Match Your Colors with a Reference Photo
Use paints or crayons to mix and match hues from a reference photo, practicing careful observation, color mixing, and adjusting until colors closely match.
Step-by-step guide to Match Your Colors with a Reference Photo
Step 1
Place your reference photo where you can see it clearly while you work.
Step 2
Choose one small area of the photo to match first so you focus on one color at a time.
Step 3
Pick three paints or crayons that look closest to the tones in that area.
Step 4
Prepare a testing surface by putting tiny paint blobs on your palette or lining the chosen crayons on scrap paper.
Step 5
Make a small test swatch on the scrap paper by mixing paints or layering crayon strokes.
Step 6
Hold the swatch next to the photo in the same light and look closely for differences.
Step 7
Change your mix a little by adding a tiny amount of another color or by overlaying a different crayon.
Step 8
Make another test swatch to see how the changed mix looks.
Step 9
Repeat comparing and tweaking until the swatch matches the photo area closely.
Step 10
Use the matched color to fill that area on your final paper carefully.
Step 11
Repeat Steps 2 to 10 for other areas of the photo until your whole picture is colored.
Step 12
Share your finished creation on DIY.org
Final steps
You're almost there! Complete all the steps, bring your creation to life, post it, and conquer the challenge!
Help!?
What can we use if we don't have a paint palette or the exact paints/crayons listed?
Use a clean paper plate, a square of aluminum foil, or a yogurt lid as a palette and, if you don't have paints, follow Step 3 and use colored pencils or wax crayons to lay out tiny test blobs or lines on scrap paper as in Step 4.
My test swatch still doesn't match the photo—what should I try next?
Work in the same light when you hold the swatch next to the photo as instructed in Step 5, then tweak by adding a tiny amount of another paint or overlaying a different crayon per Step 6 and make another test swatch as in Steps 6–8 until it matches.
How can I adapt this activity for younger kids or make it more challenging for older kids?
For younger children, pick a larger area in Step 2 and limit to two crayons from Step 3 with an adult preparing and comparing test swatches in Step 4, while older kids can focus on very small areas, mix three paints from Step 3, and fine-tune values through repeated Steps 5–8 before filling areas in Step 9.
How can we extend or personalize the activity after we finish matching colors?
Create a labeled swatch chart from your test swatches made in Steps 4–7 so you can reuse exact mixes when filling the final paper in Step 9, add collage or texture for a personal touch, and then share the finished creation on DIY.org.
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Facts about color mixing and painting for kids
🖌️ Adding white makes a tint and adding black makes a shade — even small amounts change how a color reads next to others.
👀 Color-blindness affects about 8% of men and 0.5% of women, so matching by value and saturation as well as hue is a useful skill.
🌈 Isaac Newton's color wheel (from the early 1700s) helped launch modern ideas about how colors relate to each other.
🧪 Mixing complementary colors (opposites on the wheel) often produces neutral browns or grays, perfect for realistic shadows and skin tones.
🎨 The human eye can distinguish around one million different colors — artists practice spotting tiny differences to match hues.
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