Painting and colour mixing
Art & Design · Key Stage 1 · The School
Matching a colour
Pick a real leaf and try to mix its exact green. You will not get it first time — real greens have yellow, blue, brown and sometimes red in them. Mix, dab a test on scrap paper, compare, adjust. That test dab is the whole technique.
Looking after brushes
Never leave a brush standing in water: the hairs bend permanently and the handle splits. Rinse it, wipe it, and lay it flat or stand it bristles up. A brush treated well lasts years; one left in a jar lasts a term.
Warm and cool
Reds, oranges and yellows feel WARM and seem to come towards you. Blues, greens and purples feel COOL and seem to sit back. Painters use this to make things look near or far without changing a single size.
Put a real object on the table — a satsuma. Do not reach for orange paint. Look properly: it is more red on one side and yellow where the light hits. Mix a small blob of red and yellow, dab it on scrap paper, and hold it next to the fruit. Too red? Add yellow. Too bright? Add the tiniest touch of blue to knock it back. Four or five tries to a match, and the tries are the lesson.