High School

Celisha G., Chameleon Dragon, grade eleven, tempera on paper, 8½ x 11" (22 x 28 cm).

The Essential Questions
How does art represent personal expression, exploration, and insight?

Objective
Students will learn color theory and paint-mixing techniques and apply them to an original drawing to demonstrate understanding.

Materials
paper, pencils, paintbrushes, color wheel, acrylic or tempera paint (primary colors, black, and white)

Procedures
1. Discuss and review color theory, the color wheel, and appropriate vocabulary. Have students take notes or have resources available.
2. Create a template for students to divide their paper into sections, each of which describes a color combination: primary, secondary, analogous, complementary, warm, cool, monochromatic, triadic, etc.
3. Ask students to imagine and draw their own image on the template, challenging themselves to mix and create each color scheme in each section using only the primary colors, black, and white. If desired, they can also paint their background in the same color scheme.
4. Have students frame and mount their paintings with a title and signature.

Assessment
Students assess how well they demonstrated their knowledge of color theory, paint mixing, and vocabulary based on each layer of their drawing.

Dannielle Arneson is an art teacher at Sheboygan North High School in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.