Exploring Color Theory Through the Color Wheel

Description for Parents & Students:

In today’s art lesson, we explored the history and purpose of the color wheel, starting with Sir Isaac Newton’s discovery in the 1600s. Newton found that white light could be split into all the colors of the rainbow when it passed through a prism. By arranging these colors into a circle, he created the first color wheel, a tool that has guided artists for centuries.

Students learned about the structure of the traditional 12-color wheel, which includes:

• Primary colors – red, yellow, blue (the starting point for all others).
• Secondary colors – orange, green, violet (made by mixing primaries).
• Tertiary colors – colors that come from mixing a primary with its neighboring secondary.

We also introduced four qualities of color that help artists understand and use them:

• Hue – the basic color or its place on the wheel.
• Saturation – how bright or dull a color looks.
• Value – how light or dark a color is.
• Temperature – whether a color feels warm (like fire) or cool (like water).

The class talked about how these qualities help artists create contrast, harmony, and mood in their artwork.

In-Class Project:

Using tempera paints, students built their own 12-part color wheels, carefully mixing colors to see how new ones are created. This practice not only develops painting skill but also reflects the classical pursuit of discovering order, beauty, and design in the world around us.

Optional Questions for Parents to Ask at Home:

• Which color was the hardest for you to mix today? Why?
• How do you think artists use color to make their artwork feel calm, exciting, or dramatic?
• What do you notice about the way warm colors feel compared to cool colors?

*Our reading material .pdf from the day is attached to this assignment.