Painting with Colour
Kelsey Galbraith and Lacey Macleod
Grade 7 Art
ART Value and Drawing: Stage 1 – Desired Results
Established
Goals
Students will:
Learn about colour
theory
TRANSFER GOAL
Students will understand the concepts of atmospheric perspective and strange space
by using colour and form to create three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional
surface.
Create key terms
with paint
MEANING
Learn and practice
colour mixing
Enduring Understandings:
Essential Questions:
Know what tints of
a colour are, and
how to produce
them
Students will understand
Students will keep considering…
U1 – Key terms in colour,
primary tertiary,
complimentary,
analogous, with an
emphasis on
monochromatic, tints and
range of value.
Q 1 – Examine the idea of colour schemes provoking a mood or
feeling onto the viewers.
U2 – How atmospheric
perspective works,
specifically that colour
becomes less saturated as
it recedes.
Strange Space.
U3 – The process of colour
chunking when reducing
form to create space.
How do artists use strange space to create interest in their art for
the viewer?
Understand
different
characteristics of
foreground,
middle ground,
and background.
Be able to simplify
forms
Understand the
principle of
atmospheric
perspective
Learn to create
space in a painting
using colour
Understand the
meaning of
strange space
U4- The concept of
strange space by
experimenting with the
order of monochromatic
color schemes and
atmospheric perspective.
Q2 – Describe how colour and colour schemes create perspective
and space in paintings?
Summarize why the use of foreground, middleground, and
background is effective in creating space.
-( Q – engaging students to reduce form and shape)
Q3 – How does this artist create strange space? What rules are they
not following? How does this affect the perspective?
What is strange about this painting? Where does your eye go first?
What do you think this is a painting of?
Considering the rules of atmospheric perspective- what do you
notice about the space in this painting that is different?
(see more key questions in lesson 3)
ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS
Students will know…

That colour can be used
to portray mood,
perspective, and space.
The properties of the
colour wheel –
specifically analogous
Students will be skilled at…
Mixing a value range of a colour.
Creating a foreground, middle ground and background.
Creating atmospheric space.
Creating strange space
and tertiary colours
Applying lighter tints of
a colour in the
background creates
atmospheric space.
The concepts and ‘rules’
of creating atmospheric
space, and how artists
experiment with these
rules to create strange
space.
How to compare two
pieces of their workdiscussing similarities
and differences.
STAGE 2 – Evidence
Evaluative Criteria
Performance is judged in terms of -
Critique
Participation- class discussions,
project work, experimenting with
colour mixing, taking risks in
creating space.
Completion- proper use of
techniques, clean appearance.
Creativity- showing a sense of
individualism in their final project,
Assessment Evidence
Students will need to show their learning by: Showcasing
their paintings in a final critique and explain the elements
involved.
Transfer Task: Students will show their learning by review of topics
they already know, group discussion about key terms introduced,
mixing their own paints (hands-on), practicing to create a
monochromatic scene using the rules of atmospheric perspective,
and practice creating strange space by breaking the ‘rules’ of
atmospheric perspective.
Unit Summary
This unit is all about learning the conventions of art elements and their relation to creating space.
The lessons provide a foundational structure to understanding how space is created when using
atmospheric perspective in many of the landscape paintings found throughout history - Caspar
David Friedrich for example. Students will apply their knowledge and create examples of space
using different modes of reference. They will practice many skills in colour mixing, rendering and
simplifying form, and applying their understanding of value / tint ranges. After developing an
understanding for the order of value which is found in atmospheric perspective, students will then
be asked to disrupt these rules to create strange space that can be found is works by Georgia
O’Keeffe and Etel Adnan. These lessons are designed to be the primary lessons to give students a
confident foundation in the spatial conventions of art. The direction will be in the form of key
questions in reference to visual examples from contemporary art and history and peer work. Many
different approaches could be taken to this framework which allows for open manipulation of the
lessons. Students could create a number of pieces for studies and examples to work from. The end
result could come much later in the unit with subjects of strange space, spatial collage mixed media,
contrasting a piece from art history - simplifying and changing the space.
Unit Rationale
This lesson package for painting with colour works well for grade 7 students as it outlines
fundamental principles of art. Grade 7 is a transitional year, as students are now in junior high. It is
the grade where students begin to pick their own options, a huge difference from elementary
routines. This may be the students first real art class, so teaching fundamental principles is ideal.
Understanding colour theory as a young artist will allow for success in their future. Along with
teaching colour theory, students will have the opportunity to explore atmospheric perspective and
the conventions to create this principle. Next students will begin to understand the ideas of colour
blocking and simplifying forms, vital principles used by artists. After the students have a solid
understanding of the following concepts, they will have the opportunity to play with strange space.
