Jenny's Crayon Collection: Color Theory

Creating a Fall Pumpkin Display by Color Matching Paint and Markers

Do you like to paint? I love to paint, but it can be overwhelming trying to figure out what colors to get. But guess what? Artists and crafters do not need to get 100 colors to paint, just the basic colors and then the rest of the colors can be made from that. For this project I chose a palette from markers and tried to recreate them with paint. I have a blog post all about color theory. It is super helpful to know how to create all the colors. The advantage to paint over markers is the paint can spread faster and the paint can be any chosen color. The possibilities are endless. When I was using the colors I wanted a more teal color than I had. I had to blend two markers, but with paint I could make it whatever color I wanted.

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Part of the advantage to doing something with markers instead of paint is if a mistake is made then a canvas is not wasted, just paper.

To start my project I made a template of the project I wanted to paint. I used markers to make it. See how I tried to blend the markers because it was not quite the teal I wanted? I also changed the vines to be brown later because I didn't like the orange.

Here is what I ended up making with paint! I think the colors turned out pretty good. Read on to see how I figured out how to make the colors. I was nervous, but most of the colors I got on the first try.

The base colors I had were blue, red, yellow, green, white and black. Here are some of the starter colors for gray, red and teal.

Here are all the base colors mixed with my guesses for the colors. For the teal I did a little green, white and blue. For the gray I used a tiny amount of black and then white. For the orange I did yellow and red. I do not have any fancy stir sticks so I used toothpicks. The tray is from Yasutomo.

Here is my first attempt at colors. I love the teal and gray. The orange was too red.

I had no idea what colors for the brown. In my color theory post I knew that brown is a mix of all the primary colors. I decided to try it. And then I added more yellow to the orange.

The brown worked and the orange was much better!

I then drew my template in pencil because I am not good at free hand.

I used two brushes to get the wide and skinny part of fall.

Here is the finished piece! I decided not to add the black outline, but I may do that later. I was so happy with how this turned out.

Here is the comparison of the two. Which one is your favorite. I hope this helps and see that it is not scary to mix paint colors!

Check out some other pumpkin inspired crafts.

Create the most adorable DIY Fall Wreath with Pom Pom Pumpkins by following the tutorial on Laura’s blog Me and My INKlings.

Learn How to Draw a Pumpkin with step-by-step instructions from the talented Smitha of Smiling Colors. Download her free printable guide.

Laura with Laura’s Crafty Life has created a Mini Pumpkin Wreath with easy to find supplies from Dollar Tree. Just gorgeous!

Create Pumpkin Contact Paper Suncatchers with a quick tutorial from Shani at Sunshine and Munchkins. A fun and easy fall craft for even the littlest crafters.

So creative and unique, learn how to Make an Easy Mod Podge Map Pumpkin for travel enthusiasts. Justine from Little Dove Blog shows you all the steps.

Erica from 5 Little Monsters is sharing her Alpine Stitch Crocheted Pumpkin, complete with a full set of patterned instructions, so you can create your own!

Learn how to make DIY Wooden Pumpkin Blocks with a step-by-step tutorial from Kelsey at Poofy Cheeks and learn what she used to stencil these beauties.

Katie, the Crafty Blog Stalker is sharing a gorgeous Hand Painted Pumpkin, and we love her color palette of white and gold.

Simple strips of colored paper have never looked so good then when Chelly from We Can Make That shows us How to Make Paper Pumpkins.

Jewels and buttons transform into the most elegant Bejeweled Pumpkin Art created by the talented Jane of DIY by Jane. Simply stunning!

Beth with Creatively Beth can transform any found object into a pumpkin with some paint. We think that her Recycled Mini Bundt Pan Pumpkins are adorable.

Inspired by her favorite characters, Lindsay of Artsy Fartsy Mama has created No-Sew Fabric Pumpkins. Click through for the full tutorial.

Take adorable to the next level with Upcycled Crochet Thread Ball Pumpkins created by Beth of Creatively Beth.

We are always in for the glam creations that Lindsay of Artsy Fartsy Mama makes with resin. Her Pastel Pumpkin Charms do not disappoint!

Liz with Liz on Call loves sharing her free printables with the world and we are all in for her modern patterned Pumpkin Coloring Sheet.

Take your water coloring skills to the next level with a fun and funky Free Pumpkin Template and Tutorial from Heather at Homemade Heather.

Blanca from Creativities Galore is all about the glitter with her sparkling DIY Pumpkin Bookmarks. Click through for the full instructions.

We love a good project that fools our eye and this Cement Look Pumpkin Cup from Candice of She’s Crafty has us all doing a double take.

Transform your mantel with simple supplies from the Dollar Tree with Michelle of Michelle’s Party Plan-It. Her Pumpkin Mantel Décor is elegant enough to leave up all season long.

Beth with the Ruffled Daisy shows us how to create an Aged Metal Pumpkin with simple supplies and a full tutorial.

Styrofoam balls and yarn go along way with these simple DIY Yarn Pumpkins for your mantel or tablescape. Diana from the Girl Creative is sharing her instructions.

