Mixing Things Up: An Artistic Experiment in Color

People are visual creatures. We can’t help it! We’re influenced by the things we see, and color combinations have a major impact on how we perceive and react to the world around us. Color communicates on both the conscious and subconscious level- oftentimes transcending language! The right color combinations can draw in attention, generate emotion, and ultimately leave a lasting impression on the viewer.

So, to further explore this concept-and finish off our lesson on saturation, pigment and color theory-we did an experiment on mixing colors! After a discussion about primary, secondary and tertiary colors, we were ready to mix up some colorful creations. 

This project consisted of creating marbled prints using food coloring and shaving cream. Shaving cream, acting as the vehicle for our color, created beautiful swirls and organic shapes in the students’ works. 

Although the initial through-line of this project was mixing new colors, we also highlighted that design is not neutral and that various colors affect our environment, mood, impulses, and creativity. As a class, we experimented with an array of color combinations- even trying out different colored cardstock to see how it would change the outcome of our designs. When it was time to finalize our prints, we cut 8.5x11 sheets of paper into quarters and shared our marbled art pieces with one another.

As a teaching artist, I learned a lot from this experiment. Firstly, I observed that one can of shaving cream is not enough! If I had to redo this,  I would get more shaving cream so students could experiment even more with the color mixing. (However, the lack of shaving cream did give students an opportunity to share and work collaboratively!) Overall, this joyful learning experience, intertwined with its real world applications, builds on the skill set of understanding line and color theory- and I think that’s something worth screaming about!