This will allow students to begin to explore their own ideas, and start to develop their individual
potential. It will encourage a deeper thought process in students, and act as a vehicle to inspiration.
This lesson package includes essential vocabulary, visual examples, hands on experimenting, and a
comparing critique. These choices were made to reach a wide range of learning styles.
Lesson Summaries
Lesson One: Colour Theory. In this lesson students will have the chance to explore further into
what they already know about colour theory. Students have their own colour wheel from a previous
lesson that will be essential to further their understandings in this lesson. Trusting that they know
the properties of a colour wheel, and which colours are primary and tertiary, this lesson will take
them a step further. The lesson explores multiple colour schemes such as complementary, splitcomplementary, analogous, and monochromatic. Students will have the opportunity to express
their understanding of these schemes with paint in the final activity. There will be a detailed review
of the colour wheel, defining and explaining the colour schemes, paired with thought out examples
to go with each. Students will understand the formula (which colours to choose on a colour wheel)
to produce each of the colour schemes. By completing this assignment students will start to ponder
colour relationships, and what colour can produce; for example, mood and space. After the
products have been finalized, conversations about the monochromatic section will be introduced.
Language like ‘tints’ and ‘shades’ of one colour will we addressed in relation to monochromatic
colour schemes. This branches into the next lesson, which addresses the idea of atmospheric
perspective, and how different tints of a colour can create this concept.
Lesson Two: Teaching Atmospheric perspective. Students will learn the role of colour in the
concept of Atmospheric perspective and the relationship of foreground and background. Using the
knowledge acquired from the previous lesson on colour theory students will understand that
colours and detail become less saturated and prominent as they recede into space. The activity –
Using paint chip strips – students will use previously built skills to remix the colours of the paint
strips, then apply their new knowledge to create a space that has atmospheric perspective. Using
images with atmospheric perspective, students will be introduced to the idea of simplified form and
how artists use this as a stylistic choice, but also to create space. In completion of this lesson,
students will have applied their knowledge of colour mixing and arranging colour tints in a value
range to create three-dimensional space. With the introduction to simplified form, this will set up
the students for the next sequential lesson.
Lesson Three: Creating Strange Space. This would be considered the end result, a simplified
monochromatic rendering of a given space. After the students have had time to practice
atmospheric space in the previous lesson, students will be given an image that they then plan and
chose to simplify a part of the image in a value of colour. Using this as reference material they will
then further reduce the image into simplified forms of monochromatic color, transferring this
composition onto their own piece of paper. The aim is to have students start to create strange
space using their skills of colour theory and spatial rendering. The criteria/parameters are important
to structuring the activity –
Evaluation. Students will be assessed on the activities throughout each lesson. The activities
provide scaffolding for the next lessons in sequence. Students would be assessed on their work
from each activity and mini lesson therefore their engagement and participation could be measured
as well. The criteria would be quite structured due to the nature of these lessons are to explore and
refine technical skill. This can be a no- fail approach to teaching skill and constructs of art. A fourth
lesson could be added which would then allow for more conceptual exploration – adding an object
into space, further distorting the space. Ect.
Name: Lacey MacLeod & Kelsey Galbraith
Grade/Subject: Grade 7
Unit: Painting
Lesson 1: Colour theory
Date: January 14, 2015 _
Class length: 2, one hour periods
GLO: Students will experiment with colour effects on compositions
SLO (concepts):
A.
B.
C.
Primary colours combine to create secondary and tertiary colours.
Colour schemes create certain moods in image.
Colour schemes direct attention.
Learning objectives:
1. Students understand how to produce tints and shades of a specific colour.
2. Students understand meanings of key terms.
3. Students understand beginning of atmospheric perspective.
Assessment methods:
1. Students will paint their monochromatic section using tints and shades.
2. Students will produce work according to the formula that has been specified
3. Students recognize that tints and shades affect perspective.
Key terms: Monochromatic, Analogous, Complementary, split-complementary, mood, Atmospheric.
perspective
Materials: tempera paint, paintbrush, pencil, paper, paint tray.
Teaching Strategies: Review, and introduce key terms, hands on experience of materials,
demonstration, show examples, and class discussion.
Procedure:
Intro
(students have a colour wheel similar to this one
displayed that they created in a previous lesson)
1. Have a quick review of terms they should
already know. Have a large colour wheel
displayed either on the smart board or physical
copy.
2. Have students recall simply ideas, such as
which colors are primary, tertiary, and
complementary. This knowledge should be known
to students in grade 7.
