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How shall I colour it?
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Objectives
- To learn about adding colour in as many
different ways as possible to a variety of surfaces, as an introduction
to using and applying colour.
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Curriculum links
English National Curriculum:
Art: 1a, 1c, 2a, 3a, 4a, 5c
Design & Technology: 2a, 2c, 4a, 4b, 5b
| Gateway story
Colour is applied to a wide range of materials in a variety of
ways. The images on this gateway depict some of these materials
and the ways in which colour can be added.
Gateway elements
- Slide show of materials that are being, or
have been, coloured
- Spray-painting a car
- Polythene film being shaped after colour addition
- Rolls of coloured leather.
Slide show: 9 images showing different coloured materials
or techniques:
- printed cans (and clothing)
- fabric being screen-printed
- specially sprayed car, the effect looks like water
- spray-painted cars
- newspapers being printed
- rolls of dyed paper
- an ink-jet printer, colour printing on paper
- cinema, built using steel that has been coloured during an innovative
steel-making process
- leather that has been dyed.
Gateway discussion
Whilst looking at the gateway, ask the children some of the following
questions (the first two questions are asked on the gateway):
- How many different ways of adding colour
are shown?
- Which ones have you seen before?
- Which ones do you think are unusual?
- Which of these methods could you copy
at school?
- Which methods do you think are the best?
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Approximate time required:
60 minutes
Resources needed
Per group:
1 x A4 size piece of each:
White paper, white card, polythene, aluminium foil, cotton fabric
A piece of leather (10 x 10 cm)
Clay, to roll out to 10 x 10 cm
Paint*
Dye* - try a Brusho ink powder (see List
of Suppliers)
Felt pens*
Printing inks*
Printing roller OR 1 potato halved in advance
Knife (for the teacher's use only)
Aprons or overalls
* ensure all groups have the same type and colours
Suggested organisation
Whole class, then small mixed ability groups.
Carrying out the activity
Discuss with the class what they consider, when
deciding how to put colour on to something they have made. The following
questions can be asked, in relation to models children have made previously:
Which materials do you use to make models?
How have you tried to add colour? (E.g. paint, felt tips)
How have you added colour? (E.g. painting, printing, crayons)
Have you ever had any problems?
If so, what have the problems been?
Have you been able to solve them? (E.g. paint can be mixed with PVA glue
to help it stick to plastic surfaces)
If you want to know whether a method of adding colour will work before
using it on a model, what might you do?
Hopefully, children will suggest testing different
methods of applying colour to the materials they have used in models.
Groups of children now test a range of materials
(paper, card, polythene, aluminium foil, cotton, leather and clay) that
they may have used in models. Each group is responsible for testing one
of the following application techniques; painting, dyeing, colouring with
felt tips or printing (using either rollers and blocks or potatoes). Depending
on the class and group size, 1-2 groups will test each technique.
The tests may be carried out in a scientific way if the teacher and/or
children feel this is important. The children could make predictions,
set up fair test conditions, measure the drying time and record their
tests and observations clearly and methodically.
A recording chart could be designed by the class, so results would be
more easily evaluated and compared. An example of a table of typical results
for one colouring one material is provided in the Background Information.
Plenary
Each group shares its results and discoveries with
the rest of the class and recording charts can be displayed, with labelled
samples, for use as a reference. The groups recommend the best method
for colouring the material they were testing and try to explain why other
methods did not work as well.
Background information
The group working on cotton fabric will probably find
that the colour spreads or looks smudged. In industry, this is called
'bleed' and is different from the colour not taking on the surface at
all. Bleed is over absorption of colour, as opposed to non-absorption
of colour. The solution to the problem of bleed is to use a binder or
carrier for the colour such as paste or glue.
Sample set of results for
aluminium foil:
| Technique |
Observation |
Comment |
| Paint |
Ran into blobs
Doesn't stick
Cracked off when dry.
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Foil is too shiny for paint to stick to it.
If the paint is thick and sticky it cracks off when it dries.
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| Dye |
Ran off surface
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Doesn't stick. Dye is too watery
to stick to the surface. |
| Felt tip pen |
Streaky
Colours not strong
Took over 3 minutes to dry
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Felt pen lines will not rub off
the foil but there are lots of streaks when you try and colour it
in. |
| Printing ink |
Stayed on the surface well.
Took over 5 minutes to dry.
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The ink rubbed off easily, even
when it seemed to be dry. |
Extensions / links
Design & Technology
The problem of 'bleed' could be turned into
a further investigation in which each group uses a different kind of paste
or a different ratio of glue to colour to find a good way of applying
school paint to fabric.
A potato print design would make a good test. Each group could use both
halves of the potato to produce a two-colour design on a piece of cotton
fabric.
Design & Technology
This activity, or an adaptation of it, could
be a useful inclusion in a designing and making project in order to discover
which materials and techniques are appropriate for the task.
Design & Technology
Children can try using a resist technique, such
as batik, where the fabric is decorated by using a trail of wax or thick
flour paste to outline areas of design. Colour is then applied inside
those areas, where it should not spread into the surrounding fabric.
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