Coloring a circle

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This is a very simple exercise for the absolute beginner, sometimes when I get students who do not master basic brush technique and who have difficulty painting with a lot of liquid, they get to paint this little exercise. The idea is to paint the background of a circle completely flat, the color should, when finished, be completely smooth and the circle as perfect as possible. To succeed in this, you must do two things:

1. Always paint with the brush tip against the circle, this means that you should turn the paper so that the tip of the brush always follows the contour of the circle.
2. Use a lot of paint, if it gets too dry you will get an uneven color surface and the risk of flowering increases. When the entire surface around the circle is painted, you can “pour” the color smooth by tilting the paper. Excess paint can be sucked up with the brush.

Step 1

Find an object that should be a template for the circle, a drinking glass, coffee cup or other round object. If you make a large circle, the exercise becomes more difficult. My circle is 8 cm (about 3 inches) in diameter. Place the cup (glass) on a watercolor paper and draw around it with a pencil so that you get a perfect circle.

Step 2

Mix any color in a mixing cup, dilute to desired value. You must mix as much paint as is sufficient for the entire surface (rule of thumb: mix twice as much paint as you think is needed). Preferably avoid granulating colors, they are difficult to get smooth.

Step 3

Fill a large brush (at least size 10, preferably larger) with paint, do not draw any paint on the edge of the mixing cup but let the brush be filled. Try to follow the edge of the circle as closely as possible. Always paint with a lot of paint and the brush tip against the circle, turn the paper as you paint, so that you always have the tip against the circle.

Step 4

When the entire surface is painted, you will probably find that there is more liquid in some places than in others, then you can tilt the paper and pour the paint evenly, you remove excess color by tilting the paper so that the paint flows down to the edge, this excess color you lift up with your brush.

If you succeed in making a perfect circle with a perfectly even background, you have good brush technique and can paint fluently.

Step 5

If you want, you can fill in the circle itself with a different color, in which case use the same technique as for the background.