3. Talk about the colours that are formed on
the color wheel between a primary and tertiary colour. Some students may have not gone
this far in past colour theory lessons.
4. Explain four specific terms. Complementary, Split- complementary, Analogous, and
monochromatic. Have the definitions the
definitions on a slide, SHOW students on the colour wheel, and then provide examples of
art works that work in that particular colour scheme.
Complementary colours directly opposite each other in the colour spectrum, such as red
and green or blue and orange, that when combined in the right proportions, produce white
light. POINT these examples out on the colour wheel so students understand.
Split-complementary colour scheme is a variation of the complementary colour scheme. In
addition to the base colour, it uses the two colours adjacent to its complement. This colour
scheme has the same strong visual contrast as the complementary colour scheme, but has
less tension. POINT out an example: the green section, with the two colours on either side
of red.
Analogous colours are groups of colours that are adjacent to each other on the colour
wheel, with one being the dominant colour, which tends to be a primary or secondary
colour, and two on either side complementing, which tend to be tertiary. POINT an
example: red section, with the two colours on either side of it.
Monochromatic colours are all the colours (tints, tones, and shades) of a single hue.
Monochromatic colour schemes are derived from a single base hue and extended using its
shades, tones and tints.
Complementary
Split- Complementary
Analogous
Monochromatic
5.
Allow time for discussion of these terms, as well as student questions. Questions for
discussion:
 Explore the reasons artist’s use specific colour themes.
 Which theme do you prefer, why?
 Do you think the choice of an artist’s colour theme evokes a certain mood?
Body
1. Now that we know, and understand these basic key-terms we are going to create our own
depictions of each colour theme. The purpose of this assignment is to have a physical base
model of these terminologies to refer back to in your painting journey.
2. You will receive a 12 x 12 piece of paper. You must divide this paper into 4 EQUAL parts. You
may go about this by making 4 squares, or 4 triangles. You must use the whole page.
3. You must design a pattern in one of the 4 sections, and then duplicate the SAME pattern in
the other sections, with a high emphasis on symmetry to your middle point.
4. When you are done your symmetrical drawings, you must show the teacher before you
move on to painting. From there you will depict the above 4 colour themes in each of your
sections. You may pick which ever colors you want on the colour wheel, but they MUST
follow the formula of each key-term.
5. Use your previous knowledge of mixing paint, and appropriate amounts of paint when you
are working on this project. If you need a reminder on how to do this, ask the teacher or a
peer.
6. Here are examples of works. DO NOT COPY these works. They are just to show you an
example of what the end product might look like.
Closure
1. When you are finished, place your work in the drying racks and gather for discussion.
2. Start a discussion and emphasis on the monochromatic section of their painting. Discussion
questions to prompt thinking:



Does your monochromatic section evoke a certain mood?
How is the space in your monochromatic section portrayed?
Describe how to use monochromatic colours to create perspective?
3.
If students finish early have them “paint doodle” with only one color, including black and
white, and make different tints and shades. Ask them to ponder the idea of perspective, and how
they think they could show perspective with only one hue.
 This is a sponge activity for the following lesson that involves atmospheric perspective, and
monochromatic colours.
Name: Lacey MacLeod & Kelsey Galbraith
Grade/Subject:
Unit: Painting
Lesson 2: Atmospheric
perspective
Date: January 14, 2015
Class length: 1 class, 1hour.
GLO: Students will experiment with colour effects on compositions.
SLO (concepts):
A. Primary colors combine to create secondary and tertiary colours – complete compositions
using limited colour schemes.
D. Colour schemes direct attention – advancing and receding colour.
Learning objectives:
Students will:
1. Understand that when creating atmospheric perspective colours become less saturated as
they recede into space. Their hue’s and tints become lighter.
2. Mix colour to match references (Paint sample strips) to create their own idea of
atmospheric perspective.
3. Begin to understand the process of color chunking by reducing form.
Assessment methods:
1. Students will create atmospheric perspective on a 2-d surface, using paint.
2. Student will mix paint to match their colour samples and prove they understand elements of
atmospheric perspective.
3. Students will demonstrate colour blocking on a magazine picture.
Key terms: Atmospheric Perspective, colour Saturation, recede/ reduce, value, colour chunking.
Materials: Paint chip samples, paintbrushes, paper, white paint, paint tray
Teaching Strategies: show examples, define keywords, hands-on experience with tints.
Procedure:
1. Mini- Lesson on Foreground, Middle ground, and background relationships.
Explain Using Examples such as Example C (below) Engage in discussion about what is in the
foreground- what is in most detail.
