Vassily Kandinsky was born on December 16, 1866, in Moscow. Although originally trained in law and economics, his true love was art, and he changed fields and pursued his dream. Kandinsky was an Impressionist artist, and was credited with creating one of the first solely abstract works of art. Although Kandinsky’s Concentric Circles may well be one of his most recognizable pieces of art, it wasn’t a painting in the true sense of the word. He used this to study how colors interacted with one another and to explore the emotions that colors generated. Use our Kandinsky’s Concentric Circles Project to learn more about color.  

Kandinsky’s painting is a wonderful way to introduce children to the world of color. Not only can you discuss the color wheel, you can talk about the combination of colors and how different colors and combination of colors makes you feel. Below is a list of color terms. Depending on the age of your child, introduce them to as many of these terms as they seem ready to process. When done, talk about which color combinations they like the best. Ask questions like “Which block makes you feel happy, sad, angry, excited, etc.?” or “Which colors feel warm or cool?”

Color Terms

• Color Wheel – The color wheel is a way of arranging colors in a circle to show their relationship to other colors.
• Primary Colors – The basic colors from which other colors are created. You cannot mix any other colors to create the primary colors. They are yellow, blue and red.
• Secondary Colors – These are colors created by combining two primary colors. Yellow and blue make green, blue and red make purple, red and yellow make orange.
• Tertiary Colors – These are colors created by combining a primary color with a secondary color next to it. (Not included on our color wheel but you may choose to make a more detailed wheel.)
• Neutral Colors – These are colors that are not associated with any other colors. They include black, brown, white and grey.
• Warm Colors – These are colors that by themselves or in conjunction with other warm colors give a sense of warm like fire. These colors are yellow, orange and red.
• Cool Colors – These are colors that by themselves or in conjunction with other cool colors give a sense of coolness like water. There colors are green, blue and purple.
• Complimentary Colors – They are two colors located directly across from one another on a color wheel.
• Analogous Colors – These colors located close together on a color wheel. Like yellow and orange and blue, purple and red.
• Monochromatic Colors – These are tints, tones and shades of a single color.

Squares with Concentric Circles by Vassily Kandinsky

Materials for Kandinsky’s Concentric Circles Project

• 9″ x 12″ piece of watercolor paper
• pencil and ruler
• watercolors
• paint brush

Directions for Kandinsky’s Concentric Circles Project

Lightly divide a 9″ x 12″ piece of watercolor paper into 3″ blocks. This will create 3 rows and 4 columns.

Create a Color Wheel that can be referred to during this project. This Color Wheel is composed of the 3 primary colors, yellow, blue and red, with the 3 secondary colors, green, purple and orange placed between the 2 primary colors that create each secondary color. If you would like to create tertiary colors, mix a primary color with a secondary color next to it.

Using your paint brush and watercolors, create different circle patterns in each square.

Talk about the different color terms. See how many of them you can use in your painting.

Color Terms Used:

• Row 1 – a. warm colors, b. cool colors, c. primary colors, d. analogous colors
• Row 2 – a. complimentary colors, b. analogous colors, c. analogous colors, d. analogous colors
• Row 3 – a. complimentary colors, b. analogous colors, c. complimentary colors, d. monochromatic colors