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Year 7 · Art and design · The formal elements · Lesson 3

Colour theory

Colour theory: primary and secondary colours, the colour wheel, mixing, complementary colours, tints and shades, and warm and cool colours for mood.

Whiteboard video lesson: Colour theory

16-minute video lesson

Teaching, worked examples and 20 practice questions solved step by step.

Watch free for a month

What your child will learn

  • Name primary and secondary colours
  • Mix secondary colours
  • Identify complementary colours
  • Use warm/cool colours, tints and shades

The method

  1. Mood.
  2. Warm or cool.
  3. Complementary.
  4. Tints + shades.

Key words: primary colour, secondary colour, colour wheel, complementary, tint, shade.

Worked examples

The first three practice questions from the lesson, with every step.

Question 1

Name the three primary colours.

  1. Step 1: R, Y, B

Answer: red, yellow, blue

Question 2

Name the three secondary colours.

  1. Step 1: O, G, P

Answer: orange, green, purple

Question 3

Red + yellow = ?

  1. Step 1: Sunset

Answer: orange