Experimenting with Color: Primary Color Prints

One of my tried and true art lessons involves the primary colors, printmaking, and the imagination. And it has a very high “wow” factor. Though I most often used it for kindergarten and first grade, it can be adapted for any grade level. It works for both whole class instruction or in an art center. It also includes the math and science concepts of symmetry in a meaningful way.

Materials

You will need to have small squeezable bottles of red, yellow, and blue tempera paint; a set for each table is ideal. Use the best quality paint you can; cheap paints will be too transparent and light. You will also need 12” x 18” white or manila drawing paper, crayons or markers, and rulers or some other kind of straightedge.

The Process

After a discussion of the primary colors and a look at artworks that feature them, demonstrate the process and then pass out materials.

The Process

Fold a piece of 12" x 18" manila or white drawing paper in half. Open it up and then squeeze out nickel-sized blobs of red, blue, and yellow paint in a triangular arrangement on one side of the opened paper (not too near the edges or the fold). Carefully raise the side without the paint and fold it over the side with the paint.

With the palm of the hand, gently smooth the paint out so that it runs together inside the folded paper (but not out the edges). Then use the edge of the ruler to spread the paint even further inside. Open the folded paper and see the symmetrical design.

If the paint still looks thick, close the paper and rub it again to spread the paint some more (though it will stick if this process is repeated too often). Look to see if any secondary colors were made by the process. Additional blobs of paint can be added if desired and the process repeated.When the paint is dry (papers need to dry overnight), imaginative details can be added with crayons. 

Discussion with Students

While students wait for their papers to dry, ask them to look any secondary colors they made and what images they possibly see in the paint (much like looking for recognizable images in clouds). Ask them to look at their prints upside down and sideways as well. Explain that their artworks are prints and that they are symmetrical and have a line of symmetry.

During the next class, students draw on and around their color blots. Display.