Younger Children

Peter Reginato

American, born 1945

Kingfish: An Homage to Tim Moore

1986

Subject: Color
Activity: Mixing colors
Materials: Brush, paper, primary paint colors
Vocabulary: artist, color, primary colors, sculpture, secondary colors, shade

Introduction:

Remind your child that we see colors in all the things around us. Then explain that colors can convey mood; they can be pretty and cheerful or serious and quiet. Artists can use many different colors or different shades of one color to convey different feelings. This artist used bright colors to make his sculpture energetic

Questions:

What colors do you see in this sculpture?

Which colors are light and which are dark?

Which colors move toward you and which move away?

Can you think of words to describe the colors?

Do the colors in this sculpture make you feel happy or sad? Why?

Observations:

Note how light colors seem to come toward you and darker colors seem to move away. Also, the brightness or darkness of a color can convey mood.

Activity:

Ask the child to make three separate paintings: one red, one blue, and one yellow. Then on new sheets, mix red and blue to make purple, yellow and red to make orange, and yellow and blue to make green. Explain that the first three drawings are primary colors and the second three drawings are secondary colors.

Vocabulary:

Artist - someone who makes things, such as paintings and sculptures
Color - lightness or darkness of a surface, also known as hue
Primary colors - red, yellow, and blue
Sculpture - a work of art that has height, width, and depth
Secondary colors - green, orange, and purple
Shade - a darkened area, in which sunlight is blocked

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