paint experiments

The second graders have been working on drawing portraits which express emotions but before they paint them, I wanted them to experiment with color mixing and different paint application techniques. This class they focused on creating fall landscapes but they were only given the primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) and black and white to tint and shade. The students looked at the color wheel and reviewed how to make secondary colors (orange, green, and purple). 

They tried layering different colors directly on the paper like this student did with his grass (above). First he painted on a base layer of green paint. To simulate the blades of grass he mixed first yellow and blue to make green, and then white to create contrast with the background color.

This student painted her grass a little different. She similarly painted a base of green first but used a scraping tool to create lines for the blades of grass. To make leaves, she dabbed her brush onto the paper filling it with autumn colors. 

In this fall landscape, the student used a similar technique to make leaves. However she dipped her brush into red and then yellow paint. The two colors mixed and made orange on the paper. The students did a great job creating highly textured fall landscapes using just five colors!