Burnt sienna, ultramarine, cadmium yellow - these words sound like mysterious spells to the uninitiated ear. In fact, these are just names of colors, although a certain magic is, of course, present in them. One has only to pick up a brush and apply a few drops to the palette, and the imagination immediately comes to life. And all that remains for the artist is to mix the paints correctly to create real miracles.

It is sometimes difficult for novice artists to navigate the choice of colors for their painting, especially if there are many colors in their watercolor set. That is why it is recommended to buy paints with a smaller variety of shades, because it is much more interesting and, most importantly, more useful to mix the paints yourself. Ready-made colors often turn out to be quite harsh, far from natural muted tones. But a palette created with your own hands will not only help you find what you need for the desired image, but will also serve as a source of imagination and useful knowledge.

All shades of colors are divided into warm and cold. These names are absolutely telling; warm colors are sunnier, more summery: orange, red, yellow. Cold, respectively winter, refreshing: blue, light blue, violet.

The colors on the palette interact with each other, forming absolutely incredible variations. However, there are general trends that are reflected in the so-called Itten circle. This is a model of combining primary and secondary colors.

The circle not only shows how secondary colors are formed from primary ones, but also visually divides them into warm and cold, respectively, some on the right, others on the left. It is important to understand that we are talking about base colors, not shades. After all, in comparison, some will turn out to be warmer, others colder.

Here is a small table on mixing primary colors.

Rules for mixing paints

To mix watercolor paints correctly, you need to know some of their features and be sure to take them into account when applying them to paper. We are talking not only about the division into warm and cold tones, but also about the hiding power of some colors, i.e. ability to overlap previous layers. Different shades are obtained not only by mixing two colors, but also by varying their quantity, as well as the amount of water used. For example, mixing the classic combination of yellow and green, when adding more yellow it will gradually change to a lighter lime green, and may even return to the original element.

Colors that are close to each other when mixed will not give a pure tone, but with their help you can get a very expressive shade, it will be called chromatic. If you combine colors located on opposite sides of the color wheel, you can get an achromatic, grayish tone. For example, a combination of orange with green and purple will give this effect.

Some paints give an undesirable reaction when mixed. It's not just about dirt on the drawing, it can lead to cracking of the paint layer, as well as to its darkening when drying. The combination of zinc white with cinnabar has a beautiful light pink tone, but later this combination darkens and becomes inexpressive. Therefore, it is, of course, considered optimal to achieve brightness and multi-color by mixing a minimum number of colors. Remember that some combinations give a lasting effect, while others are completely unacceptable.

How to get yellow color when mixing paints

Yellow is one of the three basic colors, so it is impossible to obtain it by mixing it in its pure form! However, you can achieve some results by playing with shades that are close to the palette. For example, to get gold, you will need regular yellow and a drop of red or brown. A good option is also to make them yellow with red and adding white.

How to get orange color when mixing paints

It is much more productive to mix yellow paint to create orange. It is formed from a mixture of yellow and red. Adding a little brown and red can make it tangerine or gold, depending on the amount of ingredients. Bright orange comes from classic orange with brown and white.

How to get a mint color when mixing paints

How to get black by mixing paints

Each watercolor set contains black, but if for some reason you don’t have it, or you need a very dark shade, you can mix it yourself. You will need to combine red, yellow and blue in equal proportions. Great color comes from blue and brown. Also suitable for mixing are red, green, yellow, and purple. Soft black colors come from cobalt yellow, cobalt blue and madder pink.

How to get green color when mixing paints

Green comes from yellow and blue. However, in watercolors in its pure form it is rarely used. Much more popular colors are sunny green or olive green, midnight green, their combination and other options. Solar green uses ultramarine and cobalt yellow, olive is prepared from the same flowers with the addition of burnt sienna, and midnight is made from FC blue, yellow and a drop of black.

