DISCOVER - Art Skills - Blending Smooth changes in colour

Look at this amazing painting by Bay of Plenty artist, Elliot Mason. His work is called Time. Perhaps the time he is describing is in the evening when we sometimes see beautiful sunsets.



Think about a beautiful sunset that you have seen. Close your eyes and play a little video of that sunset in your mind.

Now have a look at the colour wheel below.


Find the colours that you remember seeing in your mind. What are their names?

You may find that the colour you remember seeing does not quite match the colour on the chart. This is because for each hue (like blue) you can get lots of different variations, for example cerulean blue, cobalt blue, cloud blue, indigo blue, and true blue.

Let’s look again at Elliot Mason’s painting above. You can see lots of different colours. But how does he make each colour blend nicely/change smoothly into the colour above it?

First you need to realise what is happening. The artist is bit by bit adding more of the second colour and less of the first colour until soon all you are painting or drawing with is the second colour.

Have a go with the “Let’s Have Fun Blending” activity below.

Here is your Blending Skills Sheet to print out and use.

Here is the activity sheet with instructions.

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