Colour Wheel

Posted by Jo Murphy Feb 17, 2007

Colour appeals to the emotions. Feelings stimulated by certain colours seem to be universally acknowleged. It is important to teach students about this and to have them think about colour as they go through the course of a normal day.

1. On a sheet of A4 paper draw a circle six inches in diameter.
2. Divide the circle into six equal parts - like a pie graph.
3. Colour each part in this order. yellow orange red purple blue green
4. Mix each of these colours together equally and paint a dot of that colour in the centre of your colour wheel - this will create a neutral colour.
5. Go back over the outlines with a black felt tipped pen so that the colour wheel is neat.
6. When you are satisfied that this is as neat as possible have it laminated
7. Have the students keep it with them always as a ready reference.

This is a very simple colour wheel.. Encourage them to use it in other classes not just Art. When they are cooking students could use it when planning the aesthetics of the meal.

If you teach the students about the emotional qualities of colour they will be able to plan the right colour scheme when they are illustrating stories and scripts.

When we teach about colour schemes we look to various combinations from the wheel.

Warm colours are variations of red, yellow and orange and cool colours are mixed from blue, purple and green. By consciously using these simple analogous colour schemes students can become quite proficient at creating ambience.

This flower is an example of an analogous colour combination. The three colours sit side by side on the colour wheel. I think you will agree that the flower is a happy creation.

By using a combination of colours that are beside each other on the wheel we can be sure of a harmonious outcome.

Another analogous combination can be created by using cool colours. They are the colours along the other side of the wheel purple, blue and green.

Cool colours lead us to experience emotions such as serenity, peace and femininity.

Any three side by side from the wheel can be analogous for example red purple blue. Have the students experiemnt and see if they can name the feelings created by the combinations. Thery will be able to create all types of subtle variations.

Complimentary Colours on the other hand give us a sense of stability. This is because opposite colours balance each other. Complimentary colours are to be found on opposite sides of the wheel. This combination produces the most vivid results. The mixture is very good for creating attention getting devices on the students assignments.

They will enjoy playing with colours if they are engaged in a unit on fashion.