Fall leaf texture rubbings: Exploring color theory

Photo by S.W. de Graffenried

An autumn leaf rubbing project combines exploring visual texture with color theory. Leaf texture rubbings are beautiful and can be used to easily create different color schemes. This activity can be modified to fit any age group, so be sure to see the photo album at the bottom of the page for examples.

- Look at a color wheel like the one at Color Guides and decide what aspects of color that you would like your child to learn about. For very young children, free-form color exploration may be enough. For older children, you might want to focus on identifying primary colors, warm and cool colors or complimentary colors. See the cheat sheet at the end of this article if you need to brush up on your color theory before tackling it with a child.

- Go out and collect a basket full of interesting leaves. Optionally, carry along a field guide from your local library and try to identify the leaves that you find.

- Peel the paper off of some crayons. Place a leaf underneath the paper. Turn the crayon over on its side and rub the paper. The image of the leaf will come through. Let the child experiment with this.

- Try to recreate the color wheel using leaf rubbings. You can also try making different color schemes. See the photo album at the bottom of the page for examples.

Color theory cheat sheet

Primary colors: Red, blue and yellow. From these three colors, you can make any other color in the world.

Secondary colors: These are colors that come from mixing two primaries. For instance, yellow and blue make green, so green is secondary. Secondaries are orange, purple and green.

Tertiary colors: Tertiaries come from mixing a primary and secondary color together. These colors are orange-red, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-purple and red-purple.

Complimentary: These colors are directly across from one another on the color wheel. For instance, orange and blue are complimentary. Complimentary colors make a vibrant pair. When mixing a shadow in paint, the complimentary is used. For instance, when painting a shadow on a red apple, you would mix green with the red to make the shadow color.

Triad: A color triad is equally spaced on the color wheel. For instance, the primary colors are a color triad.

Split compliment: A split compliment consists of a color and the two colors to the side of that color's compliment. For instance, green paired with red-purple and orange red would be a split complimentary scheme.

Warm colors: Warm colors are the reds, yellows and oranges on the right side of the color wheel.

Cool colors: Cool colors are the blues and greens on the left side of the color wheel.

Analogous colors: Analogous colors sit next to one another on the color wheel.

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