Masking Tape Letters on a Primary Color Background
What you need:
- Watercolor Paper cut to 9×12
- BLUE Masking Tape
- Watercolors—Red, Yellow and Blue
- Rinse water in bowls
- Extra large Paint Brushes
- Sponges—for adult helpers only
Set up:
This lesson does require some prep work that should be done before class time. Request a class list from the teacher. The night before, tape the first letter of the name of each student on to each piece of watercolor paper (letters will be block-shaped).
Each student will receive the following:
- Watercolor paper, a set of watercolor paints, large paintbrush, paint shirt if desired.
Each table will receive the following:
- bowls with rinse water
Class Time:
- Start your class by reading Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh (in the art cupboard OR check out larger book from school library) or by watching the video on the smartboard.
- Talk briefly about color—see discussion piece, color wheel poster, etc. We will be focusing on the primary and secondary colors for this lesson.
- Have another adult take a clean sponge and dampen each student’s paper with water (you don’t want it to be drippy, just moistened enough so that the paint is applied smoothly).
- Once the discussion is completed, instruct each student to take their large brush, dip it into water, then dip it into the red paint.
- Making sure there is enough paint on the brush, and painting over the tape, paint 1/3 of the paper using red.
- Rinse the brush—then dip it into the yellow watercolor paint and paint the second 1/3 of the paper.
- Rinse the brush—then dip it into the blue watercolor paint and paint the final 1/3 of the paper.
- Instruct the students that it’s OK to overlap the three colors—you want to demonstrate that mixing primary colors results in the formation of secondary colors.
- NOTE: Switch out rinse water between colors. Start with a couple rinse waters for each table to share. Have clean rinse water ready.
- Remove the tape design—you will want to do this before the paint has completely dried or the paper will tear or pull up with the tape.
- Once dry, mount the paintings on to colored construction paper.
NOTE: this project may work best if you walk the students through it step by step—just to ensure that only the primary colors are used!
