Third Grade Castles and Color

Third grade artists finished their castle drawings! There are a number of examples up on the Digication page and don't forget to check out the display near the office. They came out great.

Since we worked for so long in black and white, we are jumping right into color explorations. For the first one, students explored color mixing. We focused on how to create a variety of colors using primary and secondary colors. We also discussed previously learned concepts such as tints and shades. Third graders spent a class simply experimenting with color mixing. They created a large painting with as many different colors as they could fit.

The following class, we discussed how we made brown with paint. We talked about how when two colors that are across from each other on the color wheel are mixed, brown is created. We learned that these colors are called complimentary colors. Students noticed how when two complimentary colors are next to each other, they stand out.

Students then explored sorting geometric and organic shapes on the Smartboard. For the activity, students were asked to create organic shapes out of paper that have a pattern on top. Students were only allowed to use one pair of complimentary colors to create a dynamic color contrast.

Each artist created a number of different organic shapes with pattern. In our next class, we will look at how the artist Elizabeth Murray created compositions of different shapes. Students will take the shapes they created and put them together to create a finished abstract collage.