Creating tertiary colours from primary colours
Start on a new page and choose a primary colour to combine with its “opposite” secondary colour – that is, one of the following combinations:
red (primary) + green (secondary)
yellow (primary) + purple (secondary)
blue (primary) + orange (secondary)
Notice that these are opposites on the colour wheel and are therefore called complementary colours.
Select a new painting tool (such as a stick or a feather), and explore these colours in the same way as before – applying first one colour, and then the other
When everyone has finished, look at all the pages and discuss the new tertiary colours that have emerged.
What colours are they? You will find that you have mixed a range of browns, greyish-browns and khakis. These are sometimes called “earth colours” or “neutral colours”.
Why do you think they are called “earth” or “neutral” colours?
Why are they called tertiary colours?
Again try adding, first a little black, and then white, to each of these colours. What kinds of colours result from this?
Look at your own work and think about the following questions:
What special qualities do your colours and marks have?
Do they remind you of anything – a particular place,
smell or feeling?
To the Teacher
Very important note: keep these painted papers for another activity!
Talk About This
Imagine you are a paint manufacturer. You produce fashionable colours for walls, doors and roofs.
From the interesting colours you have created in this chapter, especially the tertiary colours, choose those you will be producing as paints for this season.
Cut small samples out of each colour that you choose.
Give each of these colours an evocative name, as paint manufacturers do – like “Beach Stone”, “Winter Ashes”, or “Autumn Sunset”. Write the name you have given each next to it.
You’ll find this is a bit like writing extremely short poems. Put these up, or read them out to each other.