Color Value

 Students had a great time today discovering color value.  I think of color value as how much color there is.  Is it light or dark?  Does it have a high saturation or low?  To begin this lesson, students folded a large piece of 80 lb. paper into sixths.  Then they found a partner who wanted the same color as them - they shared palettes.

Then, students painted one section with the high-value, unaltered color that came out of the bottle of tempera paint.  Next, one student added a blob of color to their blob of white and mixed it.  This is called a tint.  They painted a section with the tint.  Then the other partner made a slightly darker tint and they painted another section.  Finally, it was time to make a shade.  So black was added to the color (not the tint!)  and they painted a section.  To make an even darker tint, another blob of black was added.  In the end, students mixed everything on their palette together and painted the last section.  Next week we will use this paper to make a collage!  Lesson of the day:  add dark color to light color when mixing paint.