How to Make a Basic Color Wheel and Primary Art Lesson Homeschool

THE PRIMARY COLORS: ROYGBIV 

How to Make a Color Wheel Homeschool Art Lesson.

If you're following Jake's Journey in Art this homeschool art lesson isn't from 3rd grade art. We've been combining lessons and working on everything together to make it more like a classroom and easier for the teacher (me). This is the 1st grade Primary Color Lessons for homeschoolers, but we added a science component and more to make it more interesting for the older elementary kids too. Enjoy!

This post contains Amazon and other affiliate links for your convenience.

Sesame Street teaches Primary Colors.

Henri Matisse loves primary colors.

Mayhem's second attempt (First Grade).

Mayhem's first attempt: a color wheel cat.
He has all the colors just not in the right position.

He got the letters but not the wheel.  The smudges are  two
primary marker colors blended to create the secondary  colors.

So, what is a technically correct color wheel?

The colors of the RAINBOW or those that appear in a prism. Here is a fun scientific lesson in PDF form from Stargazers and NASA.

We studied the use of primary colors by the Masters like the Matisse pictured above, and then we chose a farm animal to trace with pencil and paint with only the primary and secondary colors.

Jake's bunny with primary and secondary color complements.

Jake was a champ when it came to the technical aspect of art. He reminded me of the cheat to remember the primary and secondary colors. Red, Yellow, Blue, Orange, Green, Indigo, and Violet better known as ROY G. BIV.  He also knew prisms reflect the light from the sun and radiate these colors. Although, he knew about the color wheel he didn't have a good grasp of the concept of contrasting or complementary colors.

We're going to explore this concept. Math and Science are everywhere in ART. So, my little genius, art critic is going to learn about the golden rule sooner than later. Funny how people tend to be one or the other, left or right brained. I'm taking on the challenge to prove it doesn't have to be either or.

Mayhem's bunny. They both traced the bunny from an original drawn by me. Yep, she's 6, loves art and hates math.


Click the thumbnails below to catch up on our 
Homeschool Art Journey
 or start here with LESSON ONE.

From Wikipedia:
Complementary colors are pairs of colors that are of “opposite” hue in some color model. The exact hue “complementary” to a given hue depends on the model in question, and perceptually uniform, additive, and subtractive color models, for example, have differing complements for any given color.

The complement of each primary color (red, blue, or yellow) is roughly the color made by mixing the other two in a subtractive system:

• red complements (blue + yellow) = green
• blue complements (red + yellow) = orange
• yellow complements (red + blue) = violet

Recommended Reading:

Rocket's Mighty Words

Duck and Goose Colors

Jake's Art: Still Life Picture: Homeschool Lesson 3

Still Life Picture Cobalt Bottle Homeschool Art Project

Oh my, what a fun journey in Art we have embarked upon this homeschool season. This week's assignment Still Life Pictures: Gather some fruit and other interesting items, arrange them on a table, and draw them as realistically as possible. Well, let's just say it took all of our stressometers to the max. Enjoy!

The Still life example looked similar to this one 
with a cobalt bottle and fruit.

As, Jake sat having a melt-down, I searched the web for famous examples of still life. The lesson does mention not everyone has a natural ability to do realistic drawings, but practice makes perfect.



Picasso, Still Life with oranges.

Let me tell you, I've had years of practice. I cannot draw a realistic still life. So, I told Jake we would interpret our own realism like Picasso did in his interpretation. After all, everyone must start somewhere and the photographic images could stifle the most confident of young artists. I showed him many amazing still lifes. Examples are at the bottom of this post. He struggled with the contour drawings wanting to draw the entire table no matter how many times I explained, "Just pretend this is all you see."

This one depicts the entire surface of the table.

"Jake, please try again.  You are making this much too difficult.  Just draw a line to represent the table surface."  "I Can't!" He cried smashing his pencil down onto the table.


Still life on table with outline.

Still life with apple totem.








Still life third try.

Now, I didn't make him draft the outline five times. It was his perfectionist choice. I was ready to color-in the second one once he understood the concept of a horizon line, but he was compelled to continue the torture. His final drawing is below and quite lovely with its soft shadings, faint line of the table in the background and arrangement. (Nevermind the bottle lines showing through the fruit~choose your battles.)














