Color Theory-Life in the Arts-9/19/01

Life In The Arts

Color Theory with Laurie Myers

Wednesday, September 19, 2001 - 10:30 - 11:30 AM

LONGTIMERS PRODUCTIONS AND THE MONTEREY COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION PRESENT

Guest Artist Laurie Myers and Life in the Arts Host, Maia Carroll will introduce your students to color theory.

Start your lesson by introducing your students to the color wheel;

Primary colors- Red, Blue, Yellow

Secondary colors- Green, Orange, Violet

Complimentary colors;

Red/Green= Christmas Colors

Blue/Orange= The Tide Box

Yellow/Violet= Easter colors

Think how often complimentary colors are used in advertising. They want us to buy their products. So they pop off the shelves and grab the viewer. This simple watercolor grabs the viewer by using color.

1.First, load your brush with red paint. Make a blob of paint on the back of the lid of the paint box. Make sure the paint is a nice consistency not too runny and not too dry. This is truly the key to painting with watercolor. Make three donut shapes.

2. Rinse your brush and make it fairly dry then pick up some violet. Paint small dots forming a cone. Make the next cone curve away still using small dots. You want to keep the viewer moving around the painting.

3. With blue just push your brush down to make daisy petals in a circle.

4. Then return to the red donuts which should now be dry. Load your brush with green and make some sweeping curved strokes come out of the center.

5. Next put some yellow dots in your violet cones and a series of orange dots in your blue daisies.

6. Add only a few touches of green. Children often want to make everything so realistic, so every flower needs a stem and a leaf. It is not necessary! Actually a good design leaves something to the imagination. The viewers eye will know what is meant to be happier with the chance to create a little something in his mind.

7. the finishing touch ia to spray yellow paint off a toothbrush and three separate areas very carefully. This makes the flowers seem to be bursting with pollen.

PROGRAM GUEST

Laurie will show teachers how to help children learn to turn their creative ideas into something real. A poem, a play, a piece of art."It always surprises me how good they are at doing this if they are free to follow on the journey you take them. when they are not worried about what someone else thinks. when you keep reassuring them that the joy of art is in the process."