What are Primary and Secondary Colors?

Here at Made to be a Kid we LOVE to create but we also love to learn and what better way to learn than during a time of creating and imagination! It’s never too early to teach your kids some simple Art Concepts and today we are answering two basic question: What are Primary Colors? and What are Secondary Colors?

By mixing your primary colors together you have now created God’s rainbow of colors! You will have a line up of Red, Orange, Yellow, Green. Blue, Indigo and Purple just waiting to be used in a creative way!

Free Color Mixing Chart

Now that you have learned this new Art concept – a beginners guide to Color Theory- you can get busy mixing colors to see what you can create! Use our fun free coloring mixing printables to mix together colors and see what you can create!

Have you ever noticed how colors can make you sometimes feel different things? Some colors can make you feel warm and cozy, while others can make you feel cool and calm. Some colors remind you of a hot summer day at the beach and other colors remind you about a cold day building a snowman. God gave us so many beautiful colors to enjoy so let’s learn about the two categories colors can fall into.

How Can We Use Colors in Art?

Warm Colors in Art

Warm colors are great for showing feelings of happiness, energy, and excitement. Here are some ways you can use warm colors in your art:

1. Sunny Days: Use yellow, orange, and red to draw a bright sunny day. Think of a big, warm sun shining in the sky.
2. Fall Scenes: Use warm colors to draw autumn leaves. Try making a picture of a tree with red, orange, and yellow leaves falling to the ground.
3. Happy Faces: Use warm colors for the clothes and accessories of happy characters in your drawings. Maybe a red hat, an orange shirt, or a yellow scarf.

Cool Colors in Art

Cool colors help us show calmness, peace, and sometimes even sadness. Here’s how you can use cool colors in your creations:

1. Ocean and Sky: Use blue and green to draw the ocean or a clear sky. You can add some waves and fish for the ocean or birds for the sky.
2. Night Scenes: Use cool colors to draw a peaceful night scene with a blue or purple sky and green trees. Add some stars to make it sparkle!
3. Winter Wonderland: Use cool colors to draw a snowy winter scene with a friendly snowman!. Think of blue snowflakes, green pine trees, and a purple night sky.

Mixing Warm and Cool Colors

Sometimes, using both warm and cool colors in the same picture can make your art even more interesting! Here’s how you can do it:

1. Sunset Over the Ocean: Use warm colors for the sky and cool colors for the ocean. Think of a bright sunny yellow and orange sunset with a deep blue green ocean below.
2. Rainbow: Use both warm and cool colors to draw a rainbow. You’ll need red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple to make a beautiful rainbow across the sky. A rainbow uses both primary and secondary colors which you can learn about here!
3. Nature Scenes: Draw a scene with both warm and cool elements, like a green grass meadow with bright red and yellow flowers.