Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

How are you today? I hope you're feeling really good and I'm so pleased that you're here.

My name is Ms. Afzal, and I'll be your art teacher for this lesson.

I'm very happy about that because today we're looking at color theory.

I wonder if you've explored this much before.

A lesson is called Revisiting color theory: the science and emotion of color.

I'm really excited to get into this lesson and find out how you feel about color and what different colors evoke.

A lesson comes from the unit of work, foundation, workshops, developing skills.

So if you're ready with some energy, focus and enthusiasm, we'll begin our lesson now.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can use the principles of color theory for technical and expressive purposes.

We have some keywords in our lesson.

Let's go through them.

Hue, saturation, color, and tone.

What do these keywords mean? Hue is the pure color itself, like red or blue.

Saturation: how intense or vivid a color is.

Color: what we see when light hits an object.

And tone: how light or dark a color is.

So these are our key words, hue, saturation, color, and tone.

Let's look out and listen out for them.

They'll be coming up in our lesson today.

Today's lesson is called Revisiting color theory: the science and emotion of color.

It has two learning cycles, revisiting the principles of color theory and communicating using color.

Let's begin by revisiting the principles of color theory.

Have you seen an artwork where color or tone created a strong mood or emotion? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

How do artists use color contrasts, light, dark, warm, cool, to guide the viewer's eye? Pause here and share with someone.

What do you think? Thanks for sharing, and I'll take a look at this artwork on the screen and share with someone how you think this artist has used color to create an emotion or to guide the viewer's eye.

Thanks for sharing.

Color is the overall name for things we see as red, blue, green, et cetera.

Color includes hues and tones.

Hue refers to the specific or pure color.

Tone describes how light or darker color appears, making it appear soft, dull, or bright.

Pause here and share with someone what you're noticing about the colors that you can see in this artwork on the screen.

Thanks for sharing.

Let's have a check for understanding.

True or false? Tone describes how light or dark a color appears, affecting whether it looks soft, dull, or bright.

Pause here while you decide.

Is this statement true or false? Well done If you selected true.

And now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this.

Tone is about the lightness or darkness of a color.

Changing tone can make colors appear more gentle, muted, or intense.

Color is the visual perception of different wavelengths of light, which the human eye can detect.

It's made up of hue, saturation and tone.

And here we can see a prism splitting white light into a spectrum of colors.

Color is made up of three components.

Hue: the pure color itself such as red, blue, or green.

Pause here and share with someone which of these three pure colors of red, blue, or green are you most instinctively drawn towards? Thanks for sharing.

Colors made up of three main components.

Another here is saturation.

The intensity of a color.

A highly saturated color is vivid while a less saturated color appears more muted or gray.

Color is made up of three main components, and a third is tone, the lightness or darkness.

Adding white makes a color lighter, tint, while adding black makes it darker, shade.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Color is made up of: a, saturation, tone and contrast; b, saturation, tone and hue; c, hue, saturation and tunes.

Pause here while you decide what is color made up of.

Well done if you selected answer b.

Indeed, color is made up of saturation, tone and hue.

The value of a color refers to its lightness or darkness.

The value of a color can be changed by tinting or shading a hue.

Artists use color value to show how light and shadow fall on objects, making them look three dimensional.

Placing light and dark values side by side can also create strong dramatic effects, as we can see in this artwork.

Let's have a check for understanding.

True or false? Artists use color value to show light and shadow, which makes objects look three dimensional.

Pause here and decide.

Is this statement true or false? Well done if you selected true.

And now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this.

Value, light and dark, helps create depth and form.

Strong contrast in value can also add drama to a painting.

So we can see here some warm colors on the left and cool colors on the right.

Pause here and share with someone.

What are you most drawn towards, warmer colors or cooler colors? Thanks for sharing.

Warm colors are hues of red, yellow, and orange.

They are associated with heat, energy and seem to radiate and expand.

Cool colors are hues of blue, purple and green.

They're associated with calm and appear to recede into the background.

The temperature of colors can be used to create a sense of depth in a painting.

Placing warm and cool colors together creates contrast and can balance a composition.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Which of the following statements about color temperature in art are correct? a, color temperature has no effect on the sense of depth in a painting; b, warm colors, red, yellow, orange, are associated with heat and energy; c, cool colors, blue, purple, green, are associated with calm.

Pause while you decide which of these statements about color temperature in art are correct.

Well done if you selected answers b and c.

These two statements about color temperature, in art are correct.

Artists use color in different combinations to create harmony and impact, such as harmonious, complimentary, analogous, and triadic schemes.

Harmonious is next to each other on the wheel, peaceful, natural.

Complimentary: colors opposite each other on the wheel, e.

g.

blue and orange; high contrast, strong impact.

Analogous: colors next to each other on the wheel; soft, blended harmony.

