In this class, we will paint together a color wheel. Color wheels are fun to document different primary palettes and their secondary colors, i.e. the color mixes made with these primaries. Beside the wheel, we will play by making a lovely pattern to expand on those mixes.

The 6-color color wheel is a way to document the mixes of secondary colors we can make with a given primary trio.
The little pattern on the side, aside from being fun to pain, gives another dimension to the palette you can achieve with only three colors. It serves to document the overall feel of the palette.

Whether you are beginning your journey in watercolors or want to deepen your experience with color mixing, this class will bring you something fun.

Color mixing with watercolors is something that is very fun and can be done very intuitively. However, it is a skill that benefits from practice. With some practice, you will get to know how to achieve this or that green. And with some reference cards to help you out in case of doubt, you will be a color mixing expert!

This class is a paint along class, meaning everything is filmed at a speed you can follow and make everything in the lessons alongside me.

Why make color wheels?

A fun and simple project to make when you do not know what to paint;
You can create beautiful little cards to reference later when looking for inspiration or a particular color combo;
Learn about and practice mixing colors;
Learn about your colors: it is one thing to read about color theory, but painting and observing is the best way to get familiar with your paints.

Most importantly, color wheels represent a simple project to paint, and thus make for an excellent excuse to practice watercolor painting skills.

Apart from the final project, you will also:

search through your brushes to find marks you enjoy making;
practice mixing colors and learning how much of each color you need;
learn to plan and make multiple reference cards for your colors;
document color palettes;
learn a process for quick fun abstract watercolor art.

At the end of the class, we will also explore a fun way to use color palette, the actual palette you mixed your colors on, to make a lovely abstract piece of art. Beautiful little pieces of art can be made while on a side quest from any painting exercise or warm up. Sometimes you get something a little messy, but often, you end up with something very fun!

The materials you will need for this class:

Watercolor paper
Palette to mix colors on, or some yupo paper or plastics wrapping to use for a palette
At least 3 colors of paint, ideally primary colors (yellow, red, blue)
A watercolor paint brush, or a few to play with different marks
Something round to trace a circle
Template in the resources section to trace
Container for water
Rag or paper towels
Pencil, eraser and ruler

I look forward to sharing this class with you, and seeing the color palettes you’ll document!

Melanie Blaiset

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