Time Duration: 1 class period

Unit Title: Drawing/Painting

Lesson Topic: Color

Objectives of Lesson

Upon completion of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. Identify primary, secondary, and intermediate colors as well as warm, cool, analagous, and complimentary colors.

2. Demonstrate an understanding of these concepts by successfully completing activities.

Materials Needed:

1. Sketchbook, drawing pencil, and eraser.

2. Watercolor paint, brushes, buckets of water, and paper towels.

3. Color pencils.

Instructional Procedure with Approximate Time Line

1. Anticipatory Set (5 minutes)

Color depends on light because it is made of light. There must be light for us to see color. A red shirt will not look red in the dark where there is no light. The whiter the light, the more true the colors will be. A yellow light on a full color painting will change the appearance of all the colors. A ray of white light passing through a prism separates into the hues seen in a rainbow.

Color has three properties. The first is hue, which is the name of the color. The primary hues are yellow, red, and blue. Secondary colors are made by mixing equal amounts of two primary colors. Intermediate colors are made by mixing more of one primary than another (example: red orange = mixing more red than yellow). Note that the hue has the primary color first and the secondary color last.

The second property of color is value, which refers to the lightness or darkness of a hue. The third property of color is intensity, which refers to the purity or brightness of the hue (example: neon yellow is high intensity, pastel blue is low intensity).

 Warm colors are those from yellow to red-violet on the color wheel. In a painting, they seem to advance or come forward. Cool colors are those from yellow-green through violet. In a painting, they seem to recede, or go back in space.


  1. warm and cool colors


Neutral colors are made by adding a complimentary color (opposite on the color wheel) to a hue. Neutralized hues are often called "tones". Analagous colors are next to each other on the color wheel (example: red and red-orange).

  1. complimentary colors



2. Activities (35 minutes)

Do activities on separate pages in your sketchbook. Do not do activities back to back.

3. Assessment

0 points = Did not finish or cannot find activity. Activity is done incorrectly or no title.

5 points = Activity done partly correct. Improve and turn back in.

10 points = Activity successfully completed. Student shows understanding of the concept.


Lesson ideas from Elements and Principles of Design Posters, Teacher’s Guide, by Crystal Productions.

Palani Williams, Kamehameha Middle School