Color Wheel Art | Heart Art

Color Wheel Art | Heart Art

Posted by DecoArt on Sep 28th 2021

This project is a great way to learn more about mixing colors and creates a vibrant piece of wall art for your home.

SUPPLIES

  • scissors
  • ruler
  • yardstick
  • cardstock
  • 12 x 12 square canvas
  • Pencil Compass
  • flat angle brush
  • palette knife

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Before jumping right into painting, you will need to take a minute or two to sketch out the color wheel heart design. First, we must find the center point of the canvas. To do this, lay the yardstick on the diagonal from corner to corner and draw a faint pencil line in the center portion of the canvas. Reposition the yardstick on the diagonal of the other two corners and draw a faint pencil line in the center portion of the canvas. Where the two pencil lines cross is the center of your canvas. Position the point of the compass on the center mark and draw a circle a bit smaller than the canvas centered around that middle point.
  2. Instruction #1
  3. Next, use your ruler to draw two perpendicular lines that cross through the center point of the circle. Then, with the pencil compass set to the radius of your circle and the compass needle on a point where a perpendicular line crosses the circle, mark the radius distance on either side of each point. This will add eight more points around the outside of the circle.
  4. Instruction #2
  5. When you have marked each of these points, use your ruler to connect the points through the center point of the circle. Now your circle is evenly divided into 12 segments. Cut a heart shape out of a piece of cardstock, position the heart template over the center of the circle, and then trace the heart shape onto the canvas.
  6. Instruction #3
  7. Because this project uses so many different hues, I decided to mix one section of the color wheel at a time. I started off with red and yellow. First, you will need to create three oranges by mixing together equal parts of True Red and Sunny Day paints. Once you have three oranges that are all about the same hue, add more Sunny Day to one paint puddle and more True Red to another. Using your palette knife, mix them up to create a red-orange and a yellow-orange.
  8. Instruction #4
  9. Next, choose a heart segment to start with and then paint adjacent sections with the True Red, red-orange, orange, and yellow-orange.
  10. Instruction #5
  11. After painting the heart sections, it's time to create a lighter version of each color. To do this, mix a bit of Snow White paint with each hue to create a pastel tint.
  12. Instruction #6
  13. Next, paint each circle section with the pastel tint that matches the adjacent painted heart section.
  14. Instruction #7
  15. Now you will repeat this process around your color wheel. Next up is Sunny Day and Bright Blue. Following the ratios as before, begin by mixing yellow-green, green, and blue-green, then paint the next heart sections, and finally mix pastel tints of each hue for the neighboring circle sections.
  16. Instruction #8
  17. When you are done with the yellow to blue section, finish up your color wheel with the True Blue to True Red section!
  18. Instruction #9
  19. Finally, if you like, you can finish off your piece by painting the outside edge of the canvas Soft Black.
  20. Instruction #10
  21. I love the contrast this black edge adds to the design. I also like to paint the edges of my canvases to give them a more finished look.
  22. Instruction #11