Class Activity 2: Colour Theory

Class Activity 

Assignment 2: Colour Theory

Materials needed:
Coloured pencils, crayons, designers' markers or gouache.
Tracing paper, cut into 10cm X 10cm squares.  You will need 10 squares for the following exercises, plus extra for experimenting.
Masking tape; clear tape.
One sheet 11 X 17 photocopy paper, folded in half and hole punched along fold. On the front of this "booklet" write the title Colour Theory Examples and your name.

1.  Choose either the paisley or the concentric circle design below.  Use the same design for all of the following steps.

        

2.  Enlarge drawing until it is 8 cm tall.  Darken outline if necessary.

3.  Tape outline to desk using masking tape.  For each exercise below tape a new piece of tracing paper over the outline using masking tape. Gently remove masking tape from tracing paper when you are done; it should come away cleanly if you are careful.

Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Colours
4.  Colour your design using only primary, secondary or tertiary colours as follows:
         a) triadic - primaries;
         b) triadic - secondaries;
         c) multicolour - tertiaries.
Neatly arrange your three designs on the inside left side of the "booklet", avoiding the fold and holes.  Leave room for the remaining designs below.  Neatly print the heading Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Colours. Tape designs in place using clear tape. Neatly label each colouring underneath.

Colour Harmonies 
Certain relationships between colours are called colour harmonies.  You used the triadic harmony above. Colour harmonies - including triadic - can start with any colour, not just a primary or secondary colour.

5.  Using your colour wheel for reference, colour in the design using each of the following colour harmones:
         a) adjacent;
         b) complementary;
         c) split complementary;
         d) quadratic.
Arrange designs on inside right side of the "booklet". Neatly print the heading. Tape designs in place. Neatly label each colouring underneath.

Tints, Shades and Neutrals
Whereas the colours on the colour wheel can be considered pure or clear colours, they are formally referred to as saturated colours.  When a saturated colour is mixed with white it is called a tint and when it is mixed with black is called a shade. Baby blue is a tint; midnight blue is a shade.

Neutralized colours are those that tend towards brown or grey.  Even though we often think of browns and greys as the only neutrals, examples of neutralized colours include maroon, avocado, taupe, mustard, khaki and air force blue. Neutralized colours can be very complex mixtures, but for the purposes of this exercise we will use the simplest form created by blending two complementary colours in various proportions.

6.  Choose your favourite saturated colour.  Colour your design as follows:
          a) monochromatic tints: saturated colour, and two tints of that colour;
          b) monochromatic shades: saturated colour and two shades of that colour;
          b) neutralized: saturated colour and two neutralized versions of that colour.
Arrange designs on on the back of the "booklet. Neatly print the heading. Tape designs in place. Neatly label each colouring underneath.