Basic Color Exercises in Painting 

Painting exercises for small canvas – You should have four canvases no smaller than 4″ x 6″.  Each item below is one study in mixing color, paint and brush application.  Experiment and have fun!  At the end, you will be able to mix color, identify color schemes, and create four little paintings.

For each canvas study, draw a simple outlined design.  Have at least 11 different sections. You may blend edges or use hard edges. You may build various brush strokes and textures.

Paint each using the following color schemes.

1.  Monochrome Color – Use Black, White, and one color.

2.  Complimentary Color – Use Black, White, and two complimentary colors that are opposites on the color wheel.

3.  Analogous Color – Use Black, White and three colors that are next to each other on the color wheel.

4.  Primary Color – Use White, Black and the colors, Red, Blue and Yellow.  You should be able to make any color from these.