Triadic: three colors evenly spaced on the wheel; balanced, vibrant effect.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Use the color wheel to name three triadic colors.

Pause here while you do this.

You may have said: red-orange, yellow-green and blue purple; or three colors are evenly spaced on the color wheel.

And now it's time for your first task.

I would like you to choose a theme or emotion.

For example, nostalgia, chaos, serenity, isolation.

Create a color mood map to represent it.

Select three to five colors that best express your chosen emotion.

Annotate each color with a short note explaining why you chose it, e.

g.

blue suggests calmness.

Use those colors to sketch abstract shapes or simple composition that captures the overall mood.

Think about how different tones, light/dark, or contrasts, warm/cool, might intensify the feeling.

So pause here while you have a go at this task.

Choosing a theme or emotion, creating a color mood map to represent it.

Enjoy your task and I'll see you when you're finished.

This good feedback with you.

You should have created a color mood map.

Here are some examples.

Green represents calmness, gold represents warmth, red represents danger and unpredictability.

And now we're onto our next learning cycle, communicating using color.

With swatches of five to six colors, write down the first emotional memory which each color evokes.

Pause here while you do this.

Thanks for having a go at that.

People have different associations to colors because of their own personal feelings, memories or culture.

Common color associations include: black, power or fear; gray, sadness or boredom; purple, mystery or royalty; blue, calmness or loneliness; red, anger, love, danger or luck; yellow, happiness or hope; green, envy, growth, freshness; white, peace.

What impact has the red background had on the other colors here? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Here's Jacob.

"The red is bright and attention grabbing." Aisha, "The combination stands out because blue and orange are complimentary colors, i.

e.

opposite each other on the color wheel." What ideas do you associate with cooler colors on an artwork like this? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Here's Jacob.

"It feels like winter, like a park or forest.

It makes me think of winter and feel calm." How might the mood change if the colors were black and white? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Colors have been used symbolically in different contexts.

In the creative industries: red in films, horror movie posters often used red to suggest danger; black in music, heavy metal album covers frequently used black to convey power and mystery; pink in design, contemporary graphic designers use neon pink to create bold eye catching statements.

Where have you seen culturally specific examples of color symbolism? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Colors have been used symbolically in different contexts.

In global cultures: in Nigeria, indigo blue dye can be a symbol of wealth, status and cultural identity, used in traditional clothing; in India, white is sometime worn at funerals and mourning to symbolize purity and respect for the departed; in China, red is often associated with luck, happiness, and prosperity, often seen during celebrations like Chinese New Year.

Let's have a check for understanding.

True or false? Colors can carry symbolic meanings across different cultures.

Pause here and decide, is this true or false? Well done if you selected true.

And now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this.

Colors are not just decorative.

They often carry deep symbolic meanings.

For example, red can represent luck in China.

Understanding these associations helps us interpret art, design and cultural traditions more thoughtfully.

Examples of artists who use color expressively include: Jaune Quick-to-See Smith used bold red fields to evoke intense emotion and spiritual depth; Alma Thomas used bright yellow patterns to convey joy, movement and vitality; Henri Matisse used vibrant greens to capture life, harmony and expressive abstraction; Yong Woon Park uses vivid, unmixed colors and bold strokes to convey emotion and reflect inner restlessness and societal critique.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Which artist is known for using vibrant color patterns to convey energy, joy, and movement? Is it a, Mark Rothko; b, Alma Thomas; or c, Chris Ofili? Pause here while you decide.

Well done if you selected answer b.

Indeed, it's Alma Thomas who uses vibrant color patterns to convey energy, joy, and movement.

And now it's time for your next task.

I would like you to select an artwork by an artist.

Rework the artwork by changing its colors to create a different emotional impact or meaning.

Reflect on how your color choices transform the mood of the piece.

What emotion were you trying to express? How did your color choices support that? So pause here while you have a go at this task of reworking an artwork by changing its colors to create a different emotional impact or meaning.

I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task? You may have painted something like this.

Pause here and share your impressions of these artworks.

What emotions are they expressing? And how have the color choices supported that expression? Thanks for sharing.

And next, I'd like you to share your artwork with somebody and without explaining anything, see if they can feel what is the emotion that you've been trying to express through your use of color choices.

What would say while you do this? Thanks for having a go at that.

In our lesson, revisiting color theory: the science and emotion of color, we've covered the following.

The core concepts of color theory include: hue, saturation, value, temperature, and harmony.

Color has psychological and emotional effects, which can evoke mood, tension, and atmosphere.

Using color with purpose to create a painting that communicates a specific feeling, idea, or concept.

Well done everyone for joining in with this lesson.

It was great to revisit color theory together.

Look at those key terms, explore how color can evoke emotion, and put that into practice.

I hope you've enjoyed this lesson.

I've really enjoyed teaching you and I'm looking forward to seeing you at another art lesson soon.

Until then, stay creative.