In the meantime, his little sister (Mandy Mayhem) and natural born creative, drew this still life including the table, the windows, the painting on the wall, the wall, and some additional items she felt added to the picture.



 "I'm done Mommy. Can I do another one? I really like the Fishbowl Matisse, can I do one of those?"  Sure, Mayhem just do it quietly so Jake can concentrate.

Matisse with Goldfish.

If only, Jake could concentrate. Remind your kids to relax!  Relaxation is the most important element of quality art. He has a special talent, but this project was very stressful for him.

The pictures below, especially Wassily Kandinsky,  gave him the courage to trudge ahead. We also found Paul Klee and Joan Miro still lifes. 

Everyone who studied art had to do a still life. Note the Paul Cezanne's skulls. So, paint what you enjoy. Make the project your own, but fulfill the assignment.

Warhol Still Life

Cezanne Still Life

Picasso Still Life



Kandinsky Still Life

Picasso Still Life



Matisse Still Life





The still life was our worst struggle by far, but it was also a turning point. The next post is a much happier, carefree one. As Jake's journey continues you will see a calmer more reflective, budding young artist.

Remember these points:

A little encouragement goes a long way.

You don't have to erase in ART. The mistakes can make a Masterpiece.

Never tell your child or anyone else their drawing doesn't look real. It is art, a beautiful interpretation in the eye of the beholder. What if Picasso or Warhol stopped trying because they weren't successful? 

Andy Warhol is a fantastic example. Practice does make perfect but not necessarily photographic. Once he abandoned the notion he needed to be a "real artist" not a graphic artist; he finally became a Master of his own success.

Read more about Lesson one (Line - how do you feel about art.) and Lesson two (tunnel book perspective.)

And this one next (if you are following in order): Oh happy day: progress with watercolors and paper arts.


Recommended Reading:

Still Life with Bread Crumbs: A Novel*

Art of Still Life Drawing (Art of Drawing)*






ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Jake's Journey in Art - Homeschool Lesson - 4 Watercolor Seascape (Wet on Wet)

Jake's Journey in Art: Watercolor Wet on Wet techniques for Homeschoolers

Kids Creative Chaos building Self-Esteem one art lesson at a time.

If you're following in order read this first- Still Life

Lesson:  Choose one of the seascapes and one watercolor technique you've learned.

It was time for our next art lesson. Jake moaned and complained as usual, until I reminded him this week's lessons involved painting. "Yay! I like to paint. I never got to paint in art class."  Say what you say?  Catch up here. Art is about the journey, not the end result.

Jake's seascape is on the left, Mayhem is on the right. She's added some embellishments.

Did you notice his attention to detail?  This is not a child who should despise art. Thankfully, we are making amazing progress.

Now, what Jake really meant to say was- I love it when I'm allowed to make a mess. He chose the sailboat scene and the wet on wet technique. Which is exactly as it sounds, paint water over your entire paper, dip your brush in water and the color, and let it bleed blend. Don't move it until it is dry.

We also did the salt painting technique and sprinkled salt on the wet sand area. When it dries it looks like real sand.

We first traced over the image to get a feel for it and then we lightly drew it in pencil on our watercolor paper. When painting with watercolors it is important to use the right paper. Copy paper will deteriorate with too much water. The fibers in the watercolor paper are designed to soak up the excess. Still, we laid out three layers of newspaper and had a roll of paper towels ready and waiting. Inevitably, someone always spills the water.

Our art table, okay, it is our dining room table. We never use it for that!

I am pleased to announce this assignment was our turn around lesson. In fact, his feelings about art have changed so much in a recent lesson on mask making he said, "Mommy, it is really awesome that I have a teacher who knows so much about art. You can teach me so many cool things!" (Insert tears here.)

I am quite skilled in the art of mask making. My highschool, art teacher, Mrs. Conway did a lesson on mask's with handmade paper. I made 3 or 4 different projects, entered them into an art contest and won some sort of an award. 

Oh my, I wish I could tell you what it was but a lot of time has passed since then.  After, I took a tiny scholarship to college and studied theatre design, art, and architecture. I've used the skills I learned in those classes to make many a mask for many a child in an after-school program, made some great mardi-gras costumes, and designed many theatrical props and sets. We'll post mask making 101 next week.