How to get turquoise color by mixing paints

Turquoise is better known by its other name, aquamarine. On the color spectrum its place is between green and blue. Therefore, they will be needed for mixing. You will need a slightly larger amount of blue cyan than green. However, this depends on the color intensity required. For a more subtle turquoise, you can add a drop of white or light gray paint. For a rich aquamarine, you will need to take a bright shade of blue, green and a little yellow.

How to get burgundy color when mixing paints

The burgundy color owes its name to the French wine of the same name. This is a solemn, deep color, you can mix it using three parts red and one blue. For a warmer shade, you can introduce a little yellow, or combine bright scarlet in half with brown. A cooler tone will be obtained from red, brown and black; it comes out so rich that it must be diluted with water.

How to get blue color by mixing paints

It’s very easy to get blue color in watercolors; just dilute ultramarine with water, and you’re done. However, for those who are not looking for easy ways, there are always a couple of interesting ways. One of them is the use of white: for 2 parts of ultramarine you will need one part of white paint. You need to dilute the blue color gradually to adjust the saturation of the tone. For a bright blue color you will need the same blue, a drop of red and white. Another shade can be obtained by adding to this mixture one part of not red, but green paint.

How to get crimson color when mixing paints

Bright and energetic crimson color has a whole range of shades. The main one can be obtained by combining red, blue and a small amount of white. To tone down a too bright color, add a little black. Instead of black, you can use brown, and instead of blue, turquoise or cyan, or purple, the results will be very extraordinary.

How to get brown color when mixing paints

You can get brown color in different ways. The simplest one is mixing red and green paints. It can also be made from purple and yellow, the more yellow, the lighter the tone. Another way is to use red, blue and yellow, but you need to mix them gradually, adding more paint to adjust the shade, otherwise a black color may form, especially if red and blue predominate. A good tint comes from mixing orange and blue.

How to get purple color by mixing paints

From the school curriculum we know that purple is made from red and blue colors. However, in reality this is not entirely true. It is quite difficult to obtain a high-quality bright shade, and what comes out of these two colors is more like a nondescript burgundy. So, in order for a bright, rich lilac color to come out in a company of red and blue, the latter must predominate. In this case, the shade of red should be taken as cold as possible, otherwise there is a high probability of mixing brown rather than purple. Blue also has its own requirements - it should not contain any greenish notes, take only in its pure form, for example, cobalt blue or ultramarine. To lighten the final tone, you can use a small amount of white. An important nuance is that after drying the color fades a little.

How to get blue by mixing paints

Blue is a basic color and cannot be mixed with other colors. But with the help of blue paint and auxiliary paints you can get many shades of it. For example, from bright ultramarine with white lead you can get sky blue. For a rich blue tone, take ultramarine with dark turquoise. A beautiful blue-green comes from blue with a little yellow. White will make this shade paler. The famous Prussian blue is obtained from mixing blue and green in equal parts. If you take 2 parts blue and 1 part red, you get blue-violet. And if you take pink rather than red, you get royal blue. A complex gray-blue color, excellent for drawing shadows, can be obtained from blue and brown. A rich dark blue will come out of blue and black, combining two to one.

How to get pink color by mixing paints

Usually pink color is obtained from a combination of red and white; its shade will depend on the proportions. But you can also experiment with different types of red. The bright scarlet gives a wonderful effect, the pink color turns out to be very pure. Brick red gives a peachy tint. And bloody alizarin and white form a fuchsia color. By adding drops of purple or yellow to the mix, you can get unexpectedly interesting results. Not everyone accepts the use of white in watercolors, then you can get pink simply by diluting any red color with water. In a low concentration, this will be what you need.

How to get beige color when mixing paints

Beige or flesh color is necessary for the artist to depict people, faces, portraits, etc. Delicate beige can be obtained from white with the addition of ocher, cadmium yellow and red, sienna and sometimes ubra in minute quantities for light shading. The ratio of ocher in comparison with other components will be higher, all ingredients need to be introduced little by little, adjusting the required color intensity. Unfortunately, there is no exact recipe; each artist has his own vision of this issue.

