Sanford's ArtEdventures with Carmine Chameleon: Color Theory

Teacher's Guide for:
An ArtEdventure with Carmine Chameleon:
Color Theory vs. Dr. Gray and his Dechromatizer

What is it?
An ArtEdventure with Carmine Chameleon is an online game which explores the use of color in various Western artworks. Use this activity to introduce or reinforce Western color concepts in an interactive and entertaining way.

During a tour of an art museum, you witness the evil Dr. Gray using his Dechromatizer to suck the color out of several artworks. A chameleon named Carmine solicits your help to restore the color to these paintings. The Dechromatizer produces three versions of each painting, and you must examine them to decide which has the correct colors. Along the way, you learn about the various ways that artists use color in their work: to create depth, to express emotion, as symbolic meaning, and as an exploration of some of the optical illusions of color theory.

Once you restore the color to all of the paintings, you must go to Dr. Gray's laboratory and stop him and his Dechromatizer. To enter his lab, you must solve four color puzzles, which draw on concepts and examples you've learned while restoring the color to the four paintings. You can print and distribute a simple worksheet to track your students' progress through the activity.

Who Can Play?
The ArtEdventure is designed to be self-guided for 4th-graders and up. The layers of information allow students to navigate through the story, stopping to learn or review basic art concepts as needed. Students can play the game independently or in small groups. Using a projector or overhead LCD palette, you can also display the game on the wall and lead the entire class through it. In this way-or if you are able to work with individual or small groups of students at the computer-you can use the game with younger students.

How to Play:
The ArtEdventure consists of an introduction, four non-sequential sections, a quiz and a conclusion. Students should rechromatize all four paintings before attempting to crack the color codes in Dr. Gray's laboratory. Clues are found throughout the four artist sections as well as in the "More About" sections in each painting. Hints and links in the quiz will help students find the answers they need to "Get Dr. Gray."

Throughout the activity, students can pause for hands-on "Try This" projects. They can also do these projects after they finish the ArtEdventure. Teachers may also choose to do these as whole class projects. Submissions of student works to the Student Gallery is strongly encouraged!

Major art concepts/vocabulary:

Creating depth with color
Color symbolism
Color optical illusions
Expressing mood with color

Color wheel
Primary/secondary/tertiary
Color value (shades and tints)
Saturated colors
Color families (warm/cool/neutral)
Color schemes (complementary/analogous)
Local color
Highlight
Landscape
Portrait
Fore/middle/background
Realistic/abstract
Focal point
Contrast
After-image

Medieval
Renaissance
Impressionism
Pointillism
Post Impressionism
Expressionism
Synchromism

Artists featured:
Albert Bierstadt
Vincent van Gogh
Fra Filippo Lippi
Stanton MacDonald-Wright

Other artists:
Bellini
Botticelli
Mary Cassatt
Leonardo Da Vinci
Della Francesca
Paul Gauguin
Stanton MacDonald-Wright
Claude Monet
Berthe Morisot
Georges Seurat
Jami'al-Tavarikh

The National Visual Art Standards
The following content and achievement standards can be applied to Sanford's "ArtEdventure: Color Theory vs. Dr. Gray and His Dechromatizer."

Kindergarten-Fourth Grade

Content Standard #1: Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes

Achievement Standard:

Students know the differences between materials, techniques, and processes
Students describe how different materials, techniques, and processes cause different responses
Students use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories
Students use art materials and tools in a safe and responsible manner

Content Standard #2: Using knowledge of structures and functions

Achievement Standard:

Students know the differences among visual characteristics and purposes of art in order to convey ideas
Students describe how different expressive features and organizational principles cause different responses
Students use visual structures and functions of art to communicate ideas

Content Standard #3: Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas

Achievement Standard:

Students explore and understand prospective content for works of art
Students select and use subject matter, symbols, and ideas to communicate meaning

Content Standard #4: Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures

Achievement Standard:

Students know that the visual arts have both a history and specific relationships to various cultures
Students identify specific works of art as belonging to particular cultures, times, and places
Students demonstrate how history, culture, and the visual arts can influence each other in making and studying works of art

Content Standard #5: Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others

Achievement Standard:

Students understand there are various purposes for creating works of visual art
Students describe how people's experiences influence the development of specific artworks
Students understand there are different responses to specific artworks

Fifth-Eighth Grade

Content Standard #1: Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes

Achievement Standard:

Students select media, techniques, and processes; analyze what makes them effective or not effective in communicating ideas; and reflect upon the effectiveness of their choices
Students intentionally take advantage of the qualities and characteristics of art media, techniques, and processes to enhance communication of their experiences and ideas

Content Standard #2: Using knowledge of structures and functions

Achievement Standard:

Students employ organizational structures and analyze what makes them effective or not effective in the communication of ideas
Students select and use the qualities of structures and functions of art to improve communication of their ideas

Content Standard #3: Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas

Achievement Standard:

Students integrate visual, spatial, and temporal concepts with content to communicate intended meaning in their artworks
Students use subjects, themes, and symbols that demonstrate knowledge of contexts, values, and aesthetics that communicate intended meaning in artworks

Content Standard #4: Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures

Achievement Standard:

Students know and compare the characteristics of artworks in various eras and cultures

Content Standard #5: Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others

Achievement Standard:

Students compare multiple purposes for creating works of art
Students analyze contemporary and historic meanings in specific artworks through cultural and aesthetic inquiry
Students describe and compare a variety of individual responses to their own artworks and to artworks from various eras and cultures

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