Primary Color Camp: Ombré Rainbow Watercolor Tutorial

It’s Day 2 of Primary Color Camp, which also coincides with our final installment of our Summer Art Series! For today’s rainbow art activity, our Content Manager Franny is sharing how to make a rainbow gradient using just three primary colors. This activity was inspired by our new ombré rainbow print available in best-selling kids activewear styles. 

To start, gather your materials. You'll need: 

• A piece of paper
• A cup of water
• Some paper towels 
• A paintbrush
• Watercolor paint in red, yellow, and blue 
• Something like a dish or palette to mix your colors on 

Franny also likes to tape her paper down to the table using washi tape, to help the paper stay nice and steady. But this part is completely optional! 

Step 1: Paint your first line in red

Fill up your paintbrush with red watercolor. Paint a red line at the top of the paper. 

Step 2: Get mixing 

After cleaning off your brush in water, take a tiiiiny dab of yellow paint, and mix it into your red, making a reddish orange. Paint a line, then repeat!

Continue to add yellow, little by little, until your red paint is completely orange, and then almost yellow. 

Step 3: Go green 

Once you have yellow on your paper, it's time to make green! Just like you did with yellow and red, add a tiny bit of blue paint to your yellow paint, making a very very light yellowy-green. Paint a line, then repeat, line by line, until your yellow turns completely green, and then almost blue. 

This part is where you can have a lot of fun, too. You could make your lines super thin, super thick, or maybe even squiggly — follow your creative instinct! 

It might feel hard to be patient and only add a little bit of color at a time, but it'll be worth it at the end, to see how using just red, yellow, and blue can make so many different colors of the rainbow. 

Step 4: Display your work! 

Once the paint is dry, peel off the washi tape if you used it, and hang up your rainbow work of art for everyone to admire! 

Want to check out the styles that inspired this easy DIY? Shop our super soft, 100% cotton kids PJs in all our new summer prints. When you're ready for another project, learn how to make DIY Paper Cut-out Collages with Primary's Art Director, Fran, or a DIY Potato Stamp with Primary's Graphic Designer, Tanya. 

Share your watercolor rainbow with us on social at @primarydotcom with #yesprimary and #primarycolorcamp for a chance to be featured! Head here to see our entire lineup of Color Camp activities, and don’t forget to visit the Camp Shop for outfits, essentials, and more camp picks from Team Primary.

You can also shop our signature rainbow prints and patterns in dozens of styles for kids and baby.