Vocabulary: Colour Theory

Subject: Art and Design | Year: 3

Name: _________________________ Class/Set: ____________ Date: ____________

Word	Definition	Example Sentence
Primary	The three basic colours (red, yellow, and blue) that cannot be made by mixing other paints.	We cannot mix other paints to create the three primary colours.
Secondary	A colour made by mixing two primary colours together, such as green, orange, or purple.	When I mixed blue and yellow, I created green, which is a secondary colour.
Tertiary	A colour created by mixing a primary colour with a secondary colour sitting next to it.	To make a tertiary colour like blue-green, mix a primary and a secondary colour.
Hue	A technical word used to describe a specific colour or a shade of a colour.	The artist used a bright red hue to make the flower stand out in the field.
Tone	How bright, deep, or dull a colour appears once it has been mixed.	Adding grey to the paint helped to change the tone of the sky in my picture.
Shade	A darker version of a colour that is made by adding a small amount of black.	I added a tiny bit of black to the blue paint to create a darker shade for the sea.
Tint	A lighter version of a colour that is made by adding white paint.	We made a light pink tint by mixing white into the red paint on our palettes.
Complementary	Colours that sit opposite each other on the colour wheel and look bright when placed together.	Orange and blue are complementary colours because they sit across from each other.
Palette	A thin board used by painters to hold and mix their different paints.	I squeezed three different colours onto my wooden palette before I started painting.
Pigment	The natural substance or powder that gives paint, ink, or dye its specific colour.	The blue pigment in the paint came from a crushed rock called lapis lazuli.
Medium	The specific type of material an artist chooses to use, such as oil paint or charcoal.	My favourite medium to work with is watercolour because it spreads across the paper.
Canvas	A strong, heavy cloth stretched over a frame that artists use as a surface for painting.	The painter stood in front of the large white canvas with a brush in her hand.
Contrast	A noticeable difference between two colours, such as a very light tint next to a dark shade.	The contrast between the yellow sun and the dark purple clouds looked very dramatic.
Warm	Colours like red, orange, and yellow that remind us of heat, fire, or the sun.	I used warm colours like orange and red to paint a picture of a summer bonfire.
Cool	Colours like blue, green, and purple that remind us of water, ice, or a cold day.	The snowy mountain was painted using cool colours like light blue and violet.
Neutral	Colours such as black, white, grey, and brown that are not found on the main colour wheel.	We used neutral colours like brown and beige for the dog's fur to make it look real.
Blending	Gently mixing the edges of two colours together so they change into each other smoothly.	By blending the edges of the two colours, the sunset looked soft and realistic.
Gradient	A smooth change in a painting from one colour or tone to another.	The background of the poster had a smooth gradient from dark green to light green.
Texture	The way a surface feels to the touch, or how it looks like it would feel.	Thick paint can be used to create a bumpy texture on the surface of the work.
Composition	The way an artist decides to arrange the different parts of a picture on the page.	Think about the composition of your drawing before you start to make sure everything fits.

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⚠ TEACHER’S GUIDANCE

🎨 Pedagogical Opportunities & Delivery Tips

• Model: Use a 'Visualiser' to demonstrate the difference between a tint and a shade. Students often over-apply black paint; encourage the "dot method" where only a tiny amount of black is added at a time.
• Explain: When teaching tertiary colours, use the "Parent and Child" analogy. The primary and secondary colours are the parents, and the tertiary colour is the child that takes both names (e.g., Yellow-Green).
• Misconception Alert: Ensure students understand that while 'Hue' is often used interchangeably with 'Colour', in Art, a hue is the purest form of a pigment without any white or black added.
• Oracy Task: Encourage students to use the word contrast when critiquing a peer's work (e.g., "I like the contrast you created between the warm sunset and the cool shadows").

🛡 Safety & Nuance Check

• PVA & Pigments: Ensure all pigments and paints used are wheat and gluten-free if any students have specific allergies.
• Sensory Needs: For students with sensory processing sensitivities, provide sponges or varied brush sizes to explore texture without requiring direct finger-painting.