and we see white. Light Light White Black objects are highly pigmented, so they absorb all of the colors of light that hit them. Very little light is reflected, and we see black.
Part 2: Color Theory You may want to let the kids mix their own colors with paint for the next few worksheets. You will need red, blue, yellow, black, and white. If you do use paint, I recommend printing the worksheets on heavy cardstock and using bottled paint that can be measured out drop by drop. If you don t want to use paint, you could have the kids mix the colors using play dough, and then use colored pencils, crayons, or markers to color in the work sheets. The directions below are for using paint. Color Wheel Worksheet: Begin by having the kids fill in the triangles for the 3 primary colors: Red, Blue, and Yellow Next, have the kids mix the secondary colors on their palettes (Styrofoam plates or freezer paper will do). Red + Blue = Purple. Blue + Yellow = Green. Yellow + Red = Orange. Be sure to use equal amounts of each color. Use these mixtures to fill in the squares for the 3 secondary colors. Now, have the kids mix the tertiary colors on their palettes and color in the 6 circles. Red + Purple = Red Purple. Purple + Blue = Blue Purple. Blue + Green = Blue Green. Green + Yellow = Yellow Green. Yellow + Orange = Yellow Orange. Orange + Red = Red Orange. (If you prefer, you could work through the Analogous Color Mixing worksheet before doing this step.) Point out that all of the colors on the color wheel are called hues. Discuss Analogous and Complementary Colors. I recommend that you have examples of each, made out of construction paper, so that the kids can see the difference in contrast. It is also fun to have them try the afterimage trick, mentioned below. o Analogous colors are next to each other on the color wheel and do not have much contrast when put together (ie. Red and Orange). o Complementary colors are across from each other on the color wheel and have very high contrast when put together (ie. Red and Green). In fact, they are
complete opposites, and produce so much contrast when put together that the edges often appear vibrant (seem to pulsate with energy and are hard to look at). Because they are opposites, if you stare at them long enough and then quickly look away to a white wall, you will see an afterimage in which the colors are reversed. This temporary phenomenon is caused by over-stimulation of the cone cells in your eyes. o Split Complementary colors are one color off from being across from each other on the color wheel (ie. Red and Blue or Red and Yellow). Discuss Warm vs. Cool colors. You may want to find some examples of art or home décor with warm and cool color schemes to show the kids. Analogous Color Mixing Worksheet: Discuss what happens as you mix two analogous hues together in each row. (Note: For this worksheet, I am only using primary and secondary analogous hues. ALL of the colors mixed by combining primary and secondary analogous hues in various amounts are tertiary hues.) Discuss warming colors up and cooling colors down. Complementary Color Mixing Worksheet: Discuss what happens as you mix two complementary colors in each column. Discuss and mix tones. The kids can pick any hue they want from the color wheel to mix gray with for this exercise. Discuss what it means for a color to be neutral, and how one might make a neutral color
warmer or cooler. Value Study Worksheet: As you mix, discuss color value, tints, shades, contrast, and gradation. The kids can pick any hue they want from the color wheel to mix black and white with for this exercise. The final two worksheets are just for fun, and have instructions printed on them. Ideas for further exploration: Have the kids design their own flags using analogous or complementary colors of construction paper. Once finished, see what sorts of afterimages are produced by staring at each flag and then looking quickly away at a white wall. Have the kids all paint a similar picture (ie. the sky with a silhouette of a tree, house, or mountain), but have half of the class use only warm colors and the other half use only cool colors. Once finished, compare the results. Have the kids make warm and cool collages using construction paper or magazine clippings. Let the kids practice using gradation (shading) to turn a circle into a sphere with an imaginary light source shining in from the upper left corner. Then have them add a shadow just below and to the right of the sphere. Start with a circle. Add shading and a shadow.
Red Orange Red Red Purple Orange Purple Yellow Orange Color Wheel Blue Purple Yellow Yellow Green Green Blue Green Blue All of the colors on the Color Wheel are hues. (Note: Black, White, Gray, and Brown are not on the color wheel and are not hues.) The primary hues are: Red, Blue, and Yellow. The secondary hues are each made by mixing together two primary hues. They are: Orange, Green, and Purple. The tertiary hues are each made my mixing together one primary hue and one analogous secondary hue. They are: Red-Orange, Yellow-Orange, Yellow-Green, Blue- Green, Blue-Purple, and Red-Purple. Analogous hues are next to each other on the color wheel. Complementary hues are across from each other on the color wheel. Red, orange, and yellow are warm hues. Blue, green, and purple are cool hues.
Analogous Color Mixing (Tip: When mixing colors, it is usually best to add the darker color to the lighter color) 4partsOrange 3Orange+ 1Red 2Orange+ 2Red 1Orange+ 3Red 4partsRed 4partsYellow 3Yellow+ 1Orange 2Yellow+ 2Orange 1Yellow+ 3Orange 4partsOrange 4partsYellow 4partsGreen 3Yellow+ 1Green 3Green+ 1Blue 2Yellow+ 2Green 2Green+ 2Blue 1Yellow+ 3Green 1Green+ 3Blue 4partsGreen 4partsBlue 4partsPurple 3Purple+ 1Blue 2Purple+ 2Blue 1Purple+ 3Blue 4partsBlue 4partsRed 3Red+ 1Purple 2Red+ 2Purple 1Red+ 3Purple 4partsPurple Mixing all three primary colors (or 1 primary and 1 secondary color) together makes a tertiary color. All of the colors above fit on the color wheel. Each color on the color wheel is a hue. Adding more red, orange, or yellow warms a color up. Adding more blue, green, or purple cools a color down.