How to get lilac color when mixing paints

The lilac color is quite close to purple, they are even called related. They are both cool shades and are quite close on the color wheel. Actually, the main recipe for lilac color is diluting purple with white or water.

How to get gray color when mixing paints

You never see black shadows in watercolor paintings; they are usually painted with the same colors as the rest of the details, but with the addition of a darker element, for example, gray. This color in watercolor can be obtained by combining black with a large amount of water or white. Interesting shades are obtained from cobalt blue with the addition of burnt sienna or burnt umber.

Mixing oil paints, mixing technology

Mixing oil paints has slightly different specifics, unlike watercolors. Although the basic recipes for obtaining certain flowers are, of course, general. Basic techniques for mixing acrylic paints:

• Combining colors on the palette, i.e. physical, to obtain a new tone or shade for the purpose of applying to a drawing. If one of the paints is lighter, then it is applied in small strokes over the dark one, provided that both paints have the same covering properties. When clear paint is mixed with opaque paint, the result is opaque paint. If two transparent paints are taken, then the result will be transparent. With this method, a decrease in the purity and intensity of tones is inevitable.
• The method of overlaying paints, otherwise known as glazing, involves layering transparent paints on top of each other directly on the image. Of course, the previous layer must be completely dry.
• Color joining method. If you apply brush strokes very tightly together, then visually mixing of these colors occurs, like a kind of optical illusion.

Oil Paint Mixing Chart

Mixing acrylic paints, technology

Acrylic paints are a great option for beginning artists and painting enthusiasts. They are universally suitable for paper, fabric, glass, wood, etc. Their only drawback is their rather high cost, and therefore acrylic sets usually do not have a very rich palette. But nothing prevents us from expanding it using mixing technology. You must have 7 colors: red, pink, yellow, blue, brown, white and black. And then, using a special table, you can easily mix acrylic yourself.

Acrylic paint mixing table

Mixing gouache paint colors

When choosing gouache, you should not focus on large sets; they look very impressive and presentable. But in fact, you will have to overpay for completely unnecessary colors. It is much better to focus not on the number of jars, but on their volume. After all, when the primary colors run out, you will still have to buy new paints, and the unused ones will remain as dead weight. Moreover, it is very easy to get new colors and shades of gouache, as simple as holding a brush in your hands. There are no special rules here, except that you will need a color combination table.

Gouache paint mixing table

Theoretical knowledge about color gives the concept that the main colors are: yellow, red and blue. Combining any two of these colors will produce an additional secondary color. contains everything that, when mixed, produces tertiary colors.

How to get brown using primary colors

To find out how to get brown from paints and what base dyes you need, you need to use the color triangle. to obtain brown, green and red or an equivalent combination of blue, yellow and red will be used.

How to get brown color from paints by mixing primary and secondary colors? You need to mix:

• green and red;
• yellow, blue, red (color pigments must be taken in equal proportions);
• orange and blue;
• gray and orange;
• magenta and yellow;
• yellow, orange and purple (primary colors can be divided into additional colors, according to the color wheel);
• green, purple and orange (green is a combination of yellow and blue, purple is a combination of blue and red, and orange is a combination of red and yellow).

How to get dark brown color

To obtain the desired dark tones of brown, a small amount of black paint is added to the red, orange and yellow pigments. Color saturation is obtained by mixing yellow, blue and red in various proportions experimentally:

• is formed by combining red, yellow and black with a drop of green.
• Mixing red, yellow, white and black produces dark brown.
• The red-brown shade is obtained by the predominance of red pigment in brown paint.

Yellow, blue and red are the main colors that answer the question: how to get brown from paints? Therefore, in order to give the brown color the necessary various shades, use the predominance of yellow, blue or red over other colors (red pigment makes the color warm with a hint of rust, blue gives depth and brightness).

How to get light brown color

White is added when it is necessary to create light shades. Blue, red and yellow with the addition of white gives a light brown color. The maximum amount of yellow pigment in the paint forms ocher, which contributes to the creation of light shades.

