Day 2 (Part 1) 

Mixing Colors

Day 2 Supplies:

Canvas:

Your rub-out Mandala

Oil Paints:

Raw Umber (any brand)

Titanium White (Williamsburg preferably)

Brushes:

You will only be using brights during this part of the Mandala.  I only had 3 bright brushes to work with (1/4", 1/2" & 3/4" Wash/Shaders).  I recommend having a couple of smaller brights as it will help getting into the corners.

Misc:

Thin palette knife (best for mixing paint)

T-shirt rags

Palette (round or square - whichever you prefer) or

Palette Paper (grey - not white)

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Mandala Shading

Mixing Values

Here is the fun part - mixing values.  I haven't decided on what kind of palette I want so I have been using white palette paper which isn't recommended.  Colors will appear differently on white paper than they will on your painting - as you can see from the image, my lighter values barely show up.  This is why the grey palette paper is recommended instead.

I put Raw Umber on the far left side of my palette and Titanium White on the far right side of my palette.  Next I mixed my mid-tone which is to be a value half way between raw umber and white.  My Raw Umber is Windsor Newton brand and is a cooler shade than other brands.  The effect makes my mid-tone more of a putty color than a tan.  I think I like it better.

When satisfied with my mid-tone I mixed the other four values for a total of 7 different shades ranging from raw umber to white.  Along the way I had to change a lot and remix many of the values as they are all relative to each other.  This has been true both times I've mixed this palette.  Even after I started painting on the Mandala I had to remix some of the colors as the goal is to have as seamless a transition as possible between them.

Note that this time I didn't use any linseed or walnut oil.  The painting is to be done with the pure pigmented paint only - with no extra medium.  Oil would make the paint spread too much and that would interfere with the process which I will go over in the next post.