Crafty Friday: Color Theory Abstracts

Yes, you saw that right. It's a Crafty Friday post! Since I'm teaching an art class on Friday to middle and high schoolers, I have to come up with lesson plans, projects, and samples. And since I have to make samples, I might as well share them on my blog. 

Since I've got a range of ages and skill levels in my class, I wanted to give them a few basic lessons to help prep them for what's to come. Knowing color theory will be quite useful in some of our projects, so we worked on color mixing and theory with this project, which is a little more fun than just making a color wheel.

First, if you're not familiar with color theory, you can check out this lesson here. 

You will need a large square piece of paper [I used 12x12"], with two lines dividing the square in half vertically and horizontally to make four equal quadrants. You will also need a smaller square the size of one of  the quadrants [in this case, 6x6"]. On the smaller square, draw a design consisting of shapes, lines, simple objects. The key is to not over complicate the design because you will be painting each part in different shades of color. Here's what I came up with:

If you need some ideas, here are several design samples:

The next step is to transfer your design into each of the four squares on your larger piece of paper. If you don't have a light box to use, you can do this by taping your small square onto a light filled window, and holding your larger paper over the design so you can trace it onto your piece. Once the whole paper is filled, you're ready to start painting. 

The first square will contain a monochromatic color scheme, which means one color. Pick a single color to work with [I chose blue], and make tints by adding white, or shades by adding black. Paint each of your shapes in a variety of tints and shades.

The next square will be filled with analogous colors [colors that are next to each other on the color wheel]. I chose red-orange, orange, yellow-orange, and yellow. 

The last two squares I filled with complimentary colors [colors opposite each other on the color wheel]. I chose to work with purple + yellow and green +red. [The third combo is blue + orange]. I made tints and shades of each color and filled in the remaining squares. And the end result is a nifty abstract art piece:

I got the idea for this lesson from a blog called Art Confidence. Check it out for more great examples of this project.

Happy Crafting!

xo

nessa dee