Painting Great Greens!

Green is a color that students often take for granted.  When painting greens, many will default to just using the green in their paint set.  This results in paintings that lack depth and interest.  With some basic color mixing instruction, kids can paint a variety of greens and greatly improve their paintings at the same time!  

Materials:

• 9x12 white construction paper or watercolor paper
• Watercolor set (I like the Prang OVL-8 set)
• Watercolor brush (#8 - #12 round is good)
• Water and container

Directions:

1. The first step is to help kids "see like artists" by recognizing the vast array of greens that are all around us in nature.  Bring in plant and leaf samples, take a nature walk, examine the work of famous plein aire painters like Claude Monet, or simply look out the window!  Point out the subtle and not-so-subtle variations in the variety of greens that most people (not just kids!) may otherwise overlook.  The photo below is one example of the variety of greens you'll find in nature: 

Imagine if you used only the green in your paint set to paint this picture!

2. Use a color wheel to show how green (a secondary color) is created by mixing yellow and blue (primary colors).  The color wheel will show how by varying the ratio of yellow to blue, you can change the green that results.  

3. Now, paint some greens!  Mix as many different greens as you can by varying the amounts of yellow and blue as you mix them together.  Each time you mix a new variation of green, paint a small swatch on your paper.  

4. Next, try adding yellow and/or blue in varying amounts to the green that's already in your paint set, for an even greater variety of greens.  

5. Then, take your greens a step further by mixing a green and adding a tiny amount of black to it.  Do the same with red, orange, purple and brown.  (Just make sure that each new color still looks "green-ish"!)  The goal is to paint as many different greens as possible.  See who can paint the most greens!

6. Finally, use your new color mixing experience to paint a jungle (or other nature scene) using as many different greens as you can.  Notice how much more lively your paintings look when you use a variety of greens and not just the green in your paint set!

Even very young children can be taught to mix a range of greens that more accurately reflect the amazing variety of greens all around us.  Try this exercise with your students.... they (and you!) will never take greens for granted again!