BACKGROUND THEORY
This scheme of work is based on breaking down colour interactions into manageable chunks which are gradually put together as the pupil progresses.
The way colours affect each other can appear complex, however, discreet interactions, or contrasts, have been described by various workers in the field including Leonardo da Vinci, Chevreul, Goethe, Itten and Albers.
The links below are for background information only as different workers describe phenomena in different ways and colour theory has changed over time.
This project was based on a combination of different approaches to colour that has arisen after years of delivering workshops to young children.
The most important elements are:
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Giving the children clear boundaries wihin which their imagination can be fully expressed. Achievable and describable targets so that the child has a rewarding experience tied in with better understanding of what they are doing ensuring that their approach is repeatable without prescription. Clear and unambigous language reducing subjective judgements to a minimum while working, reserving these for when the work is completed. This way the child has a clear understanding of how they achieve their results. The enablement of problem solving during work. Allow the child to rise out of the brown mess they might otherwise find themselves in. |
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The approach is based on introducing good working practice with the brush, use of the palette and clean controllable colour mixing. In this particular project the format is expandable.
The thoery elements addressed include:
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Primary colour - what they are Secondary colours - what they are Neutral Grey - balance, harmony and discord simultaneous contrast contast of hue contrast of tone contrast of extension contrast of saturation contrast of temperature contrast of complementaries contrast of chroma Having the colour circle in mind as a visual aid to creatively solving problems |
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Leonardo da Vinci
Michel Eugène Chevreul
Geoth's Theory of Colour
Johannes Itten's colour contrasts
Flash animation example
contrast effect
simultaneous contrast with only tones
© alexis rago 2008