Helix Charter High School20002001200220032004captured Jan 11, 2004

Color Wheel

 
A color wheel is an artist color mixing guide. This assignment helps students to understand and apply mixing paint techniques and teaches color terminology.

My Materials

1. Color Wheel sheet - see example

 

See mat examples provided

2. A small 6 well pallette, and a larger mixing pallette.

3. A water container and a paper towel.

4. Paint brush.

5. Tempera paint, 6 colors - Red, Yellow, Two Blues, Dark Blue and Turquoise (Primaries), and two neutrals Black and White.

Black
Red
Turquoise
White
Dark Blue
Yellow

 

Process

1. You will be mixing paint to create a color wheel (with a key color ring, a tint ring, a tone ring, and a shade ring), a color value scale, and an intensity scale. See example for placement. A color wheel is a mixing guide so the colors are arranged in a specific order.

The primary colors are red, yellow and blue, they are set equidistant from each other and they make all of the colors on the color wheel.

The secondary colors are orange, green and violet. They are created when two primaries are mixed together. Red and yellow mixed together create orange. Blue and red together make violet. Yellow and blue make green. Each of these secondaries are placed in the center of the two primaries that creates them.

The intermediate colors are created when a primary and an adjacent secondary color is mixed together they consist of Red-violet, red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, and blue-violet. The primary name always is listed first. These colors go inbetween (notice name intermediate) the primary and secondary colors that make them. The names of the colors are the hues used to mix these six intermediates.

2. You will begin by the color wheel with the primary colors (red, yellow, and blue). A primary color is a color that can not be mixed, it is a color that is used to make other colors on the color wheel. With red, blue and yellow, every other color can be made. It is easier to do this wheel in pie slices, by painting first the key color then the tint, then the tone and finally the shade. Start with the red and then paint the key color area for red. To create a tint you must add white to the key color, with red this will make a pink hue. To create a tone you must add white and black to the key color, this will make a grayish pink hue. To create a shade you must add only black to the key color. For red this will make a maroon hue. Repeat these same steps only with yellow.

Color biasing is a color theory that every color has a warm or cool bias to it. Warm colors are generally yellows, oranges and red, whereas cool colors are blues, greens, and violets. However with color biasing this happens with every color. Each color you purchase at the store has a bias. The bias can be warm or cool. For example a lemon yellow is a cool biased yellow where a yellow ochre is a warm biased color. When you mix colors it is important to know the bias. A warm bias and a cool bias mixed together will create a purer color. Two same biased colors mixed together will create a less intense duller more muted color.

The blue color we use is a cool biased color, the turquoise color is a warm biased blue. In order to create a pleasing green we must mix the turquoise blue with the cool biased yellow to create the greens. The violet however needs to cool biased blue with the warm biased red to create the violet. Because of this we mix the two blue colors together to create the blue key color for the wheel. Once this color is made the tint, tone, and shade can be made from it.

3. The secondary colors should be made next. Once again it is smart to continue by doing the pie slices of the key color, tint, tone and shade of the same color. The orange key color should be made with equal parts of yellow and red. Green should be mixed with equal parts of yellow and turquoise. The violet should be created with equal parts red and dark blue. Note that the placements of these colors are directly inbetween the primaries that make them.

4. The intermediates are the next step for the color wheel and will complete the center section of the project. Once again equal parts of the two colors next to these hues will make the desired colors. So for example the red-orange key color is created with equal parts of red and orange. So it is a redder orange color where a

Brush Care

When you take care of your brush it will last longer. There are a few simple things you can do to care for them.

1. Always clean your brush after use. Paint left in the brush can harden and ruin the bristles.

2. Never leave your brush sitting in your water container. The bristles will bend and break.

3. Never store your brushes with bristles down. Always with handle end in the container.

4. Try not to get paint up in the ferrel ( the metal part of the brush that holds the brush). Paint can harden in it and loosen the hairs of the brush.

5. There are brush cleaners that can clean paint out of brushes and soften the bristles.

6. Be careful you know the solevant of the paint you are using. Tempera needs water, acrylic needs water and it is important to clean the brush immediately, once the paint is dry on the brush it is almost impossible to clean. Oil paint needs turpentine or turpenoid to clean the brush.

 

 

Color Wheel Check List

Following Directions -

Are the colors in the correct order, red, red-orange, orange, yellow-orange, yellow, yellow-green, green, blue-green, blue, blue-violet, violet, red-violet?  
Did you use two complementary colors in the intensity scale?  
Are there shapes that overlap?  
Did you break up the background with larger shapes?  
Do you have a shape going off the border on each side of the composition?  
Did you follow the correct project format, with 4 studies, final in color and recreated on large paper then traced onto color construction paper and arranged on final paper?  
Did you follow the rules of composition?  

Craftsmanship

Are the colors in even steps?  
Is the painting neat?  
Are there any glue smudges?  
Do any of the shapes extend off into the border?  
Are any pencil marks showing?  
Are any of the shapes bent?  

Copyright ©2002 by Christine Colera.