Digital @ The Arts Unit Creative Classes
Digital @ The Arts Unit Creative Classes
Student visual arts resource developed by The Arts Unit
Years 1 to 6 visual arts
You will:
explore colour theory
identify the primary and secondary colours
discover more about the history of colour theory
create your own colour wheel.
Welcome to the class
Duration: 00:25You'll need:
a device to watch video and audio
pencils, crayons, watercolours, paint or coloured paper/fabric (up to you!)
colour wheel template. Select and print the template that you would like to use. If you know all your colours, challenge yourself and complete the blank wheel. (Links to templates are included below in step 4.)
What are primary colours?
Primary colours are the 3 pigment colours that cannot be formed by any combination of other colours. All other colours are created by mixing these 3 hues (colours).
Red, yellow and blue
What are secondary colours?
Secondary colours are formed by mixing two primary colours.
Green, orange and purple
How to create secondary colours from primary colours
Watch The Colour Wheel video to learn more about primary and secondary colours.
The Colour Wheel
Duration: 03:39Extension activity – what are tertiary colours?
Tertiary colours are the colours formed by mixing a primary and a secondary colour. They are yellow-orange, red-orange, red-purple, blue-purple, blue-green & yellow-green.
Tertiary colour wheel
Look at what's around you, both inside and outside, to see if you can find primary and secondary coloured objects.
Which colours can you find that are warm or cool?
Have a go at answering these 3 questions:
Can you name all the primary and secondary colours?
Can you name the warm colours?
Can you name the cool colours?
Discover the history of the colour wheel.
Watch this short video on the history of the colour wheel.
Write down or tell someone 3 interesting facts you learnt. You might even share these interesting facts with your teacher!
The history of the colour wheel
Duration: 04:30Now that you know your primary and secondary colours, it’s time to create your own colour wheel!
Using the colour wheel template PDF and your pencils, crayons, watercolours, paint or coloured paper/fabric of choice, decorate your colour wheel.
If you know all your colours, challenge yourself and complete the blank wheel or draw your own.
Colour wheel template (PDF 246 KB)
Extension activity – tertiary colours
Have a go at creating tertiary colours and adding them to your colour wheel. You can use the template in the colour wheel template PDF or make a wheel out of different objects like these created by Year 8 students from Corowa High School.
Congratulations! You have completed this Digital @ The Arts Unit Creative Class.
We hope you had fun learning about colours!
'Primary Color Wheel Clipart #1477084' is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Colour wheel extension activity examples, © Corowa High School, 2020, reproduced and communicated with permission.