Creating shades of brown using bright primary and secondary colors does not always give the clean and beautiful color needed for the job. Color theory is based on light, so the answer to the question of how to get brown color from paints will help to give the natural shades present in ready-made art paints of sienna, ocher and umber. These paints contain natural, natural earth pigments, so when working, don't limit your skills to just color.

To create beautiful brown tones, you need to learn to find a balance between colors (if the color scheme has acquired a greenish tint, eliminate it by adding red pigment, and in order to remove the rusty tint of red, add green). There are many variations of brown and you can always get the desired and desired shade when working with primary and additional colors and natural pigments.

The color mixing table allows you to learn how to get the right one when mixing two or more colors and shades.

This table is used in various fields of art - fine art, modeling, and others. Can also be used in construction when mixing paints and plasters.

Color Mixing Chart 1

Color mixing chart 2

Mixing paints
black= brown+blue+red in equal proportions
black= brown+blue.
gray and black= blue, green, red and yellow are mixed in equal proportions, and then one or the other is added by eye. it turns out we need more blue and red
black= it turns out if you mix red, blue and brown
black=red, green and blue. You can additionally add brown.
bodily= red and yellow paint... just a little bit. After kneading, if it turns yellow, add a little red, if a little yellow paint turns pink. If the color turns out to be very saturated, add a piece of white mastic and mix again
dark cherry= red + brown + a little blue (cyan)
strawberry= 3 parts pink + 1 part red
Turkiz= 6 parts sky blue + 1 part yellow
silver gray= 1 hour black + 1 hour blue
dark red= 1 part red + a little black
rust color= 8 hours orange + 2 hours red + 1 hour brown
greenish= 9 hours sky blue + a little yellow
dark green= green+a little black
lavender=5 parts pink + 1 part purple
bodily= a little copper color
nautical=5h. blue+1 hour green
peach=2h. orange + 1 tsp. dark yellow
dark pink=2h. red+1 hour brown
Navy blue=1h. blue+1h. Sereneviy
avocado= 4h. yellow + 1 part green + a little black
coral= 3 hours pink + 2 hours yellow
gold= 10 hours yellow + 3 hours orange + 1 hour red
plum = 1 part purple + a little red
light green= 2 hours purple + 3 hours yellow

red + yellow = orange
red + ocher + white = apricot
red + green = brown
red + blue = violet
red + blue + green = black
yellow + white + green = citric
yellow + cyan or blue = green
yellow + brown = ocher
yellow + green + white + red = tobacco
blue + green = sea ​​wave
orange + brown = terracotta
red + white = coffee with milk
brown + white + yellow = beige
light green=green+yellow, more yellow,+white= light green

lilac=blue+red+white, more red and white, +white= light lilac
lilac= red and blue, with red predominating
Pistachio paint obtained by mixing yellow paint with a small amount of blue

Brown shades are obtained by combining all primary and secondary colors. Changing an existing tone to another is quite simple, since brown color is sensitive to its components, and human eyes perceive a wide palette of them.

First, let's figure out which colors are considered primary and which are secondary. The primary colors are blue, red and yellow and cannot be obtained from any other color. Secondary ones are orange and green. They are obtained by mixing two primary colors with each other: orange from red and yellow, purple from red and blue, and green from blue and yellow. Brown of different shades is obtained from mixing all primary colors in equal proportions or two primary and one secondary.

The easiest way to get brown is to mix yellow, red and blue paints. That is, from primary colors. First, red and yellow are combined (to make orange), and then blue is added. All paints are taken in equal proportions.

How to get a classic brown color when mixing paints

You can get classic brown in several ways:

1. Mix red paint with green in equal proportions.
2. Mix red, yellow and blue paint.
3. Mix blue and orange paint.
4. Mix yellow, orange and purple paint. It should be noted that this is a rather complex and troublesome option.
5. Mixing purple, green and orange paint is also difficult.

