1. Paul Gauguin: Complimentary Color
Introduction: (introduce yourself, explain why you are in the classroom, explain what you will be doing)
Introduce your self and explain why you are in the classroom and what you will be doing today. Include something like "Today we will be looking at a picture of an artist's work to see how he used color to create his masterpieces. Then you will simplify this painting to learn more about how the colors work together to create a masterpiece of your own. “

2. Who was Paul Gauguin? 19th Century Artist Used color in a new way
Traveler and Explorer
Loved exotic places, people and things
Meet the Artist: (artist background)
Paul Gauguin was an artist who lived in the 19th Century. The paintings he made have become very important to other people who care a lot about art. Gauguin used color in a new way, creating bold and colorful paintings that were not typical of Western Art at the time. Artists have continued to receive inspiration and knowledge through studying his paintings still to this day.
Gauguin was a traveler and an explorer all his life. As a child, he lived in many different lands, then, later, he gave up a career in the stock exchange to become a full-time painter and explorer. He longed to find and live in an exotic paradise. His travels led him to places far away from his native France – places like the coast of Brittany, Tahiti in the South Seas, and the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia.
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We are very lucky this year as the Seattle Art Museum has a special exhibition of Gauguin’s artwork from the time he spent in Polynesia. This show is unique because Gauguin’s artwork is displayed alongside some of the Polynesian artworks that he would have seen and been influenced by when he lived among the Pacific Island peoples. Today I am going to send you home with an invitation to come see the show with other first graders from Mark Twain.
Leading questions and discussion: (guide the students toward art concept being taught)
What is exotic?
What colors are exotic?
Are exotic colors bright or dull?

3. What are complimentary colors?
Complimentary colors are opposite each other on the color wheel.
Yellow & Purple
Blue & Orange
Red & Green
Complimentary colors are opposite each other on the color wheel. Yellow and purple, blue and orange, and red and green are all complimentary colors.
A primary color’s compliment is the combination of the other two primary colors. For example, red’s compliment is green because the other two primary colors, blue and yellow, combine to make green.
A secondary color’s compliment is the primary color that did not go into making it. For example, green’s compliment is red because there is no red used to make green – green is made up of blue and yellow.

4. Why are color compliments special?
Complementary colors have a special relationship – they affect each other in such a way that they appear brighter and more intense when placed next to each other.
Try this:
Look at the red squares. Which one seems brighter?
They are actually both the exact same color red square.
The one on the left looks brighter because it is inside a green square – red and green are compliments.
The one on the right looks more drab because it is inside an orange square and the color contrast is not as great.
So, if you really want something red in your artwork to stand out, placing a little bit (or a lot) of green nearby will create a high contrast and make your red object look brighter and more noticeable.
Complementary colors appear brighter and more intense when they are placed next to each other.

5. How did Gauguin paint with complimentary colors?
On the left is a painting by Gauguin called The Sacred Mountain. On the right is a simplification of this painting that reduces the painting to its basic lines and colors.
Which complimentary color pair is most obviously used in this painting?
The yellow of the grassy hill lies in contrast to the purple mountains in the background and the purple flower bushes in the foreground.
Why do you suppose Gauguin chose to use those colors?
How would the painting be different if the grass on the hill were green?
Gauguin used complimentary colors to make his artwork look more “colorful” -- brighter and more intense.

6. Let’s explore the Opposite Colors of Gauguin’s Sacred Mountain1 2 3
Step 1: Draw the Outline of the picture
Step 2: Color in the Opposite Colors
Step 3: Add details if you have time

7. Step 1: Draw the Outline with Pencil

8. Draw the Outline of the bushes in the foreground
Foreground means the part of the picture that looks closest.
Draw the foreground at the bottom edge of your page.

9. Draw the Outline of the flowers on the bushes

10. Draw the Outline of the fence

11. Draw the Outline of the hill
The hill in this picture helps show the horizon line.
The horizon line is the line that separates earth from sky.

12. Draw the Outline of the mountain in the background
Background means the part of the picture that looks farthest away.
Draw the background at the top of your page.

13. Draw over your lines with Black Sharpie Pen

14. Step 2: Color in the Opposite Colors

15. Color in Yellow and Purple
Yellow and Purple are on the opposite sides of the color wheel.
Gauguin painted the mountain and the flower bushes purple to compliment and balance the yellow of the hill in the middleground.

16. Color in Blue and Orange
Blue and Orange are on the opposite sides of the color wheel.
Gauguin painted the palm tree orange to compliment and balance the blue of the sky.

17. Red and Green are on the opposite sides of the color wheel.
Color in Red and Green
Red and Green are on the opposite sides of the color wheel.
Gauguin painted the tree green to compliment and balance the red of the flowers in the foreground.

18. Step 3: Add details if you have time