8th Grade Color Scheme Paintings

After the observational drawing unit, 8th graders learned about color schemes. Color schemes are basically a way to organize colors and their relationships. We covered...

Monochromatic- tints and shades of one color

Primary- red, yellow, and blue

Secondary- orange, green, and purple

Warm- colors from the warm side of the color wheel like red, orange, and yellow (purple can also be warm)

Cool- colors from the cool side of the color wheel like green, blue, and purple (yellow can also be cool)

Complementary- colors that are opposite on the color wheel like red and green, yellow and purple, orange and blue

Analogous- colors that are side by side on the color wheel like orange, yellow, and green

Neutral- "value" colors that are not on the color wheel like black, white, and gray

Tint- a color with white added to make it lighter

Shade- a color with black added to make it darker

After learning about the colors, each student chose one color scheme they wanted to use in a painting, chose either tempera paint or watercolors, and chose their subject matter. Here are some of the results. Can you identify the color schemes used? 

*Black and white do not count against the color scheme. So, a painting that uses purple, yellow, black, and white would still be complementary.

**Brown is a shade of orange

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