How to mix colors to make grey. How to get red color when mixing paints

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

It can sometimes be difficult for novice artists to navigate the choice of colors for their painting, especially if there are a lot of 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 paints yourself. Finished colors often turn out to be quite harsh, far from natural muted tones. But a custom-made palette will not only help you find what you need for the desired image, but also serve as a source of imagination and useful knowledge.

All shades of colors are divided into warm and cold. These names are completely speaking, warm colors are more sunny, summer: orange, red, yellow. Cold, respectively, winter, refreshing: blue, light blue, purple.

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 from the primary, but also visually divides them into warm and cold, respectively, one on the right, the other on the left. It is important to understand that we are talking about basic colors, not shades. Indeed, in comparison, they alone will be warmer, others colder.

Here is a small table for mixing primary colors.

Paint mixing rules

To properly mix watercolor paints, you need to know some of their features and be sure to take them into account when applying to paper. It is 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, adding more yellow will gradually change to a lighter light 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 such an effect.

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

How to get yellow when mixing paints

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

How to get orange color when mixing paints

Much more productive is mixing yellow paint to get orange color. It is formed from a mixture of yellow and red. By adding a small amount of brown and red, you can make it tangerine or golden, depending on the amount of ingredients. A bright orange color is obtained from classic orange with brown and white.

How to get a mint color when mixing paints

How to get black when mixing paints

Each set of watercolors has a black color, 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. An excellent color is obtained from blue and brown. Also suitable for mixing red, green, yellow, purple. Cobalt yellow, cobalt blue and pink madder will give a soft black color.

How to get green when mixing paints

Green is obtained from yellow and blue. However, in watercolor in its pure form, it is used infrequently. 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 made from the same colors with the addition of burnt sienna, and midnight uses blue FC, yellow and a dash of black.

How to get a turquoise color when mixing paints

Turquoise is better known by another name, aquamarine. On the spectrum of colors, its place is between green and blue. Therefore, they will be needed for mixing. You will need a little more blue cyan than green. However, this depends on the required color intensity. For a more delicate 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 a burgundy color when mixing paints

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

How to get blue color when mixing paints

Blue color in watercolor is very easy to get, it is enough to dilute ultramarine with water properly, and it's in the bag. However, for those who are not looking for easy ways, there are always a couple interesting ways. One of them is the use of white paint: 2 parts of ultramarine will require 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 need the same blue, a drop of red and white. Another shade can be obtained by adding one part of not red, but green paint to this mixture.

How to get a crimson color when mixing paints

Bright and energetic crimson color has a whole range of shades. The main can be obtained by combining red, blue and a small amount of white. To muffle too catchy 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 when mixing paints

Get Brown color can different ways. The simplest is mixing red and green paints. It can also be made from purple and yellow, the more yellow, the lighter the tone will turn out. Another way is to use red, blue and yellow, but you need to mix them gradually, adding new portions of paint to adjust the hue, otherwise black may form, especially if red and blue predominate. A good hue is given by mixing orange and blue.

How to get purple when mixing paints

From school curriculum it is known that violet is obtained from red and blue flowers. However, in reality this is not entirely true. It is quite difficult to get a high-quality bright shade, but what is obtained from these two colors is more like a nondescript burgundy. So, in order for a bright saturated purple color to come out in the company of red and blue, the latter should prevail. At the same time, the shade of red should be taken as cold as possible, otherwise it is likely to mix brown, not purple. Blue also has its own requirements - it should not have any greenish notes, take it only in its pure form, for example, cobalt blue or ultramarine. To lighten the final tone, you can use a small amount of white. Important nuance, this is that after drying, the color fades a little.

How to get blue when mixing paints

Blue is the base color and cannot be mixed with other colors. But with the help of blue paint and auxiliary paint, you can get many of its shades. For example, sky blue can be obtained from bright ultramarine with white. For a rich blue tone, take ultramarine with dark turquoise. A beautiful blue-green comes from blue with a bit of yellow. This shade will make it more pale White color. The well-known Prussian blue is obtained by mixing blue and green in equal proportions. If you take 2 parts of blue and 1 of red, you get blue-violet. And if you take not red, but pink, you get royal blue. A complex gray-blue color, great for drawing shadows, can be obtained from blue and brown. A rich dark blue will come out of blue and black, two to one.

How to get pink when mixing paints

Usually pink color obtained from the combination of red and white, its shade will depend on the proportions. But you can experiment with various types red. A wonderful effect gives a bright scarlet, pink color is very pure. Brick red gives a peach hue. And the bloody alizarin with white forms the color of fuchsia. By adding drops of purple or yellow to the mix, unexpectedly interesting results can be obtained. Not everyone accepts the use of white in watercolor, then you can get pink simply by diluting any red color with water. In 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 uber in meager amounts, for easy shading. The ratio of ocher in comparison with the rest of the components will be higher, all ingredients must 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 stand on color wheel close enough. Actually, the main recipe lilac color is the dilution of violet with whitewash or water.

