julianna kunstler logo
color wheel

practice mixing colors
Instagram icon

by JuliannaKunstler.com

color wheel worksheet

Painting a color wheel is a great way to learn how to mix colors. In addition to that - you will also create a perfect reference that you can use as a color guide.

The assignment has two parts:

  • Color wheel with shades, hues, tones, and tints of primary, secondary, and intermediate (tertiary) colors
  • Brown and Grey value scales

Part of the grade is your craftsmanship and painting inside the lines. Take your time!

examples

.

.

STEPS

PRIMARY COLORS

primary colors

Primary colors do not require mixing.

Just fill in the 3 circles for:

Red, Yellow, and Blue.

primary colors
color values

There are 4 sections for each color in your color wheel:

  • Outer section - color shade (hue + Black)
  • Circle - hue (pure color)
  • Mid-section - color tones (hue + Grey)
  • Inside section - color tint (hue + White)
hue

Fill in the circle section first with pure color.

shadeshade

Mix color with a small amount of BLACK and fill in the Shade section.

Wash and wipe the brush.

grey

Pre-mix some GREY paint.

You will be using it for all colors. Choose a mid-tone value.

tonetone

Mix your color with some grey paint. Paint the mid-section.

tinttint

The last one - tint section:

Use WHITE paint and add a small amount of you color. Mix and paint.

primary colors

Repeat all steps for each PRIMARY color.

SECONDARY COLORS

paint mix secondary colors

In plastic cups mix 3 secondary colors:

orange, purple, and green

Always start with the lightest color, then add darker color (a little at a time):

  • To mix orange - start with yellow, add a little bit of red.
  • To mix purple - add blue into red.
  • To mix green - add blue into yellow
mix red and yellowmix red and bluemix yellow and blue
primary and secondary colors

Fill in the "hue" sections between the corresponding primary colors.

Then mix shades, tones, and tints.

INTERMEDIATE (TERTIARY) COLORS

color wheel

In plastic cups mix 6 intermediate colors.

These are the colors that you get by mixing a primary and a secondary colors.

Fill in the hue circles, then shades, tones, and tints for each intermediate color.

intermediate colors

red-orange = red + orange

intermediate colors

red-violet = red + purple

intermediate colors

yellow-orange = yellow + orange

intermediate colors

yellow-green = yellow + green

intermediate colors

blue-green = blue + green

intermediate colors

blue-violet = blue + purple

Color values

Colors have values.

Create 2 value scales:

1. achromatic (or greyscale) scale

2. brown color value scale

GREYSCALE

Start with painting WHITE and BLACK sections.

Mix light values up to mid-value.

Then mix dark values.

Make sure values change gradually.

value scalevalue scalevalue scale

BROWN VALUE SCALE

primary colors mix

To get Brown - you need to mix 2 colors that are opposite of each other on the color wheel (complementary color scheme).

In other words, you get Brown when you mix all 3 primary colors together. You just need to mix them in the right proportion.

mix brownmix brownmix brown

Paint the middle section with a brown hue.

Then mix brown with WHITE for light values, and mix with BLACK for dark values.

value scale brown value scale
...