Mixing Colors with Little Artists

Show students how mixing colors can be so much more fun than just painting a color wheel. I opted to split my primary mixing lessons into three separate classes, and this one was perfect for making orange. The idea is that the middle bird shows what happens when you mix the outer two colors together. Art Teacher’s Tip: Rolls of masking tape make the best templates for drawing circles. They are easy to hold, don’t slip on the paper, and make perfect circles when you run your pencil around the inside.

MATERIALS
• Drawing paper, 12″ x 18″, cut to 6″ x 18″
• Masking tape rolls
• Crayons
• Black Sharpie, fine tip
• Tempera paint

DIRECTIONS
1. Give students wide sheet of paper as shown. They trace a circle in the center, then one on the left and one on the right. Beaks, eyes, wings, feet and tail are added as shown. Lots of variations are possible, and are encouraged for students to try out. Birds can look left or right, up or down.

2. Students use a black Sharpie to trace their birds. The beaks and grass are colored with a crayon.

3. A plate with a tiny bit of yellow tempera is passed out and one outside bird is painted.

4. Students wipe the brush clean, and get a squirt of red on the same container. The remaining outer bird is painted red.

5. Students take a brush full of red paint, and mix it with all the yellow to make orange. The middle bird is filled in. It takes very little red added to yellow to make orange, so it helps to pay attention to the ratio that students are given. Equal amounts of yellow and red will most often just look red.

Save

The post Mixing Colors with Little Artists appeared first on Art Projects for Kids.

View original