How to Mix Colors and Make Cool New Shades Out of Basic Ones
It sounds unbelievable, but the majority of colors consist of just 3 primary shades: red, yellow, and blue. You just need to know how to mix them.
Thanks to 5-Minute Crafts, you’ll find out how to mix colors and make more complicated shades out of simple ones.
How to make other colors out of 3 primary shades
There are 3 primary colors that can’t be made by mixing. They’re blue, red, and yellow. These 3 colors give origin to the rest of the colors.
There are also 3 secondary paint colors. They are created when you combine 2 primary colors together in equal amounts.
- Red + blue = violet
- Blue + yellow = green
- Yellow + red = orange
If you mix 3 primary colors, you’ll get black.
Important: When mixing different shades of primary colors, you can make different variations of secondary colors.
For example, if you combine dark blue with dark yellow, you’ll get a swamp color, and if you mix light yellow and sky blue, you’ll get a light green color.
The tertiary colors are created by mixing 2 adjacent colors of the primary and secondary colors.
- Red + orange = red-orange
- Orange + yellow = orange-yellow
- Yellow + green = yellow-green (or citron color)
- Green + blue = green-blue
- Blue + purple = blue-purple
- Purple + red = purple-red
Important: Color shades can vary greatly. The dominance of a particular pigment depends on the ratio of colors mixed.
For example, if you mix blue and yellow in equal amounts, you’ll make a grassy green color. If you take 2 times more of the blue color, the resulting color will be close to a marine green. And when the predominant color is yellow, when mixed, it will become light green.
Creating gray and brown
You can make a brown color by mixing 3 primary colors in different amounts. If you add more blue, the color will become darker; if you add more yellow, the color will become lighter; and by adding more red, it will become brighter.
The easiest way to make the gray color is by mixing white and black. The color intensity can vary depending on the proportions of the colors mixed. Also, a pleasant gray color can be created by mixing a large amount of blue with a drop of orange (the brightness of this shade can be varied by adding white to the paint), or yellow with purple.
What happens if you add black or white to the paint
If you want to make a light version of any color, add a bit of white. The more white you add, the lighter the result will be.
If you need to make a darker shade, add a bit of black to the paint. Remember, the more black you use, the darker the shade will be.
A simple guide for color mixing