Middle ground- what would be considered the middle ground of this image (the lake)
The Background- what would be considered the background- what are some clues that
make it a background (less detail, lighter in colour)
Students could fill out a simple chart with the art elements on the X-axis, and labels like
foreground, middle ground, background on the Y-axis.
Foreground
Line
-Highly Detailed
-Line styles and characteristics easily
distinguishable
Middle-ground
Background
Colour
Value
Shape.
2.
Colours generally on the mid-point
on the value spectrum.
-Not highly saturated, but
Colours are less
saturated- more neutral
and washed out. Located
on higher end of the value
spectrum.
Values in grey scale are generally on
the lower end of the spectrum. Colour
values are more vibrant with more
colours content.
Highly Detailed. Shapes are finely
tuned to be read as recognizable
objects – tree trunk, rocks, etc.
Easily recognizable yet not with
tremendous detail. The shape
identifies objects – a box like
shape could be read as a building
structure.
What is atmospheric perspective?
Also called aerial perspective, method of creating the illusion of depth, or recession, in a
painting or drawing by manipulating colour to represent how space changes by the
atmosphere when things are seen at a distance. (Show examples – not only of landscapes)
B.


C.
Where in the examples are there higher valued, or lighter tinted colours? Are these colours
located in the same area in all three pictures?
Examine the difference between the intensity of the colours. Where are the more saturated
colours located?
3.
Simplifying form: Using the examples, engage students to think about what information
they would use when reducing the given images to simpler forms. Use Smart board to demonstrate,
then invite student volunteers to model what simplified form looks like.
Activity 1:
Hand out paint sample strips to each student with matching paint and white paint and paper.
Students will be asked to mix the colours to match their paint sample strips- so adding white to
make a value range.
Activity 2:
Students will be asked to create their own creation of space with atmospheric perspective. Show
examples of previous works, using simplified form and colour blocking to make landscape, city
scape, objects, rooms.
Key Questions:
When creating space - what do you notice about detail as you look from the foreground to the
background?
Looking at Georgia O’Keeffe (image in lesson 3) - What do you think about what she has chosen to
paint. Do you think she has chosen to simplify her image? How do you think she decided to do that what do you notice about her layers of space? Does the detail become less or more? What do you
think about her color palette? How do you think she made this colour?
What would you say is an important rule to create space? What is an important order of colour?
Sponge Activity: What are the rules for atmospheric space? Where are lighter colours, where are
darker? What is in the middle? Next class we will be looking at something a bit different. Artists are
rule breakers, so next class we are going to experiment with strange space. Not following the rules
of atmospheric space.
Resources:
http://artconfidence.blogspot.ca/2011/08/color-theory-and-balance.html
http://www.outdoorexposurephoto.com/photoblog/digital-photography-tips/73/
https://kenziw1.wordpress.com/2013/10/30/foreground-middle-ground-background/
1)
2)
3)
1)
2)
3)
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Name: Lacey Macleod & Kelsey Galbraith
Grade/Subject: Art/ Grade 7
Unit: Painting and Colour
Lesson 3: Strange Space
Date: January 14, 2015
Class Length: 1 hour and 30 minutes
GLO: Primary colors combine to create secondary and tertiary colours- complete compositions
using limited colour schemes – colour schemes direct attention- advancing and receding colour.
Students will experiment with techniques and media within complete compositions of two and
three dimensions.
SLO: Two – dimensional materials can be used to make compositions demonstrating simple
pictorial space – the concept of distance suggested by arrangement’s of shapes and colours.
Learning Objectives:
Students will:
Demonstrate their understanding of the concept of atmospheric perspective.
Demonstrate their understanding and skill of how to reduce/simplify form.
Using this understanding, students will then upset the rules of atmospheric perspective when
creating space to achieve an end result of strange space.
Assessment Methods:
Students will create a painting that has strange space by disrupting the rules of atmospheric
perspective.
Students will reduce form from a given image to create end result.
Students will use and reinforce their knowledge about value range in colour to achieve end
result.
Materials:
Magazine images that are examples of atmospheric perspective, which allow for good form
simplification and colour blocking.
Acrylic or Tempera Paint
Paper
Brushes 1-2 per student.
Palettes
Water bowls.
Teaching Strategies:
Using the smart board to present examples.
Allow time for student involvement for review and apply understanding of simplified form.
Show examples and invite students up to show how they would reduce the form of a given
image. Key Questions will be essential in the verbal instruction application for the class. They
are outlined in the procedure.
Working With Materials.
1) Using magazine clippings to demonstrate colour chunking and simplifying form from given
the image.
2) Creating their own simplified composition from a given image.
