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Title Learning About Tint and Shade - Van Gogh
OverviewStudents will paint a picture, inspired by Van Gogh's Starry Night, using various tones (shades) of the color blue.
Subject(s) Art
Grade
Level(s)		 Grade 4
Grade 5
Grade 6
Suggested Time 3 Hours
MaterialsHue ==> the specific name of a color (red, yellow, blue)

Tint ==> adding white to a color produces a "tint" -- a lighter version of the hue.

Shade ==> adding black to darken a color produces a "shade" of that color -- a darker version of the hue.


Note: the various tints and shades are commonly referred to simply as "shades". They are also known, collectively, as "color values" or "tones of color". Feel free to introduce this additional vocabulary as well if you wish.
Objectives Students will be able to:
  1. Create tints of primary colors.
  2. Create shades of primary colors.
  3. Use a variety of tints and shades of a single hue to create a picture.
Materialstempra, poster or acrylic paint in the following colors:
* blue
* black
* white

Paper plates or margarine containers for mixing paints (4 or 5 per child or group)

paint brushes

thick paper or canvas for each child

On-Line Resourcesimage of Van Gogh's Starry Night
Off-Line ResourcesBook: Van Gogh - The Touch of Yellow
Book: Vincent Van Gogh - Sunflowers and Swirly Stars
PreparationPrint out image of Van Gogh's Starry Night or locate a book with the image.

Make a "tints of blue" paper by painting primary blue on the edge of the page and then add more and more white to the paint like so:


Make a "shades of blue" paper by painting primary blue on the edge of the page and then add more and more black to the paint like so:

MotivationShow Van Gogh's painting to the children and allow them 5 to 10 minutes to journal their thoughts and feelings about the painting. If you wish to provide guidance for the journaling, consider asking the children to answer the following questions:

1) How does the picture make you feel? Use one "emotion word" to describe your feelings (happy, sad, angry, playful, etc)
-- you can graph the class's answers to this question to add a mathematics component to the lesson.

2) What about the picture do you think makes you feel the way you do when you look at it?

3) What is the main color in the picture?

4) What is the picture of? What time of day is it?

Spend 10 to 15 minutes discussing the answers to the questions as a class.
ActivityIntroduce the children to the three vocabulary words (hue, tint and shade).

Show them the "tints of blue" and "shades of blue" pages you prepared. Ask them which is the tints and which is the shades.

Either individually or in groups of 4 or 5, have the children mix their own shades and tints of blue. (if doing this in groups, each child can make one mixture). Encourage them to make one very light tint and one very dark shade of blue. This will make completing their artwork easier.

Using their shades and tints of blue and the Starry Night painting as inspiration, ask the children to paint a nightscape of their own community. Preferrably, do not use any other colors to make the painting.

You may wish to allow two days to complete the painting so there is drying time for the backdrop before they begin adding in the final details.
ConclusionDisplay the children's artwork in the class or on the bulletin board.
Short ExtensionDecide on a title for your piece.
Next Day ExtensionPaint a similar tints and shades picture using warm colors (red, orange or yellow). New vocabulary would be warm (red/orange/yellow side of the spectrum) vs cool (violet/blue/green side of the spectrum) colors.

You can also introduce the Color Wheel at this time and explain that if you split it in half between the violet and red dots, you divide the warm (red, orange, yellow) from the cool (blue, purple, green) colors.

 
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