Carolynn Helton's Classes
This site shows all the classes I have taught or currently teach. My goal is to have all the curriculum available here online for students, parents and myself. Currently I am teaching Photography/Yearbook, Art Exporations, Video/Media, Leadership and Mixed Media Arts at ERCLC (Eleanor Roosevelt) .
Portraits with Primary Colors
Watercolor Portrait skin tones using layers and the three primary colors.
Color Wheel for reference while working on layers.
Look to these documents for
1. WATERCOLOR BASICS USING LAYERS 2. INSTRUCTIONS FOR THIS PROJECT
Time:
This will be an ongoing project for about two weeks, two and a half if needed.
Materials:
Watercolor paint of the three primary colors, arches 140lb watercolor paper to handle the layers, brushes, paper towels and water.
Objective:
To learn how to use layers in watercolors applying only the primary colors yellow, red and blue in separate layers. Scaffolding on knowledge of the color wheel and basic color theory as well as past instruction in watercolor students are going to take the information learned in Art Concepts to a more complex level here in Advanced Art. They will learn to see the effects of the separate layers making the secondary colors from the primary colors in a way that leaves a translucence only watercolor layers can produce versus other mediums and how to compensate for when it goes to the secondary colors of purple, orange and green if the desired colors are too intense. Some of those exaggerated colors are nice in portraits and often not noticed just looking at a photo or someone in person but those colors are there. For example if they’ve had too much yellow on the first layer of an area it might need more red to compensate if it goes too green from having too much blue. That red layer needs to be done after the other laters are dry. It will be important for them to learn each later has to fully dry otherwise the colors turn muddy and that translucence is lost.
Lesson:
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Find a portrait to paint of your own and draw out the image you will be using on regular paper first.
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You will then either trace your drawing onto the watercolor paper or free sketch it again onto the watercolor paper, whichever you’re more comfortable with. Emphasis will be in a light tracing and not overly dark so it does not become dominant over the painting.
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Teacher will demonstrate painting in yellow first monochromatically showing shadows mid tones and highlights, using a softening effect that shows graduation. There will be a glazed first layer on wet versus working on dry for a second yellow layer. These layers needs to fully dry before each subsequent layer and will be emphasized. Blow dryers to help dry faster will be available. Students then do their own yellow monochromatic painting, teacher walks around and is available for feedback and help. As students work, individuals will struggle or need further explanation or demonstration and those will be opportunities to demonstrate and/or explain for the whole class and will be used to expand on techniques and problem-solving as students are working. This often will lead to more students asking for help once they see we are all learning and part of that learning process is struggling through the technique and that their learning needs is a growing opportunity for everybody. This will become a lot more apparent once we have applied the blue layer.
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Teacher will demonstrate the red layer. It at first just overlays and mimics most of what the yellow did, but most faces will also have a thin layer of red that goes further into the highlights for more of a pink tone. This will vary skin tone to skin tone. There will be areas that are a deeper red with a shadows are, more orange in the mid tones and either more yellow or pink in the highlights depending how much water is used versus paint. Again the teacher will walk around and give feedback and look for teaching opportunities. Although this definitely is more apparent after the blue layer.
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The blue layer is then demonstrated by the teacher. This will produce areas with extra purple where it’s heavier in red and blue which can be a nice shadow color but if it’s in the wrong areas it will be explained that another layer of yellow will tone down purple and will be needed. In other areas where there’s too much yellow with the blue it will go more green. Another layer of red will be needed to tone that down. Although some students may find they like a lot of the exaggerated color and choose to leave it in some areas. It should be obvious and if not it will be explained that if purple is in the highlights it won’t work and that will need to be toned down with yellow. Areas too green will make somebody look sickly and that will also need to be toned down with red. Basically anything that’s too much of a color will need a layer later of the color opposite on the color wheel to neutralize it. Opposites are purple and yellow, orange and blue and green and red. Students are learning how to tone down colors and neutralize them using complementary colors on the color wheel. They are also seeing how to create many different neutral colors. If there’s other items in the image like a hat or hair or clothing they will still have to use the three primary colors to create the color they need. That whole painting can be made with just the three colors
Outcomes:
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Students will learn a more in-depth use of color theory, with a hands on approach to see how all colors can be made from the primary colors and how to neutralize strong, bright colors as well as use slightly exaggerated colors to make skin tones with more realistic and/or interesting colors.
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Students will be observing how colors are used in skin tones and implementing them for individualized portraits of all skin types in a finished watercolor portrait of their own.
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Students will be learning more advanced watercolor techniques with more control of the medium. Watercolors often submit the artist to letting the paint do its own thing and trying to somewhat predict what will happen with working on wet versus dry paper etc. and letting happy accidents happen and or work with what happens to make the final result. In contrast, this technique will be learning to soften out the paint in gradations with a lot more control.
Assessment, Self Evaluation and Closure:
Students will participate in a constructive class critique with the whole class at the end of the project. Class critiques are an intricate part of the art learning process for growth.
Examples:
The first image is one of my examples. You can see the exagerated colors coming through to make a more natural skin apperence.
The rest are student examples.
These are also student examples where the whole class did the same face (taught in beginning art vs advanced art usually). You can see from the first image, it will have stages of looking very strange. It is ok :). At the end of the images you will see the whole class having images up for critique.