When using the above options, brown may turn out to be slightly different shades, but they will all be close to the classic brown color. Everyone chooses to their own taste.

How to get red-brown paint

In order to get a red-brown () shade, you need to combine:

• red and yellow paint, but more red;
• add a little blue;
• approximately 0.1% white.

How to get dark brown color

To obtain a dark brown color, mix red, yellow and blue paint in equal proportions. To achieve a more saturated shade, you need to add black to the desired saturation.

How to get light brown color

To obtain a light brown color, combine red, yellow and blue paint. In this case, there is proportionally more yellow, and we lighten the resulting tone with white paint to the required shade. To obtain a gray-brown color, it is enough to combine orange paint with gray, and a light or dark shade can be achieved by adding white or black paint, respectively.

Attention! Everyone has their own taste and needs when choosing interior colors or paintings. Therefore, mix colors carefully and in small quantities, achieving the desired tone. If you are interested in painting, when mixing paints it is better to use not a brush, but a special metal tool - a palette knife. This will avoid streaks on the canvas.

What colors need to be mixed to get brown from different types of paints

They have their own characteristics, for example, acrylic and gouache. Therefore, when mixing to achieve the desired shade of brown, it is important to take them into account.

How to make brown from gouache paints

Many of those who begin to paint choose gouache paints. They are bright, thick, dry quickly. Drawing with them is easy and fun. Stores that sell everything for creativity, including those interested in painting, sell ready-made paints. What ready-made shades of brown gouache can be found on the shelves: natural umber (natural brown), burnt umber (brown with a green tint, quite dark), dark brown (Mars), natural sienna, burnt sienna, ocher, golden ocher. This is not enough for the demanding eye of an esthete.

Then the technique of mixing ready-made paints comes to the rescue. First you need to familiarize yourself with where the primary colors, secondary and additional colors are presented, and remember which of them give a brown tint when mixed. Nuances to consider when using gouache:

1. When drying on canvas or paper, gouache is much lighter, so the color will differ from what was originally applied.
2. Black color should be used with caution; if you need to achieve a dark shade, add it little by little.
3. White color is also added in small portions. Too much of this color will make the shade look cold.
4. To obtain a brown color, no more than three shades of paint are mixed.

How to make brown from acrylic paints

Acrylic paints can safely be called universal. They not only paint pictures, but also paint stained glass windows. The possibilities for their use are much wider than gouaches or watercolors. They are easy to work with, the colors are rich and expressive. The only drawback, if, of course, it can be considered such, is the expensive price. Therefore, it is enough to buy a palette of seven colors and get the necessary ones by mixing.

How to get brown from primary colors? Red, yellow, pink, brown, blue, black and white. The laws of the color wheel will help us create the brown shade we need. Everything is the same as with other paints, but it has its own characteristics. Let's talk about them. Colors and proportions of acrylic paints to obtain shades of brown:

1. Avocado color - mix yellow paint with a small amount of black and brown.
2. Reddish-chestnut - mix red paint with a small amount of brown and black.
3. Chestnut - yellow paint plus red, a little black and white.
4. The color of honey is white paint plus yellow and a little brown.
5. Dark brown - yellow paint, red and black in equal proportions and a little white.
6. Copper gray - black paint, white and a little red.
7. The color of the eggshell is white and yellow paint in equal proportions and a little brown.

When painting with acrylic paints, you need to remember that when drying, the shade may be different than when applied. To get brown, you need to know how to mix the right colors. Artists who love to create with acrylic paints have developed a special mixing system to create dark and light tones. This system produces green, purple, orange and brown shades. For the base, take white color and add color; the less the base color, the lighter the shade. To obtain dark shades of the palette, black paint is added to the main color; the more black, the darker the shade. This needs to be done with caution, for example, you need a dark brown color, you need to add very little black paint, otherwise it will turn out dirty brown.

When is it profitable to mix colors, and when is it better to buy ready-made paint?