Marissa from Rae Gun Ramblings has created a complete tutorial covering all of her Painted Pumpkin Tips and Tricks, so check them out today.

Take a simple plaque to the next level with a colorful DIY Stained Wood Pumpkin created by Laura of Me and INKlings. Click through to see how she made it!

Basic Color Theory

I have had this blog for a long time and never written about color theory? What? That is all about to change. I am going to talk about the basics of color theory and reference it later. I hope it is super informative and helps make whatever art, design or coloring page you are doing really pop out!

What is color? Color is basically light reflecting off a surface at different wavelengths. White reflects everything while black absorbs everything. Thing about walking on a deck on a hot day. If the deck is dark it can feel hot on the feet. While a lighter color reflects this heat and is much more comfortable to walk on.

Light that we can see is part of the visible light spectrum ranging from red to violet. Certain colors appear depending on how much the color bends based on their wavelength, violet bends the most while red bends the least.

The Color Wheel

Colorists have come up with the color wheel to show how all the colors are related. The primary colors are red, yellow and blue. All the other colors on the wheel are made from these colors. White and black are not on the wheel, but can be added to make darker or lighter shades. White and black are not colors, but the addition or subtraction of light.

Click here to get this color wheel.

The colors on the inner part of the wheel or primary colors are red, yellow and blue.

The colors on the next part of the wheel or secondary colors are: orange, green, and violet.

The colors added to the next part of the wheel or the tertiary colors are: red orange, orange yellow, yellow green, green blue, violet blue, and red violet.

Browns are made from the mixing of these colors. Pure gray is on the spectrum from black to white, but most grays have a color mixed in with them.

Here is a video that goes over the basics of color theory.

Hue, Saturation and Value

That is the color wheel basics, but there are so many colors out there! Colors can be a mix of the basic three colors. How does one put that on the chart? To describe all the differences in colors there are three characteristics of colors that are used to describe or change a color.

Hue

Hue is usually used to describe what color family the color is in. The primary and secondary colors are usually used to describe hue. There are many blues but not all of them are the same. The undertone of a color is the underlying color of a color. For example red in red orange.

Saturation

Saturation or chroma describes how much of the original color is still in the color. Colors that are gray are less saturated.

Value

Value is the lightness or darkness of a color.

Colors that are saturated colors mixed with white are tints.

Saturated colors mixed with black are shades.

Saturated colors mixed with grays are tones.

Color Science & Color Combinations

With all the colors there are so many ways they can be combined. There is some science involved in that too! It will help provide great color combos so many different kinds of projects.

Warm and Cool Colors

First up is the definition of warm and cool colors. Warm colors lie on the red and orange side of the color wheel.

Cool colors lie on the green and blue side of the color wheel.

Analogous colors

Analogous colors are colors that are next to one another on the color wheel such as: blue violet, violet, and red violet,

and blue, blue green, and green.

Complementary Colors

Complementary Colors are colors that are on the opposite side of the color wheel. These consist of;

yellow and purple,

orange and blue,

and red and green.

The tertiary colors can also be combined this way.

Triad Colors

Triad Colors are equidistant apart on the color wheel, red green and blue are triads.

Purple, green and orange are also triads.

Blue green, violet red, and yellow orange are also triads.

Tetrads

Tetrads is four colors that are two sets of complimentary colors that are next to one another on the color wheel.

Blue, green, orange and red at tetrads.

Red violet, blue violet, yellow green, and yellow orange are tetrads.

Split Complementary Colors

Split Complementary Colors are three colors in which one is from one side of the color wheel and the other two are the adjacent colors on the opposite of the color wheel.

Blue, red orange, and yellow orange are spilt complementary colors.

Monochromatic Color Schemes

Monochromatic Color Schemes are one color that are different in shades and tints.

Neutral Colors

Neutral Colors are white, beige, and grays.

How to Use

How does knowing color theory help? Knowing color theory and how to use different combinations of colors can really help when coloring, designing and artwork. Picking out colors before starting a project is one of the most important things I do when doing any kind of project. For example our house colors are green, blue, white, black and natural wood. The natural wood brings some warmth to the cool colors of blue and green. When I color a page the most important thing I can do is to pick the colors for the page before hand. I like only using 2-4 colors. If using more than this the page can look disjointed, unless I am doing a rainbow page.

Different colors can also be used to emphasize different seasons in the home and with art. Try experimenting with some of the color combos above and find favorites. The more experimenting the more honed design and art skills of picking colors will become.

Reference: The Pantone Book of Color 1990

How to Make a Color Wheel with Crayola Model Magic

I have been posting weekly STEM projects to do with kids that are home from school. I am going to be doing this all this year. My kids are home three days a week and in school for two days. We definitely need things to do. I hope that you find these projects useful and can do some with your kids while they are home from school.

Today's project is Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Colors aka basic color theory. I made it based on the color wheel from Johannes Itten's Art of Color book. I bought this book a while ago and have been reading it. It is amazing! He was a color genius.

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