How to create a color wheel in an eye

Welcome! This blog post features a guided tutorial of how to create a color wheel in an eye. This activity helps artists to build skills in COLOR THEORY and drawing the ANATOMY of the human eye. This composition can be done with a range of art materials, but acrylic paint and India ink is recommended. Using only 3 primary colors of acrylic paint- RED, YELLOW, and BLUE– artists can create this entire 12 color wheel iris!

Let’s begin and have fun developing your skills in color mixing!

• White paper- thick enough for paint
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Paint supplies with 3 primary colors (R,Y,B or explore C,Y,M) Acrylic or tempera is recommended.
• A circle template may be used to trace the iris, as seen here:

Step 1:

Use pencil to very lightly draw/ trace a circle. This will become the iris of the eye.

Step 2:

Make a tiny dot in the middle of the circle. Then, very lightly draw a horizontal line through the middle with a ruler.

Step 3:

Draw a vertical line through the midpoint to make four equal quadrants.

Step 4:

In the top left quadrant, make small marks to divide it into 3 equal sections.

Step 5:

Draw lines that go through the midpoint to the edge of the bottom right quadrant.

Step 6:

In the top right quadrant, make small marks to divide it into 3 equal sections.

Step 7:

Draw lines that go through the midpoint to the edge of the bottom left quadrant.

At this point, you will have divided the circle into 12 equal sections.

Step 8:

Lightly label your sections to note where the primary and secondary colors will go. As you label, skip the section in between each.

R (red)… O (orange)… Y(yellow)… G (green)… B(blue)… P (purple)

Step 9:

In the 6 remaining spaces, lightly label the tertiary colors. Tertiary colors are made my mixing a primary with a secondary. The tertiary color will be a mix of the colors to the left and right.

RO (Red Orange- Vermillion)

OY (Orange Yellow-Amber)

YG (Yellow Green- Chartreuse)

GB (Green Blue- Teal)

BP (Blue Purple- Indigo)

RP (Red Purple- Maroon)

Step 10:

Trace/draw a circle in the middle of the iris for the pupil.

Draw a highlight on the eye to give it that reflective look. Get creative with how you shape the highlight.

Step 11:

Draw a small hook for the tear duct and then draw the upper eye lid. Note how it overlaps the iris a bit at the top.

Step 12:

Draw a curving contour line for the bottom eye lid.

Step 13:

Add a detail line to define the tear duct.

Follow the curve of the upper and bottom eye lid to add another curving line.

Step 14:

Fill the pupil black and erase out the pencil lines on the part of the iris that is covered by the upper eye lid.

Step 15:

Paint the 3 primary colors.

Step 16:

For each secondary color, mix the primary colors to the left and right. For example…

Orange = yellow + red

Green = yellow + blue

Purple = blue + red

TIPS: Wash out your brush thoroughly when mixing colors. Always add the darker color SLOWLY into the lighter color. Keep in mind that colors often dry a bit darker!

Step 17:

Mix the tertiary colors. Strive for accurate color transitions and correct analogous colors.

Step 18:

Once the paint is finalized and dry, outline the iris sections with a tool of your choice. India ink is recommended as it creates very opaque, flowing black lines!

Step 19:

Create a shadow on the corners of the eye and underneath the upper eye lid. This shadow will also be cast onto the iris.

If using India ink, paint clear water onto this area and add a bit of India ink. It will spread into the areas with water to create a neat gradient effect!

Step 20:

Add shading around the eye.

Step 21:

Add eyelashes! The side opposite the tear duct will have the most layered lashes. Note the direction and contour of the eyelashes.

My middle school students created these examples. Instead of giving them the traditional RYB primary colors… we explored CYM (Cyan, yellow, and magenta). The final product was some very vibrant rainbow color wheels. The whole project took about 1 week to complete, as students were encouraged to patiently mix and layer their paint. I really loved their final products!

MY TEACHER EXAMPLE: