Chromatic Cravings: Teaching Color Through What Students Love

Color theory can be one of those topics that sounds straightforward but feels abstract to students until they actually start mixing paint. Over the years, I’ve learned that students understand color best when they’re solving real visual problems, not filling out color wheels for the sake of it. For years, I've worked to develop strategies that encourage students to engage in the thinking and trial-and-error experimentation needed to truly understand color mixing. 

That’s where my project Chromatic Cravings came from.

This unit asks students to slow down, look closely, and mix every color they need using only the primary colors, white, and black. No shortcuts. No premixed browns. Just observation, experimentation, and a lot of decision-making.

The twist? Their reference images are close-up photos of candy and snacks - subjects that are familiar, visually rich, and surprisingly complex when you really look at them.

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Why Candy Works 

At first glance, candy seems simple. But once students begin painting, they quickly realize how much is going on:

• subtle shifts in value

• warm and cool versions of brown

• reflected color in wrappers

• highlights that aren’t actually white

• neutrals with a wide range of color shift

Chocolate, especially, becomes a crash course in mixing believable neutrals. Students painting chocolate almost always end up mixing neutrals early in the process - usually within the first few days,  which leads to great conversations about value, intensity, and color temperature.

Process Over Perfection

One thing I love about this unit is that it naturally supports different pacing. Students aren’t all doing the same thing at the same time, and that’s okay.

Some students:

• spend days refining an underpainting

• remix the same color five times before committing

• need demos on blending or texture at different moments

Instead of locking students into a rigid daily schedule, I provide targeted demo videos and invite students to join them when they need them. This makes the studio feel more responsive and less rushed.

Building Real Skills 

By the end of the unit, students can clearly articulate:

• how they adjusted value and intensity

• why certain neutrals worked better than others

• how layering improved realism

• what they would change if they did it again

Their artist statements reflect real understanding, not memorized vocabulary.

And just as importantly, students leave with confidence. They realize they don’t need a shelf full of paint colors to be successful. They can mix what they need.

A Flexible Unit That Grows With You

This project has evolved over time as I’ve added:

• image selection options (teacher-provided, student-photographed, copyright-free sources)

• digital tools like the eyedropper for color analysis

• more structured reflection and critique

• clearer scaffolding for students who need it

What started as a painting project has become a complete color unit that works well for traditional, block, or blended classrooms.

Final Thoughts

Color theory doesn’t have to feel abstract or disconnected from studio work. When students are invested in what they’re painting, and when they’re given the tools to really see, the learning sticks and can even be applied to other color media.

If you’d like to try something like this with your own students, I’ve shared the full Chromatic Cravings unit (lessons, materials, demos, and assessments) in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Feel free to take a look to see if it’s something that may work in your classroom.