Circle Studies
The Set Up
Gather every circular object you can find! Bottle tops, jar lids, rolls of masking tape, anything that makes a good round edge. The more variety in size, the better. Lay them out with thick paper, oil pastels, and watercolour palettes. A3 paper gives space for big, bold studies, but smaller sizes work just as well.
The Making
Trace around the lids with oil pastels, letting circles overlap, cluster together, or run off the edge. Keep building until the page feels alive with movement. Then bring in the watercolours! Paint inside the circles, watching how the pastel lines resist the pigment and hold the colour in place.
Try wet-on-wet watercolour painting too. This is where you brush water directly onto the page first, then drop in colour and watch it bloom. Some circles stay crisp, others spread into soft, glowing pools.
Variations
Tape a border around the paper before starting. When the tape is peeled off at the end, the clean edge makes the artwork feel polished and gallery ready!
Limit the palette to just warm or cool colours for a striking mood. Or keep it wide open and let every circle tell a different colour story.
Materials
Recycled lids, jar caps, bottle tops, or masking tape rolls in different sizes
Oil pastels
Watercolour palettes or liquid watercolours
A3, A4, or A5 paper
Brushes, water jars, and cloths
Optional: painter’s tape for borders