A City of Warm and Cool Colors

As an art teacher I am always looking to change out a lesson to just do something different or more exciting. The internet has been such a remarkable source of inspiration for all of us. And that is where I found this lesson a few years ago when I was looking for another way to teach my students about warm and cool colors.

I found this lesson here on There's a Dragon in my Art Room, a blog written by Phyllis Levine Brown. I've had the opportunity to meet up with Phyl during NAEA conferences.

Here's a photo from New York 2017. Phyl, Rachel Hessing Wintemberg who blogs the Helpful Art Teacher and me.

This is a really good lesson to get students thinking about perspective. And while they don't completely get the concept (tricky concept for elementary students.....) it helps a little.

Here is my storyboard, something I started at the end of last year. While technology is wonderful, I believe my students benefit from a constant visual to look at.

 

You can see just how easy each of the steps are. I did have students practice in their sketchbooks before doing it on the large paper with Sharpies. That was a big help.
        Students start out with arrows, extend the line to the bottom edge.

 

 They add windows, I did point out using parallel lines to make the windows, some got it and some didn't. Then add the concentric circles.

 

Decide whether to use the warm colors on the buildings or the sky. Then use the cool colors on the sky or the buildings. Students used crayons, I went over the color wheel with them. Included all 12 colors and we decided red violet would be warm and yellow green would be cool. I had the colors separated and we started out by using only the warm colors until they understood the assignment.

   

 

 

 

I just did this lesson with my 2nd graders and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. And since it was so close to Halloween when we started the project, students added their own holiday flourish to their art.

 

Thanks Phyl for a really great lesson!

How do you teach warm and cool colors? I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for Reading!