Grade by Grade
B. Drama / D. Visual Arts · Drama and Visual Arts

Visual Arts: Tertiary Colours, Naturalistic and Expressive Colour

D1.3 D2.1 D2.2About 45 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can name and mix the six tertiary colours.
  • I can use the colour wheel to choose colour schemes.
  • I can use colour to create a naturalistic (true-to-life) image.
  • I can use colour expressively to show a feeling or idea, and explain my choices.
  • I can interpret the feelings colours communicate in an art work.

Words to know

primary colours
Red, yellow and blue. In painting, they can't be mixed from other colours.
secondary colours
Orange, green and violet (purple), each made by mixing two primary colours.
tertiary colours
Colours made by mixing a primary colour with a secondary colour next to it on the colour wheel, such as red-orange or blue-green. Also called intermediate colours.
analogous colours
Colours that sit next to each other on the colour wheel, like yellow, yellow-green and green.
naturalistic colour
Colour used to look the way things really appear in nature or real life.
expressive colour
Colour chosen to show a feeling, mood or idea, even if it isn't realistic.
warm and cool colours
Warm colours (reds, oranges, yellows) can feel energetic or cozy; cool colours (blues, greens, violets) can feel calm or chilly.

Remember from Grade 5

You learned complementary colours (opposites on the colour wheel), hue and intensity, and how mixing a colour with a little of its complement makes it duller.

In Grade 6 you will fill in the whole colour wheel with tertiary colours, and decide when to use colour naturalistically (true to life) or expressively (to show feelings).

Is it orange or red?

Look at a maple leaf in October. Is it red? Orange? Somewhere in between? Many fall leaves are red-orange. And the bright new grass in spring? Often more yellow-green than plain green.

Nature is full of in-between colours. With the six tertiary colours, your colour wheel grows from 6 hues to 12, and your paintings can match what you really see.

Close-up of maple leaves in red-orange, yellow-orange and deep red.
Look closely: many of these leaves are in-between, or tertiary, colours like red-orange and yellow-orange. AI-generated image
the six tertiary coloursyellow-orangered-orangered-violetblue-violetblue-greenyellow-green
A 12-hue colour wheel. Going around from the top: yellow, yellow-orange, orange, red-orange, red, red-violet, violet, blue-violet, blue, blue-green, green and yellow-green. Beside it is a list of the six tertiary colours with swatches: yellow-orange, red-orange, red-violet, blue-violet, blue-green and yellow-green.

Mixing tertiary colours

A tertiary colour = a primary colour + the secondary colour next to it on the wheel.

  • yellow + orange → yellow-orange
  • red + orange → red-orange
  • red + violet → red-violet
  • blue + violet → blue-violet
  • blue + green → blue-green
  • yellow + green → yellow-green

Notice the name: the primary colour comes first (red-orange, not orange-red).

Mixing tip: start with the lighter colour and add the darker one a little at a time. It takes much less blue to change yellow than the other way around!

Colour schemes from the wheel

  • Analogous colours: neighbours on the wheel, like yellow, yellow-green and green. They feel harmonious and calm together, like a spring meadow.
  • Complementary colours (Grade 5): opposites, for contrast and energy.
  • Warm colours: red, orange, yellow and their tertiaries. Cool colours: blue, green, violet and their tertiaries.

Naturalistic colour: paint what you really see

Naturalistic colour tries to look like real life. The trick is to look carefully, because real colours often surprise us:

  • Shadows on snow on a sunny day often look blue or blue-violet, not grey.
  • Tree trunks are often greys, greens and even violets, not just brown.
  • Grass in one lawn has many greens: yellow-greens in the sun, blue-greens in the shade.
  • A clear sky is usually paler near the horizon and deeper blue higher up.

Expressive colour: paint how it feels

Expressive colour is chosen to show a feeling, mood or idea, even if it isn't realistic.

  • A red-orange sky can show anger, excitement or heat.
  • A face painted in blue-greens might show sadness, cold or illness.
  • In 1911 the German artist Franz Marc painted The Large Blue Horses. The horses are bright blue, not their real colour. Marc gave colours special meanings, and the blue horses feel calm, strong and spiritual rather than realistic.
  • Painters of the Canadian landscape, such as the Group of Seven, often used bold, bright colours and simplified shapes to express the energy of the land.

Neither way is better. Artists choose the one that fits their purpose.

Worked example

Example: Mixing a tertiary colour step by step

Let's mix blue-green, the colour of a northern lake on a summer day.

  1. Put a small amount of green on your palette. (Or mix green first from yellow and blue.)
  2. Put some blue beside it.
  3. Add a little blue into the green and mix well.
  4. Compare it to the colour wheel. Too green? Add a bit more blue. Too blue? Add a bit more green.
  5. Paint a swatch and label it blue-green.

