Warm and Cool Color Hands & Mittens

PK and Kindergarten artists recently learned about warm and cool colors. We learned that warm colors, like red, orange, and yellow, remind us of warm things like fire and the sun. Cool colors, like green, blue and violet, remind us of cool things like water and the sky. We looked at pictures of different objects and identified whether they were cool or warm colors. Then we used warm and cool colors in our artwork. 

Kindergarten students used their hand to create a mitten shape and outline it on their paper. PK students traced the shape of their hand. Then, if they sat at a warm color table, they used oil pastels in warm colors to color in their mitten and if they sat at a cool color table, they used cool colors. Kindergarten students used a variety of different lines and shapes to add patterns and designs to their mitten to make them colorful and interesting. PK students focused on coloring and covering all of the white paper inside their hand. 

The following class, Kindergarten students added snowflakes around their mitten, using white oil pastel, which was a little hard to see but would be revealed during the next step! Then students who had used warm color oil pastels used watercolor paint in cool colors to paint over and around their mitten or hand. For Kindergarten students, the paint also helped reveal their snowflakes! 

The oil pastel and watercolor paint do not mix together so you can still see what you drew with the oil pastel, even after you add paint on top. This effect is called resist, since the two materials do not mix together but move apart. Here are a few examples of our warm and cool color mittens:

Andrew S., Kindergarten (Martignetti)

Clara, Kindergarten (Bolton)

Miguel, Kindergarten (Beatty)

Caroline, Kindergarten (Beatty)

Sorayah, Kindergarten (Blackwood)

Beatrix, Kindergarten (Blackwood)

Alejandro, Kindergarten (Martignetti)

Emily B., Kindergarten (Bolton)

Astrid, Kindergarten (Segreve)

Emily B., Kindergarten (Segreve)

Cristina, Kindergarten (Tan)

David, Kindergarten (Beatty)

Fall Leaves Watercolor Resist

Recently 1st grade artists looked at fall leaves and noticed that the green leaves change to red, orange and yellow when it becomes fall. We noticed that these are all warm colors. We began by looking at real leaves, as well as photographs of leaves, that have changed color during the fall. Students drew several large leaves on their paper, using oil pastels.

Then we painted them using watercolor paint in warm colors -- red, orange and yellow. The oil pastel lines of the leaves show through the watercolor paint which demonstrates resist, an effect students learned about last year in kindergarten. 

Students also learned about a watercolor technique called wet-on-wet, which involves painting the paper with water first and then dropping or painting with watercolor on top. The watercolor blooms or spreads because the paper is already wet which creates a blurry effect. Students enjoyed experimenting with this technique, and many found its effect "magical"!

The following class, we added some lines with white oil pastel to the background and then painted the background with cool colors of watercolor paint. Students experimented with wet-on-wet and also learned about another watercolor technique: using salt sprinkled on top of the wet paint. The salt absorbs the color from the paint, creating a white spot underneath as it dries and making a interesting texture.

Students enjoyed combining some of the watercolor techniques they learned about during this project. After our artwork had dried, the salt was brushed off and students were excited to see the effects of the salt, as well as the wet-on-wet. Below are examples of our warm and cool color fall leaves:

Alexis, 1st Grade (Salvucci)

Amelia, 1st Grade (Mandile)

Graham, 1st Grade (Massa)

Lucas F., 1st Grade (Landay)

Lucy, 1st Grade (Salvucci)

Mohammad, 1st Grade (Landay)

Mohan, 1st Grade (Massa)

Nasir, 1st Grade (Landay)

Naysa, 1st Grade (Massa)

Nirvaan, 1st Grade (Mandile)

Rishi, 1st Grade (Landay)

Violet, 1st Grade (Massa)

Xavier, 1st Grade (Salvucci)

Eden, 1st Grade (McIsaac)

Gabi, 1st Grade (McIsaac)

Joshua, 1st Grade (McIsaac)

Warm and Cool Color Mittens

Hope everyone is having a good snow day! PK and Kindergarten artists recently learned about warm and cool colors. We learned that warm colors, like red, orange, and yellow, remind us of warm things like fire and the sun. On the other hand, cool colors, like green, blue and violet, remind us of cool things like water and the sky. We looked at pictures of different objects and identified whether they were cool or warm colors. 

Then we used warm and cool colors in our artwork. Kindergarten students used their hand to create a mitten shape and outline it on their paper. PK students traced the shape of their hand. Then, if they sat at a warm color table, they used oil pastels in warm colors to color in their mitten and if they sat at a cool color table, they used cool colors. 

Kindergarten students used a variety of different lines and shapes to add patterns and designs to their mitten to make them colorful and interesting. Students also added snowflakes around the mitten, using white oil pastel, which was a little hard to see but would be revealed next class! PK students focused on coloring and covering all of the white paper inside their hand.

The following class, students who had used warm color oil pastels used watercolor paint in cool colors to paint over and around their mitten or hand. For Kindergarten students, the paint also helped reveal their snowflakes! 

The oil pastel and watercolor paint do not mix together so you can still see what you drew with the oil pastel, even after you add paint on top. This effect is called resist, since the two materials do not mix together but move apart. Here are a few examples of our warm and cool color hands and mittens:

Christina, PK (Mattson)

Clara, PK (Mattson)

Declan, PK (Mattson)

Sagan, PK (Mattson)

Jacob, PK (Mattson)

Aurelia, Kindergarten (Bolton)

Ethan, Kindergarten (Segreve)

Ava, Kindergarten (Tan)

Kiana, Kindergarten (Blackwood)

Rubina, Kindergarten (Blackwood)

Noah, Kindergarten (Bolton)

Matthew, Kindergarten (Martignetti)

Seta, Kindergarten (Tan)

Maya, Kindergarten (Blackwood)

Nirvaan, Kindergarten (Blackwood)