Hooray! Someone finally took notice.  My college journey was not a waste after all :-)

Okay, the real point is that Jake took notice. Chuckle-chuckle and all it took was some fancy paper curling around a pencil and a cool, paper snake. Mom's have mad skills, don't they. I'm gearing up to ask Jake to draw a new picture of how he feels about Mommy's art class-eh. Maybe I'll just take a photo of his expression.

Things are looking up!

Tunnel Book Lesson Two

Art Expression Lesson One

Lesson Three - Still Life

Lesson 2 How to Make a Tunnel Book: Elementary Homeschool

Ideas for your next Homeschool ART Lesson: Summer Tunnel Book from Jake's Journey in Art

Working from crayons to Picasso. The art of the tunnel book. Learn how to make a tunnel book, it isn't as easy as it looks!

So, if you are following the story, you may remember we had a bad experience with an elementary art teacher. Might I just add- this occured at a 4 Star school.  I'm pretty sure she has tenure. Oddly, outside of the classroom (at least with adults) she was very personable. If you haven't read it click here for Lesson One - Art Expression.

The infamous Tunnel Art Book. Oh my!  Even with my art and architecture background, I had difficulty following the instructions for this one. We watched a video, we looked at samples, and still it just wasn't clicking for me.  Perhaps, I over complicated it.

Well, my struggling Art-hater truly hated this one. If I couldn't explain it- why should he bother trying, right?  So, we sat it aside for a day, and then a week, and then a little bit longer. I tried to make my own by cutting out a frame and gluing the sides together, but it was so much trouble. I refused to make another one, so we used it as the tunnel for Jake's book.

Cut and pasted the important pieces so we can keep it in a scrapbook.

Turns out, I had NO IDEA what I was doing, but Jake drew some nice trees for the background even though he complained the entire time.  When he finished, he complained some more, "Mine isn't as good as yours.  Amanda's trees look better than mine. I cannot do this; I hate art!"

So... apparently somewhere along the way, I missed am important step.  The next day, the little one and I tried one last time. The sides are sheets of paper folded in half, and at the half way mark we glued (and taped) the frames for the tunnel effect.  I scribbled some pictures, and she drew some beautiful creatures and a background, and we attached some to each interior frame. These did not stand on their own; and they are extremely flimsy, or our construction paper is just way too thin. 



Anyway, we tried our best, and that is what really counts- right?  Hopefully, our failures will help you have a successful Tunnel Art Book.  In two years, when the little one gets the same lesson; we'll refer back to this post and try with thicker paper.  I'm thinking CARDBOARD sides.

The Little's background and other fun items.

Here is a link to an entire site about tunnel books.  Hope this helps spark your creativity!

And... here is their closest example to the way our assignment was described.

Too cool ~ It is a construction site!  Photo from Popular Kinetics Press



Recommended:

Lesson Three Still Life

Lesson Four Watercolor and Paper Crafts

Green Light at the End of the Tunnel: Learning the Art of Living Well Without Causing Harm to Our Planet or Ourselves*


Bridges and Tunnels: Investigate Feats of Engineering with 25 Projects (Build It Yourself)

Lego Thomas Memories From: A Day Out with Thomas the Tank Engine Train

Thomas the Tank Engine Built from Legos

Thomas the Train in real life! Nothing is more exciting for a Preschool Boy (or girl). The Giant LEGO Thomas the Tank Engine was too cool at the Day Out with Thomas in Connersville.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Blast from the Past ~ 2007

Lego Thomas Memories From: A Day Out with Thomas the Tank Engine Train.

Giant Lego Thomas the Train.

The real life Thomas the Train, Tank Engine.

So happy to meet Thomas and take a ride.

So tired after a fun filled, long, hot day.

Ticket Info for Thomas near you

Recommended Reading:

Jake's Journey in Art Folk Art Paper Craft

Ideas for a Race Car Theme Birthday Party

LEGO Play Book: Ideas to Bring Your Bricks to Life

Pineapple Valentine Day Craft Idea for Kids Classroom Box

Make this Easy, Valentine Day Classroom Craft Idea for Kids from a 2-Liter Plastic Bottle: Recycle!