Blue + green = blue-green, a tertiary colour. Add the stronger colour a little at a time and compare as you go.

Worked example

Example: The same maple tree, two ways

Paint a maple tree in October two ways and compare.

  1. Naturalistic version: look at a real maple. Paint the leaves in reds, red-oranges, oranges and yellow-oranges; the trunk in greys and dark browns; the sky pale blue near the horizon; the shadows on the grass in blue-greens.
  2. Expressive version: the tree is about losing a grandparent who loved that tree. Paint the leaves in cool blue-violets and blues falling into a grey-violet sky. The colours feel quiet and sad.
  3. Compare: the first shows what the tree looks like; the second shows how the artist feels.
  4. Explain it: "In my expressive version, I chose cool colours like blue-violet instead of the leaves' real warm colours to communicate sadness and loss."

Naturalistic colour shows how things look; expressive colour shows feelings and ideas. Both are good choices for different purposes.

naturalisticwhat the tree looks likeexpressivehow the artist feels (sad, quiet)
The same maple tree two ways. The naturalistic tree uses the warm reds, oranges and yellow-oranges of a real October maple; the expressive tree uses cool blue-violets to show sadness.
Riddle time

Why is it never called "orange-red" in art class?

Because the primary colour always gets to go first: red-orange! 🎨

Hands-on activity

Colour wheel lab

You need: washable paint in red, yellow and blue (plus white if you have it), brushes, water, a plate or lid for mixing, paper towel, white paper, and a compass, a plate or a lid to trace a circle.

  1. Make a 12-hue colour wheel. Trace a circle and divide it into 12 sections (fold a paper circle in half, then into thirds of each half, then in half again, or draw lines like a clock face). Paint the primaries first, at 12, 4 and 8 o'clock. Mix the secondaries between them, then the tertiaries in the gaps. Label each colour.
  2. Colour hunt: find three objects at home in tertiary colours (a red-violet shirt, a yellow-green apple, a blue-green bottle). Match them to your wheel.
  3. Naturalistic study: look out a window or at a plant and paint a small study, mixing the colours you really see.
  4. Expressive painting: paint the same subject again in colours that show a feeling (choose warm or cool, analogous or complementary).
  5. Interpret: show both paintings to a family member and ask, "What feeling does each one give you?" Then explain your colour choices.

Your turn

1

Name the six tertiary colours.

2

Which two colours mix to make red-violet?

3

What are analogous colours? Give an example.

4

What is the difference between naturalistic and expressive colour?

5

Name two warm colours and two cool colours.

6

Why are Franz Marc's horses blue?

7

What colour are shadows on snow on a sunny day often?

More practice: warm-up

1

Name the three primary colours.

2

Name the three secondary colours.

3

How many hues are on a colour wheel with primaries, secondaries and tertiaries?

4

Is red-orange a warm or a cool colour?

5

What is another name for tertiary colours?

More practice: on your own

1

Why is orange-red not the usual name for the colour between red and orange?

2

You mix yellow and blue-green. What family of colours will you probably get, and why?

3

Plan an analogous colour scheme for a painting of a calm autumn forest.

4

A painting of a city at night uses mostly blue-violets and blues, with one bright yellow-orange window. Interpret the feeling and explain how the colours create it.

5

Give one reason an artist might choose naturalistic colour and one reason to choose expressive colour.

Challenge

1

Explain how a tertiary colour can be the complement of another tertiary colour. Give an example.

2

Plan a painting about a social concern (for example, wildfire smoke over a town) using expressive colour. Describe your colour scheme and the feeling.

3

A classmate says, "Expressive colour is just wrong colour." Respond with reasons.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

A tertiary colour is made by mixing ___.

2.

Which is a tertiary colour?

3.

Yellow, yellow-green and green are ___.

4.

Expressive colour is used to ___.

5.

Which colour is warm?

6.

Painting a sunset as close as possible to how it really looks is using ___ colour.

For parents and teachers

Big idea: For Grade 6, the curriculum's focus for colour is the colour wheel, tertiary colours, colour for expressive purposes and colour for creating naturalistic images. Students use colour to communicate ideas (D1.3), interpret the feelings, issues and themes art works convey (D2.1) and explain how elements create meaning (D2.2).

How to help:

  • Go on a "tertiary hunt" in the grocery store: yellow-green apples, red-violet cabbage, red-orange peppers.
  • On a sunny snowy day, look at shadows together. Are they grey or blue?
  • Look up Franz Marc's The Large Blue Horses online and ask, "Why blue? How does it make you feel?"

Safety: use washable, non-toxic paint; cover the table.

Common difficulties:

  • Muddy mixes. Use clean water and a clean brush; add the darker colour to the lighter one a little at a time.
  • Naming tertiaries backwards. Primary first: red-orange, blue-green.
  • Thinking expressive colour is a mistake. It's a choice. Ask, "What feeling did you want?"