Color
THE VISUAL ELEMENT OF COLOR
YOU WILL NEED TO PRINT THESE CLUES AND QUESTIONS BEFORE YOU ARRIVE AT SITE #5. THESE CLUES WILL HELP YOU TO UNDERSTAND THE PAINTING THAT YOU WILL BE LOOKING AT WHEN YOU ARRIVE AT THE FAMOUS MUSEUM.
The second clue is very important
to the discovery of meaning in art
works. Without color a painting
would lose much of its expressive
qualities.
Warm Colors are those colors which
are warm in nature. There are
red, yellow, and orange. Warm
colors advance toward the viewer. So,
for instance, you notice packaging
on products that use warm colors
first in the grocery store, before
you notice packaging using cool
colors.
Cool colors recede into the background
and are those colors which
are cool in nature. Blue,
Violet, and Green are cool colors.
Colors which are analogous "side-by-side"
on the colorwheel create
a feeling of harmony and easiness
in a composition. Colors which
are complementary "opposite on the
color wheel" create a feeling
of tension and uneasiness in an
artwork. They also create a feeling
of excitement and energy.
Look at the painting of the week
and circle the colors that you find
there.
Do you find primary colors?
Red, Yellow, and Blue
Analogous colors? Colors that
are placed next to each other on the
color wheel?
Complementary Colors? Colors
that are opposite on the color wheel?
Warm Colors? Red, Yellow,
and Orange
Cool Colors? Green, Blue,
and Violet
Try These Fun Color Exercises
Materials Needed:
red, yellow, and blue tempera or
acrylic paint
white construction paper
disposable palette
a paintbrush
Mix equal amounts of red + yellow.
What is the color that you see?
It should be orange (a secondary color)
A secondary color is achieved by
mixing equal amounts of primary colors.
Now try mixing equal amounts of
red + blue. What is the color that you
see? It should be violet.
Next mix blue + yellow. You
should see green. Try It. It's fun.
Now try an exercise that will help
you to understand complementary colors.
you will need the following materials.
Materials Needed:
red paint
2 pieces of white paper
paintbrush
Paint a large bright red circle on
a piece of white paper. Stare
hard at the red circle for
about l5 seconds. Now look at the plain
piece of white paper. You
should see green, the complement of red.
You can try this with other colors
on the color wheel. The brighter
the intensity of the color the better.
Go
to Clue #3 & 4 by clicking on the Here