Directions will be given in the form of visuals and key questions. The key questions are outlined
in the procedure.
Lesson Procedure and Body
1. Intro Lesson: Review concepts learned from previous class.
Simplified Form, Foreground, Middle Ground, and Background, Atmospheric Perspective.
Key questions will be asked to encourage students to think about space and form. Students
have demonstrated an understanding of atmospheric perspective and now we are going to use
those rules to create strange space by disrupting the order of colour value.
Example images would be shown on the smart board. Students would be encouraged to
demonstrate how they would reduce form on the images using smart board.
-
http://www.explore-drawing-and-painting.com/painting-landscapes.html
Key Questions:
Describe simplified form.
Analyze the form in these examples; think about how the artist simplified them.
Explain the process of reducing form found in an image?
In this image, identify the foreground, middle ground, and background?
If I was to reduce form in the background, I would choose to use chunk all of this information
together, can you explain why I would choose only some information?
Would someone like to show me how they would reduce form in the foreground of this image?
Ponder atmospheric perspective, can you explain to me what the background would look like in
atmospheric perspective? What are some general rules when creating atmospheric space?
-Sun water Maine, 1922
Pastel on paper laid down on board,
Georgia O’Keeffe
-Sunset from Long Island, 1939
Oil on Canvas board
Georgia O’ Keeffe
https://aneclecticeccentric.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/georgia-okeeffe-landscapes/
Georgia O'Keeffe, Black Mesa Landscape, New Mexico/Out Back of Marie's II, 1930, Oil on canvas
mounted to board, 24 1/4 x 36 1/4 inches, Gift of the Burnett Foundation, ©Georgia O'Keeffe
Museum
http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/landscape.html
2. Body Activity 1: Magazine Image Exercise.
-
-
This activity to is to entice students to think about how they will reduce the form of an image by
colour blocking. This is a warm up exercise for the final project activity to kick-start students
into thinking about reducing form and creating strange space. Through instructions based in the
form of asking key questions, students will then reduce a component of their image by applying
colour directly to the image.
At their desk students will need:
2 Colours of paint: One of their choosing and white.
1-2 Brushes
Pallet
Water container.
Magazine Image.
Key Questions:
-Looking at your image, identify the areas that would be the foreground, middle ground and
back ground, think about how you would choose to reduce information to simplify form.
Give foresight to what we will be using this exercise for:
You will be using this image to create your own simplified version of strange space. You need to
simplify the image by reducing the information found in all 3 grounds – using the paint
provided, chose a value that you would like to start with and fill in the space right on the
picture. (Have example)
Remember we are creating strange space – does strange space follow the rules of atmospheric
perspective? What order would we disrupt?
3. Body Activity 2: Creating Strange Space.
Students will not create strange space referring to their magazine image that they have just
simplified part of. Examples and discussion around artist that use strange space – Jason
Messinger, Etel Adnan, Salvador Dali will shift students thought to strange space and how it
disrupts the rules of atmospheric space. Direction will be in the form of visual examples and
key question engagement. Students will use their image from the previous activity and
further simplify it by repainting the image on a new piece of paper. They must disrupt the
order of colour value.
Examples:
http://gallerytravels.blogspot.ca/2014/04/etel-adnan-at-callicoon-fine-arts.html
http://jasonmessingerart.com/artwork/2984998_Versailles_France_16_8x8_Tiles.html
Key Questions in Response to Examples:
-Describe the space in this image. Is it conventional or strange?
-Using your understanding of Atmospheric Perspective – explain how the artist has created
strange space.
-Identify the areas that your eye goes first.
-How do you interpret the space in these images? What do you read as foreground, middle
ground and background?
Students will need:
2 paint colours: one of their choosing, and white.
1-2 brushes.
Paper.
Water.
Image from previous assignment.
Parameter’s Dialogue.
-
Using your image you will now create a simplified version of it on your blank paper.
-
Remember to think about order of colour in atmospheric perspective, how can we disrupt that
to create strange space?
You must use the same value of colour for the simplified space you blocked on the photograph,
as you will on your end product. They will match. Do this part first so you have a place to work
from.
Closure:
Students will compare their lesson 2 and lesson 3 assignments through an art walk. Students
will be asked partner up and have a mini critique with a peer.
Question and thought prompts would include:
Compare the magazine image to the painted image –
Examine and analyze the difference in space with a partner.
Differentiate the forms in each composition. Explain how this form has different roles in each
composition.
Possible directions to go afterward:

Exploring other elements of art when creating space to understand their role. - Colour,
Line.

Inserting an object into space in reference to Wayne Whyte - to teach about shadow,
highlight, colour, and relationship to create believable space.