We know you learned these in Kindergarten, but, do you know why Red Yellow, and Blue are called Primary Colors? Because they cannot be mixed from anything else. They must be “found” in nature - in plants, minerals etc.
From these three, all other colors can be made. In fact, all color printing is based on these three colors plus black (which is actually the combination of the three). In printing, they are called Magenta (red), Yellow, and Cyan (blue).
The color wheel is an easy way to arrange the primary colors and their basic combinations so that their relationships to each other can be easily seen. It is a very good idea to make your own color wheel, because the exercise of mixing and filling in the colors helps to permanently plant the information in your brain.
For this reason, we have included the blank color wheel below. Right click the image (Control-Click on Macintosh), download it to your computer, and print it. We will be using wet, water-based paint to make our color wheel, so your challenge is to get it in a format where the inkjet ink of the outline will not run when you paint it, and the paper won't buckle (too much). If you do not have a waterproof inkjet printer (Epson C-80), you can print it and copy it on a laser based copier, or, you can trace it onto “paintable” paper with an indelible pen. (Sheer Heaven is a perfect material for this). In addition to your paintable blank color wheel,
You will also need:
Red, Yellow, and Blue Paint
A plastic egg carton (12 compartments)
An eye dropper or pipette
A paint brush
The best results will come from a transparent “clear” color like a liquid watercolor, ink, or acrylic (dye inks like Tria will also work). Go for the basics (no pearls, irridescents etc) and start with the truest red, yellow, and blue you can find. Even food coloring will work, but will fade very quickly. Gather your paints, egg carton, blank color wheel, and eyedropper and proceed to the next page.
