4th grade - Color wheels and color theory

The fourth grade classes are reviewing their color wheel information from last year. Here it is in a nutshell...

Primary=first
The primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. They are primary because no other color can make them; and they can mix to make all the other colors in the world!

Secondary-second
The secondary colors are orange, green, and violet. They are called secondary because they are made by mixing 2 primary colors equally.

Tertiary=third
The tertiary colors are yellow-orange, red-orange, red-violet, blue-violet, blue-green, and yellow-green. You can make tertiary colors by mixing a primary equally with a secondary related to it. Or, you can mix one part of one primary with two parts of another primary. For instance, one part red and 2 parts yellow makes yellow-orange.

The colors are organized into a COLOR WHEEL. A color wheel looks like this...


Next, we talked about 4 color schemes that are commonly used in art. They are Complimentary, Analogous, Triadic, and Monochromatic.

COMPLIMENTARY

These are colors opposite on the wheel. They look exciting next to each other.


When mixed, they make brown.



ANALOGOUS

Analogous colors are next to each other on the wheel. They look calm and peaceful together.
TRIADIC

Triadic reminds us of triangle. These colors form a triangle on the wheel. They look good together and form a balanced picture.

MONOCHROMATIC

Mono=one, chroma=color. Monochromatic=one color! A whole painting made up of the lights, mediums, and darks of one color!