Today we’re going to go on a colour walk. What is a colour walk?
A colour walk is a walk where you try to look for all the colours of the rainbow. You might think of it like a treasure hunt, where the treasure is colour!
Artist Richard Long made this piece by walking backwards and forwards along the same path over and over again. Today we’re going to document a walk in a different way. We are going to try and use colours to notice unusual objects and the colours of things all around us! For this walk we are going to focus on each colour of the rainbow, one by one.
Richard Long CBE
A Line Made by Walking
(1967)
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What you need
- A grown-up to go with you
- Your imagination
- Some concentration
- Somewhere to go for a walk. This could be outside, along your street, or even around your home. If you go outside, make sure it's safe and you have permission. Your grown up should be mindful of any social distancing restrictions
- Optional: A phone, a camera, some paper and some coloured pens, pencils or crayons
Here's some inspiration from a rainbow of artworks:
Sir Michael Craig-Martin
Knowing
(1996)
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Eileen Agar
Sculpture consisting of a stone coloured orange and wrapped in small vertebrae strung on thick string
Tate Archive
© The estate of Eileen Agar. All Rights Reserved 2023 / Bridgeman Images
Bernard Myers
Chrysanthemums
(1978)
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Nicholas Monro
Green Figures
(1970)
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Saloua Raouda Choucair
Composition in Blue Module
(1947–51)
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Patrick Heron
Three Reds in Magenta and Green in Blue : April 1970
(1970)
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What to do
Look for things in every colour of the rainbow, one by one. You can photograph or draw each thing you find, write them down, or just look.
It's up to you how many things you want to find in the same colour. At different times of year this activity might look quite different!
If you're playing at home, you could collect a few things of each colour and arrange them.
Let's go!
Let's start with red
We found natural and man-made things that were red. What can you find?
Are all the orange things the same orange?
Some things might be small
What are the things you find made from?
How do different colours make you feel?
Which colour is your favourite?
We often look at things without really thinking about what colour they are
Don't forget to look up high
... and down on the ground
Go through all the colours in the rainbow until you reach pink and purple
Now you can start again!
After your walk
When you finish your walk you could:
- draw a map of your walk and add colourful drawings of some of things you saw
- make a collage of pictures you took
- make colourful drawings of some of the things you saw together
- Look back at your photographs and see if you notice anything new about the things you saw
