Warm and Cool Colours

Overview

Lesson 5 of 8 in Creative Makers: Hands-On Art. Students explore how warm and cool colours can create contrast and communicate different feelings, then make a mood painting using paint, brushes and canvas.

Learning intentions

• WALT identify warm and cool colours.
• WALT use contrasting colour choices in a painting.
• WALT express an emotion or mood through colour.
• WALT explain some of the choices made in our artwork.

Success criteria

• I can sort colours into warm and cool groups.
• I can use warm and cool colours together to create contrast.
• I can choose colours that help show a feeling or mood.
• I can talk about one colour choice in my painting.

Curriculum links

• Developing practical knowledge in visual arts through experimenting with colour, paint and brush techniques.
• Developing ideas in visual arts by selecting and combining colour choices to communicate an idea or feeling.
• Communicating and interpreting by describing how visual features, especially colour and contrast, affect meaning.
• Using language, symbols and texts, managing self, and participating and contributing through discussion, planning, creating and reflecting.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 minutes – Welcome and visual hook Open with the colour and mood introduction slides. Show two contrasting colour images or paintings and ask: “How might this artwork feel if all the colours were changed?” Invite students to use feeling words such as calm, excited, lonely, joyful or angry.

2. 5–15 minutes – Explore warm and cool colours Display the colour wheel on the warm and cool colour slides. Explain that warm colours usually include reds, oranges and yellows, while cool colours usually include blues, greens and violets. Clarify that artists use colour to suggest a mood, but people may respond differently to the same colour. Give students a quick movement response: point to a warm colour and have them show an “energetic” pose; point to a cool colour and have them show a “calm” pose. Briefly model how placing warm and cool colours beside one another creates contrast.

3. 15–22 minutes – Demonstration and planning Demonstrate choosing one mood, making a simple background, and adding a contrasting shape, line or pattern. Model mixing carefully, loading a brush, keeping water tidy and washing brushes between colour groups. Distribute the mood painting planning sheet. Students choose an emotion or mood, circle or draw possible warm and cool colours, and make a small thumbnail sketch. Students who need support may use teacher-prepared colour cards and select from suggested feeling examples.

4. 22–47 minutes – Independent creation: mood paintings Students create a painting on canvas. Encourage them to use a clear warm area and cool area, or a warm subject against a cool background, so that contrast is visible. They may use brushstrokes, shapes, lines and simple patterns to strengthen the mood. Pause at approximately 35 minutes for a quiet “look and notice” check: students place brushes down, look at their work and ask, “Can I see both colour groups? What feeling might someone notice?” The teacher circulates, conferences with individuals and photographs work in progress if appropriate.

5. 47–55 minutes – Gallery share and partner talk Place paintings where students can view them safely. In pairs, students take turns saying: “My painting shows…”, “I used warm/cool colours such as…”, and “These colours help because…”. Partners respond with one observation, avoiding judgements about whether a feeling is right or wrong. Return to the discussion prompt slides for two or three whole-class observations about contrast and mood.

6. 55–60 minutes – Reflection and tidy-up Students complete the final reflection box on the mood painting planning sheet: name one colour choice and describe its effect. Invite two or three volunteers to share. Students wash brushes, return paints, place canvases on the drying area and wipe tables, following the clean-up routine shown on the reflection and tidy-up slides.

Resources

• Paints in warm and cool colours
• Brushes, water containers, palettes and cloths
• Small canvases or canvas boards for 25 students
• Colour wheel or colour samples
• Teacher-prepared warm/cool colour cards for students needing support
• Aprons or paint shirts and table coverings
• Drying rack or labelled drying area
• the colour and mood introduction slides
• the mood painting planning sheet

Assessment

• During discussion and planning, listen for students correctly identifying warm and cool colours and using relevant feeling words.
• During creation, observe whether students deliberately include contrasting warm and cool choices and handle materials safely.
• Use the planning sheet, painting and partner explanation as evidence of students’ ability to connect colour choices with mood or emotion. Record brief notes for students who need further support with colour vocabulary, contrast or explaining artistic decisions.

Differentiation

• Provide colour cards grouped into warm and cool colours, with simple visual labels, for students who need support. Offer a small selection of paint colours rather than the full range if choice becomes overwhelming.
• Give examples of emotional responses to colours, while explaining that artists and viewers can have different interpretations. Provide sentence starters and allow students to point, draw or dictate their explanation.
• For autistic students, show the lesson sequence in advance, use a visual timer, identify a quieter workspace and offer noise reduction options. Give clear expectations for paint quantities, brush washing and clean-up, and allow a short sensory break if needed.
• Support fine-motor needs with thicker-handled brushes, a stable canvas surface and a larger painting area. Extend confident artists by asking them to create repeated shapes, experiment with colour mixing or use a gradual transition between warm and cool areas.