Color Wheel Mandala

This is my second color wheel mandala. My first was 20 years ago. This project teaches techniques from the old masters, helps you to see values (lights and darks), how to control the brush and how to mix colors. You focus on how to get clean edges and how to made smooth transitions.

The first step is to draw the shape with pencil or charcoal and fix it with a fixing spray or hairspray. Step two is to cover the whole canvas with a smooth layer of burnt umber using a wide brush and very little oil and then rub out with a cloth the areas that will be of lighter value changing your pressure on the rag as you go.

Step three is to use pure white with a soft bristle, straight edge brush making sure to overlap slightly on each pass.

Step four is to mix colors using the Zorn Palette- which is only 4 colors (ivory black, cad red light, yellow ochre and white.

The final step is to glaze which is to use the transparent colors over the painting to deepen and create more vibrant colors. I used, indian yellow, phthalo green, phthalo blue, ultra marine blue, alizarin, red oxide and brown oxide. White is used into the glaze to keep the values.