How to Mix Paint Colors

Creating the perfect shade of orange or pink can be tricky for those new to color mixing techniques and unsure where to begin combining colors. Fortunately, most colors in the spectrum can be created using just a few basic colors. Additionally, understanding the color wheel will provide the foundation needed to generate any shade of color you desire.

Prepare your mixing tools. You’ll need a mixing tray and palette knife or a brush before you begin. Using a palette knife will result in a smoother and more consistent outcome compared to using a brush.

• If using a brush, make sure to clean it after each mix. You wouldn’t want any colors to blend into the two you’re currently mixing. Use soap and water to clean acrylic paints, or odorless mineral spirits or turpentine for oil paints.
• You can mix colors in jars if you plan on storing paint for later use, instead of using a mixing tray.
• Color mixing is a skill acquired through practice and experimentation. Try mixing different amounts of paint and exploring various combinations to get familiar with the mixing process.

Start with the three primary colors. All other colors stem from the basic ones: red, blue, and yellow. These colors cannot be created by mixing others. Viewing these colors as the 'roots' will help you remember them more easily.

• Consider purchasing large quantities of basic color paints compared to other colors. Large tubes of paint typically have a volume of 200ml.
• Paint quality is divided into two categories: for students and for professional artists. Student-grade products are generally cheaper but lower in quality compared to professional-grade paints, which are more durable, have richer colors, and offer other benefits. Student-grade paints may also alter the required ratios for creating specific colors, so it's important to research before buying a product.

Combine yellow and blue to create green. Mix equal amounts of yellow and blue, stirring thoroughly with a brush or palette knife to achieve green. If the proportions of the two colors are unequal, the resulting green may lean more towards the dominant color, either blue or yellow.

• Both blue and yellow have warm and cool shades. A cool yellow can look slightly greenish, while a warm yellow tends to have an orange hue.
• For a brighter green, use cool yellow and blue with a slight greenish tone.
• If your green appears dark, you might have used a warm yellow or a warm purple-toned blue.

Mix yellow and red to create orange. Combine equal amounts of yellow and red, and mix thoroughly with a brush or palette knife to produce orange. If the ratio of the colors is unequal, the orange will shift towards the more dominant color, either yellow or red.

• Similar to blue and yellow, red also comes in warm and cool shades. Warm red appears slightly orange, while cool red has a hint of purple.
• For a vibrant orange, choose a warm yellow-orange and a warm red-orange.

Make purple by mixing blue and red. Combine equal parts of blue and red and stir thoroughly with a brush or palette knife to create purple. If the proportion of the colors is unequal, the resulting purple will lean towards the dominant color, either blue or red.

• As with other shades, blue also has warm and cool variations. A warm blue tends to look purple, while a cool blue appears slightly greenish.
• To get a vibrant purple, mix a cool red with a warm blue that has a purple tone.
• If your purple looks dark, it might be due to using a warm orange-toned red or a cool blue with green undertones.

Use white or black paint to adjust the brightness, saturation, and darkness of colors. Brightness and darkness refer to how light or dark a color appears. Saturation indicates the 'richness' or dullness of a color. Experiment by adding a bit of white or black paint to alter the basic colors.

• You can also lighten colors by adding some yellow or darken them with a bit of blue.
• Whether black and white are considered primary colors is still a debated topic. For color mixing, what matters is that some shades of black can be made from other paints, but no combination of colors can create white.

Store the colors you have mixed. Pour the paint into a storage container that can be sealed, such as a jar, if you don’t plan to use it right away. You will use these colors for painting or for creating tertiary colors. A plastic container with a tight lid is a good choice if a jar is unavailable.

• If you don't have a proper paint storage container, cover the paint tray with plastic wrap and refrigerate it (or freeze it for oil paints).
• You can also place a damp cloth over the paint container to maintain moisture until you need it.

Start with secondary colors. These colors are created by mixing primary colors, including: purple, green, and orange. You can use either self-mixed secondary colors or purchase ready-made paints from an art store. Additionally, make sure to have primary colors on hand for use.

• When purchasing paint from a store, ensure that you select the correct shades of "green", "purple", or "orange". Avoid buying colors mixed with others, like red-orange or blue-green.

Combine primary and secondary colors to create tertiary colors. Use equal amounts of primary and secondary colors and mix thoroughly with a brush or palette knife. Using unequal amounts of paint can lead to a final color that leans more toward the predominant primary or secondary color.

• Experiment with different ratios of colors. Try using more blue than purple and observe the result.
• Note that the names of tertiary colors are typically based on their primary color, such as "yellow-green"

Create all 6 tertiary colors. Each tertiary color is made in the same way, using equal amounts of primary and secondary colors. Paint brands often have slightly different pigment mixes; so don’t worry if your result doesn't match exactly what you expected. There are six tertiary colors in total:

• Yellow-green
• Blue-green
• Blue-purple
• Red-purple
• Red-orange
• Yellow-orange

Combine a tertiary color with a primary color to create brown. Specifically, you will mix a tertiary color with a primary color that is not used in the mixing of the chosen tertiary color. When creating brown, the ratio of each color used will affect the shade of the resulting color.

• Adding a larger proportion of warm colors, like red, will produce a warmer brown tone.
• Using a larger amount of cool colors, such as blue or green, will result in a very dark brown, nearly black in appearance.

Mix complementary colors to create black. Complementary colors are those that sit opposite each other on the color wheel. For example, red and green, or blue and orange. Mixing these colors will generate a blackish mixture that may lean toward one of the colors used in the mix. This can be considered black made from other colors.

• A mixture of dark blue and brown can produce a deep black, which can be adjusted to a warm or cool tone based on the ratio of the colors.
• Note that purchasing pre-made black paint will limit your ability to mix other colors into it to achieve black.

Mix a primary color, analogous colors, and complementary colors to create gray. Analogous colors are those that are adjacent to a specific color on the color wheel. For example, the analogous colors for green are yellow and teal. Adding analogous colors to a mixture of complementary colors will neutralize the richness of the color and create a grayer tone. Add white to lighten the mixture until you achieve the desired gray shade.

• Dark colors usually blend more easily into lighter colors than the reverse. Add a small amount of the gray mixture to white, then gradually increase the amount if needed.

Use the color wheel. With three primary color groups available, you can use each color to create any color you want. When unsure about how to combine colors, refer to the color wheel. Look at where the color is positioned on the wheel and combine two primary colors to produce that color.

• Use white (or yellow) to lighten a color.
• Combine a complementary color of a specific color to convert it to gray.
• To darken a color, you need to add one of the primary colors that created it, depending on which tone you wish to lean toward.

• Make notes to help remember how to combine colors and the proportions that work best for creating the shade you want.
• Using the color wheel as a guide is a helpful exercise for mixing colors.
• Don't be afraid to experiment—you never know what the outcome will be.
• Start with a small amount of paint so you can get familiar with the quantities needed to achieve a specific color.
• Wear clothes that you're not worried about getting stained when mixing paints.
• If you need a large amount of a specific color, make more than you think you’ll need. Otherwise, you might run out of the color and be unable to replicate the original shade.

• Many paints contain hazardous metals such as lead and cadmium. Be careful not to ingest paint or allow it to contact your skin for extended periods.

• Basic paint tubes: red, yellow, and blue.
• White and black paint tubes.
• Clothes you don't mind getting stained.
• Color mixing tray.
• Paintbrushes.
• Color mixing palette.
• Sealed containers or jars.