Q&A for How to Make Brown from Primary Colors

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  • Question
    What colors make light or dark brown?
    Kelly Medford
    Professional Painter
    Kelly Medford is an American painter based in Rome, Italy. She studied classical painting, drawing and printmaking both in the U.S. and in Italy. She works primarily en plein air on the streets of Rome, and also travels for private international collectors on commission. She founded Sketching Rome Tours in 2012 where she teaches sketchbook journaling to visitors of Rome. Kelly is a graduate of the Florence Academy of Art.
    Professional Painter
    Expert Answer
    It’s about the proportions of the mixture. With brown, you must decide what shade of brown it is — red-brown, yellow-brown, blue-brown, etc. Also, figure out if you need a really dark brown or a transparent brown. Mixing the right shade is all about the proportion of each color you use.
  • Question
    Can I make hazel without using brown?
    Community Answer
    "Hazel" is a fairly ambiguous colour. But if you're looking to make a sort of brownish, goldish green like hazel eyes, you can make it with mostly yellow, a bit of green, and something to darken it slightly like black (only a little bit!) or dark grey.
  • Question
    How can I make purple?
    Community Answer
    While mixing red and blue colors is traditional, it's useful to know how to make more nuanced purple colors. This article will help you: How to Make Purple Paint .
  • Question
    My paint is too brown. How can I lessen the brown effect?
    Community Answer
    Try adding more of another color, such as red, yellow, or blue. You can also lighten or darken it by adding a little bit of white or black. If you are using watercolor, add lots of water to make it look lighter.
  • Question
    Do black, red, and orange combined make brown?
    Community Answer
    Yes, they do. However, you need to make sure that you are using the right amount of each colour. More red and black to orange results in a darker brown. Add white to lighten the brown colour.
  • Question
    What color will I get when I mix brown paint with a little bit of green paint?
    Community Answer
    It depends on what temperature your desired brown is. If it's more of a reddish brown (warm), it might become muddled or more grey. If your brown is yellowish or greenish to start with, you'll end up with a lighter, more vibrant brown, and if you add enough green, you'll eventually get an olive colour.
  • Question
    What do I do if I don't have red?
    Community Answer
    If you have any secondary colors, you can mix orange and blue or purple and yellow to get red.
  • Question
    How can I modify a bubblegum pink color to dirt brown?
    CurtM
    Community Answer
    To achieve the color you're after, you're probably going to require a lot of each primary color: red, blue, and yellow, with a slight emphasis on blue and yellow.
  • Question
    I mixed all the primary colors together, but it resulted in black. How do I keep this from happening?
    Community Answer
    Use less blue to prevent it becoming such a dark shade; add small amounts at a time until you reach the color you desire.
  • Question
    What colors do I use to make gold?
    Community Answer
    By mixing red, blue and a larger bit of yellow and white you'll get gold, or if you mix blue, red and yellow you'll get a mustard color.
  • Question
    When I was making yellow and added it with the red and blue it came out purple. Why?
    Community Answer
    It all depends on the proportions. After you mix the red and blue to get purple, you would have to add around twice as much yellow as you did with the red and the blue.
  • Question
    What colors can I use to make tan?
    Community Answer
    Mix brown and white until you get the shade you want.
  • Question
    How can I make a gold color?
    CurtM
    Community Answer
    Golds are naturally going to call for a higher concentration of yellow, along with red and a trace of blue. You might also try lightening your gold with a little white paint to give it a more authentic look.
  • Question
    If I only have blue, pink, yellow and green -- can any of those make brown?
    Community Answer
    Yes, all you need to do is use a very small bit of blue or green mixed with some pink to make a red. Follow with some red and green mixed together, then add a small bit of blue for a lighter brown. If you're seeking a darker brown, use a bit more blue.
  • Question
    How do I get brown if I only have red, yellow and blue colored pencils?
    Community Answer
    Mix equal parts of yellow and blue first, then mix in 10 percent of red to get the desired brown color.
  • Question
    If I mix brown and red, will that make dark brown?
    Community Answer
    That will just make the brown redder. Adding a little black would be the easiest way to darken the brown without changing the hue too much.
  • Question
    What is the difference between transparent white and mixing white?
    Community Answer
    Titanium white is the more common of the whites used for painting. It's known for being bright white, almost bluish, and has excellent opacity and high tinting strength. When mixed with another color, it rapidly lightens the color. Zinc white is very transparent, and has 1/10 the tinting strength of titanium white.
  • Question
    How do I make purple?
    Community Answer
    Mix blue and red together.
  • Question
    I really need help to go from turquoise to black, what do I do?
    Community Answer
    There exist something called a gliphite that can do this. Ä°t sprays of black paint to darken a color. Ä°f you use black paint then you need so much paint that your pencil will catch fire before you achieve black.
  • Question
    Which two colors make aqua blue?
    Community Answer
    Blue, green and white will make aqua.
  • Question
    How do I mix a reddish brown color from the primary colors?
    Community Answer
    You can add more warm colors to the brown. Yellow and red will help make it warmer.
  • Question
    How do I create darkish brown from purple?
    Community Answer
    To get a brownish color, use two complementary colors. Complementary color definition: two colors that are on the opposite side from each other on the color wheel, like blue and orange. Combine purple with its complement and add colors like yellow to get your desired tone, saturation and hue.
  • Question
    I want to make a sunny yellow, because mine is almost orange. I don't want a greenish yellow either. Could I make a primary color using other colors?
    Community Answer
    No, unfortunately you can't because primary colors cannot be made. for example, you can't make red out of pink but you can add red to the pink.
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