Mixing Secondary Colours in the style of Gretchen Albrecht
Tarn, 6 years old, Year One
Rachel’s class visited me today and created beautiful paintings in the style of New Zealand artist Gretchen Albrecht. To start the day the students watched a video about primary and secondary colours. We talked about how colours often remind us of things we have seen or emotions that we feel. We looked at images of Gretchen Albrecht’s artworks and talked about what they made us think or feel.
Before the students could create a colour field painting they had to learn to mix secondary colours using acrylic paints. They learnt which colours to mix together and how to mix the paint in one spot instead of spreading it all over the paint palette. The students practiced painting by creating a multi-coloured dot picture. They started by painting the primary colours and then added the secondary colours. They had a wonderful time mixing their colours and painting them onto their paper.
The students did a great job of taking care of their learning environment today. They made sure to replace the spoons in the correct paint pot and were very careful when spooning out their paint. I am so proud of how the students looked after their brushes. They only painted with a little bit of paint on their brushes, thoroughly washed the brushes and dried them carefully.
When the coloured dot artworks were dry the students drew funny cartoon faces over the top. Check out their pictures below, there are lots of delightful characters to see if you look closely.
Next the students began their artworks the style of Gretchen Albrecht’s hemisphere works by painting a large semi-circle in a secondary colour (which they had mixed themselves, of course). We looked at Albrecht’s artworks and talked about how we could see the brushstrokes in her art. The students tried to keep their brushstrokes all going in the same direction to create flow and movement in the art, just like Albrecht’s work.
When the first layer was mostly dry the students painted over the top with the two primary colours that they had used to create their hemisphere shape. Once again we talked about keeping the brushstrokes visible for texture and movement.
The finished paintings are simply gorgeous to look at. I have hung them on a corridor wall it is quite a sensory experience to walk past the large artworks. I had a fantastic day with Rachel’s class and I am so proud of their efforts. I can’t wait to teach them again!