If you need many shades of the same color for your work, it is perhaps better to purchase a white base and mix it with the base colors. This option is more suitable for an artist who uses paint in small quantities to draw small details. Having such an arsenal, it will not be difficult to make brown paint from other colors.

To cover large areas, it is better to buy ready-made paint. Why? It is difficult to stock up on a mixed composition for future use, and the slightest deviation in the proportion of colors can give a different shade. Fortunately, today the market offers a wide range to the discerning buyer. And if you still have questions and suggestions about how you mix colors, and where you use such knowledge, tell other readers of our online magazine about your experience. And in conclusion, we suggest watching an entertaining video about how to properly mix oil paints to get the desired colors.

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You've started painting with gouache and are learning how to mix colors, specifically wanting to bring out the brown tint. Unfortunately, ready-made paint sets are often limited to certain colors.

But thanks to this, you can learn how to obtain certain tones.

Things to remember when mixing

Familiarize yourself with the color wheel; it figuratively shows what shades can be obtained by combining them. It is worth noting that those colors that are located in relative proximity to each other can be easily mixed without creating a mess. When you combine two tones from a circle, you get a secondary color, and when you add it, you get a tertiary color.

When you want to make a certain shade darker, you can’t add a lot of black to it. And also when using white to combine with other tones, you will get components that will be too cool.

We must not forget the most important thing that gouache becomes lighter after drying, and the color will always differ from that originally applied to the canvas. This paint is even divided into groups based on light resistance.

You don’t need to mix a lot of colors; nothing will come of it; it’s better to have no more than three. If you mix fluorescent gouache with regular gouache, it will lose its brightness. Learn the technique of using colors. Choose the main colors to work with, dilute them in separate containers, and make preliminary strokes. When they dry, you will see if the resulting shade suits you. It is advisable to make about five of these colors, and combining them to obtain intermediate colors.

What colors does brown come from?

There are three main colors that cannot be obtained in any other way: blue, yellow and red. If you mix these three tones in equal proportions, you will get ready-made brown.

Also, to remove the classic brown shade, use:

1. Red with green. If there is no second color, it can be obtained by combining blue with yellow and only then adding red until the correct tone is achieved.
2. Blue with orange. Accordingly, to create the latter color, a larger amount of red is mixed with a small proportion of yellow. After that, add blue little by little.
3. Yellow with purple. The principle of operation does not change, purple is obtained by combining red with blue, and then adding yellow. Don't forget to stir the paints when mixing.
4. Orange with grey. The second color is added to the first one. To get gray, you need to add a little black to white.
5. Purple, orange and yellow. The above describes how you can get these shades.
6. Purple, orange and green. Again, collect secondary tones according to the color wheel.
7. A messy mix of blue, yellow and red. Choose any two shades out of three, and combine them equally, and then add the last one, gradually, until you get chocolate or other brown.
8. A combination of all primary colors. In this case, in equal proportions to each resulting mass, all colors are gradually mixed, except for the last one. First come blue and green, then black is added to them, and then red. At the very end there is a yellow tone, it is not necessary to add it in equal quantities, the main thing is to obtain the desired brown.

It is important to know that this color has a large number of shades, depending on the proportions of mixing the various components. Large amounts of yellow will result in ocher. Red gives a chestnut tone or red-brown color, blue brings brightness and creates contrast.

If we want to get darker shades, then very little black is added to colors such as yellow, red and orange. Also, to create dark brown, mix yellow with red, and then black and white.

To make a light brown or golden brown, white is usually added to the already obtained consistency.

Learn to find a happy medium when working with different components.

What are the names of brown shades for ready-made gouache?

Specialized art stores often sell prepared materials. They contain natural dyes and may be suitable for you. After all, it is not always possible to obtain one color or another by mixing; it happens that completely faded colors come out. Ready-made shades of brown have names such as: natural umber (natural) or burnt (dark brown with a green tint), as well as dark mars brown; natural and burnt sienna; ocher, including golden.