For this, classroom Valentine Box, we transformed a 2-Liter plastic bottle. Use this Pineapple Under the Sea for a Spongebob Theme Party or Valentine's Day classroom craft. Enjoy!

2- Liter Plastic Bottle Pineapple Classroom Valentine.

 Valentine Day Craft Idea for Kids Classroom.

The requirements for his classroom Valentine mailbox called for a shoebox.  Mommy's idea of using a 2-Liter bottle was extremely unsettling for Jake, but he thought the end result was A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

Looking for Pineapple Recipes or Clipart?

Sure, there was a little crying and a lot of pouting as he made his point. Apparently, the teacher's flyer had made it clear the project was to be no smaller than a shoebox.  And, "Mommy a shoebox is the perfect size; you just cut a slot in the top and glue on some hearts!" (Said in deplorable frustration.)  

Got a stickler for the rules? You might like Jake's Journey in Art.

Mommy did not have a shoebox to spare nor the extra cash to buy a new pair of shoes just for the coveted box. The cereal box, briefcase-looking mailboxes on Pinterest were tantalizing, but I wanted something different.

"Why can't we cut a slot out of a bottle and glue hearts on it or make it a rocket or something?" 

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. Do you hear that? It is the sound of Jake jumping up and down on the kitchen floor in desperate refusal. "We'll talk about it later, Jake." And with that, we were off to purchase Classroom Valentines.

One box of Spongebob exchange cards later, and Jake decided said detested bottle would make an awesome Pineapple. Genius.

How to Make a Pineapple Valentine Box

We cut a slit in the middle of the bottle to represent a window, cut wavy, one-inch strips from brown paper lunch sacks, and covered it with glitter. Then, Jake took a toilet tube, cut green leaves from construction paper, glued them to the tube, and stuck it on top of the bottle. Foamy stickers spell his name just above the window and a construction paper heart glued to the end of a straw decorates Spongebob's house for the Valentine holiday.



Recommended Reading:

Easy Classy Valentine 

SpongeBob's Secret Valentine *

Pig Valentine Idea










ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

These are a few of MY favorite things: cute pictures for Pinterest

My Favorite things include adorable baby bunny picture and Christmas tree in snow

Not necessarily in any order, (I've been suffering from writer's and crafter's block lately, so if I have to organize them it will turn into the post that wasn't). My favorite things include baby bunnies, a spider, and Christmas Trees. Enjoy!

Christmas tree in snow with colored lights.

1. Snow covered Christmas Lights on Evergreen Trees. I LOVE how the light glows under the snow.

Can you smell the puppy breath?

2. Puppy Breath. 'Nuf said.

Book by Robert Kraus, How Spider Saved Halloween.

3.  Halloween! Inspired by my favorite book ever. I LOVE the illustrations. I love the story about bullying. Kraus writes several books in the Spider series. Check my pages above for more info.

Jake's journey in art started here.

4.  Inspired Art. My son comes from a line of artists, but art isn't his thing. He is a straight A+ student- except for an A- in art. When my daughter and I paint and craft, he plays computer games. The other day, he sat down and painted this portrait of Santa!  

He used the entire page. It is truly amazing - "A Kid's Perspective of Santa". His Uncle designed the characters and worked on 'Call of Duty' Black Ops for Activision (among other things).  

If the Presidency thing falls thru, I think he might just have a back-up plan. I  LOVE that it isn't just a picture of Santa in the middle of the paper.

Kitty paws.

5. Kitty Paws. Especially, touching my chin.

Hot Air Balloons.

6. Hot Air Balloons. Here is a local Balloon Voyage anyone can experience.

Bunny ears, I adore this picture! :)

7. Toddlers. I think we are 3 and 5 here. Wow, 4 and 6 is so different. See that Balloon in the background? It's the Energizer Bunny which brings me to...

Cute Baby Bunny.

8. Bunnies. I just LOVE them. I miss my sweet fuzzy, cuddle bunny. Kids, cats, turtle, bird = no time for baby bunnies.  Maybe when the kids leave the nest. Wait, I'll be how old? 

Reminiscing is good too.


*This is one of my very first POSTS. If any of these images are yours, please let me know so I can give proper credit. 


Recommended Reading:


Birthday Party Game for Kids

Leo the Late Bloomer*

A Wish to Be A Christmas Tree*







ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)