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Y2 Foundation Art

Colour, Colour Theory, Colour Pencil Techniques

Y2 Colour and Colour Pencil Techniques

How are coloured pencils used?

Coloured pencils are a versatile medium used in art for their ability to produce a wide range of effects, from detailed, precise lines to soft gradients and shading. Here are some basic ways coloured pencils are used in art:

1. Layering and Blending

Layering: They can be applied in multiple layers to build up color and intensity. Artists gradually add more layers, allowing the colors to mix and become richer.
Blending: By using blending tools (such as blending stumps, or even a soft brush) or techniques like burnishing, artists can smooth out pencil strokes to create a seamless transition between colours or a soft, gradient effect.

2. Detailed Work and Precision

Coloured pencils allow for highly detailed work because of their fine tips, which can make sharp, clean lines. Artists use them to create intricate textures, patterns, and fine details that are difficult to achieve with other media.

3. Shading and Gradients

Shading: Artists use them to create realistic shadows and highlights by varying pressure and layering colours. The control they offer makes it easier to gradually build up shading, especially for portraits and realistic drawings.
Gradients: By carefully blending colours, artists can create smooth transitions from light to dark, as seen in gradients or the subtle gradation of skin tones, skies, or other elements in a drawing.

Relevant Basic Techniques

Visual Qualities

Elements of Art: Tones, Colour, Form

Principles of Design: Contrast

Colour, Colour Schemes, Watercolour painting Techniques

FN Y2 Watercolour Painting

How is watercolour used?

Artists use watercolour paint to achieve a variety of effects and express their creativity. Here’s how artists typically use watercolours:

General Applications

Landscapes: To capture atmospheric effects like skies, water, and distant hills.
Portraits: For delicate, translucent skin tones and fine details.
Abstract Art: Using washes, layers, and textures to explore shapes and colours.
Illustrations: Watercolours are popular in book illustrations for their soft and engaging quality.

Expressive Techniques

Layering and Glazing: Artists apply thin, translucent layers of paint to build up colour and depth gradually. This technique enhances the vibrancy and creates subtle tonal shifts.
Blending: Watercolours blend naturally on wet surfaces, allowing artists to create smooth transitions and gradients, perfect for skies, landscapes, or abstract works.
Texturing: Using salt, sponges, or plastic wrap, artists create textures like rough terrain, water ripples, or foliage.

Depicting Light and Atmosphere

Transparency: Watercolour's natural transparency allows light to reflect through the layers of paint and the white of the paper, creating luminous effects.
Atmospheric Perspective: Artists use diluted washes for distant elements to achieve a sense of depth and atmosphere, often seen in landscapes.

4. Spontaneity and Fluidity

Quick Strokes and Washes: Watercolours encourage loose, expressive strokes and dynamic washes that capture the immediacy of a scene or feeling.
Wet-on-Wet: Applying paint to a wet surface results in soft, organic blends, suitable for clouds, water, or abstract compositions.

Relevant Basic Techniques

Visual Qualities

Elements of Art: Shape and colour

Principles of Design: Emphasis, Proportion, contrast

Metamorphosis, Mixed media Techniques

Y2 Metamorphosis

How is mixed media used?

Mixed media in art is when an artist uses different materials and techniques in a single artwork. Instead of using just one type of art medium, like only paint or only pencils, mixed media combines things like paint, ink, fabric, paper, watercolour, coloured pencil, and even found objects.

For example:

An artist might paint a background with watercolours and then add details with coloured pencils.
A collage could be made by gluing magazine cutouts onto a canvas and adding paint on top.
Some artists mix 3D elements, like string or sand, to create texture.