How to get gray color when mixing paints

AT watercolor paintings never meet black shadows, they are usually drawn 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 a slightly different specificity, unlike watercolor. Although the basic recipes for obtaining certain colors, of course, are common. Basic mixing techniques acrylic paints:

• The combination of colors on the palette, i.e. physical, to obtain a new tone or shade in order to apply to the drawing. If one of the paints is lighter, then it is applied in small strokes to the dark one, provided that both paints have the same covering properties. When mixing a transparent paint with an opaque paint, the result is a opaque one. 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 imposing paints, otherwise it is called glazing, is the imposition of transparent colors on top of each other directly on the image. Of course, the previous layer must be absolutely dry.
• Color matching method. If you apply brush strokes very tightly with each other, then visually there is a mixing of these colors, like a kind of optical illusion.

Oil paint mixing table

Mixing acrylic paints, technology

Acrylic paints are a great option for beginners and art lovers. They are universally suitable for both paper and fabric, glass, wood, etc. Their only drawback is their rather high cost, and therefore acrylic sets, as a rule, do not have a very rich palette. But nothing prevents us from expanding it with blending technology. You must have 7 colors: red, pink, yellow, blue, brown, white and black. And then with the help of a special table, you can easily mix the acrylic yourself.

Acrylic Mixing Table

Mixing colors of gouache paints

When choosing gouache, you should not focus on large sets, they look very impressive and presentable. But in fact, you 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 still have to buy new paints, and the unused ones will remain dead weight. Moreover, getting new colors and shades of gouache is very easy, just like holding a brush in your hands. None special rules not here, except that a color matching table is needed.

Gouache paint mixing table

Blue is the primary color, along with red and yellow. Blue represents cold color scheme. In the Pantone palette, developed in the middle of the 20th century. – 180 shades of blue color, each of which has its own name and number.
At the mention of this color, boundless images of the sea and sky, space, thickening twilight, moonlight arise in the imagination.

How to get the blue color when it is not in the palette?

It is believed that blue can be obtained by mixing green and yellow, but in practice the combination of these colors gives more olive. Blue is unique and unrepeatable. It is impossible to get it by mixing paints.

traditional color wheel

To achieve the desired color or its shade, you can use the color wheel.
The base colors, which include blue, red and yellow, form orange, green, brown and purple in the process of mixing.

How to create classic blue by mixing paints

If you have blue but want a different shade of it, use the available colors to get the tone you want. Hue can be extremely important when creating a work of art, as well as in the field of design and interior decoration.

In standard sets of acrylic paints, ultramarine is presented as blue, a bright and at the same time dark shade with purple notes.

To create a lighter tone, mix 3 parts blue + 1 part white.

How to get royal blue

This shade can be described as blue at the junction with lilac.
Mix blue and magenta pink in equal proportions. In order to make the shade lighter, add white.

How to get dark blue

Sometimes the main blue in the color palette looks too bright and light. To get a darker shade, mix 3 parts blue with 1 part black. Thus, the resulting color will be darker.

How to get a gray-blue color

This shade perfectly conveys the atmosphere of the sky and the water surface on a cloudy day.
To do this, mix the base blue with brown. The result will be a dark gray-blue hue, which white color will help to lighten.

Without a basic blue in your arsenal, it is impossible to get it by mixing other colors, but if you have a basic blue, you can experiment with creating its new shades and tones.

Red and green combined give dark brown color. But its shade and intensity depends on the chosen proportions. the main role in this combination belongs to the green color. The darker it is and used in greater proportion, the more intense the brown color, up to black.

If you mix blue and green, what color will you get?

Blue and green - we get the color of turquoise or aqua. The more intense the blue tone, the more it will dominate in the shade, approaching turquoise. The predominance of green makes the shade of the sea wave greenish. With an equal proportion of colors, a rich blue tint is obtained.

If you mix yellow and green, what color will you get?

Combining yellow and green - we get a light green or light green tone. In order for it to turn out, the proportions of colors should be the same. By adding green to yellow, we get an olive tint, if there is very little yellow, we get a deep green with a blue tint, that is, it all depends on the proportion.

In addition, primary colors can produce many other shades. For example, when you combine red with blue, you get purple. Which, depending on the proportion we use, can range from a light, almost transparent lavender shade to a deep purple. Yellow and red give a bright orange hue.

Advice! If you try to mix all three basic shades at the same time, you get an indefinite dirty brown with a blue tint, it is called complex.

By experimenting with primary colors, taking into account the basic rules of color, you can achieve any desired shade.

How to mix colors - video

Thanks to modern technologies, interior designers become real wizards. In the blink of an eye, they will make any room stylish and original. AT recent times more and more attention is paid to color design. The most popular are non-standard shades that can be obtained by mixing colors.

Process Basics

Manufacturers of paints and varnishes presented a fairly wide range on the market. But it is not always possible to choose what is ideal for the interior. Combining multiple shades will save time and money.

In many specialized stores, you can use the services of a specialist who will help you make desired color. But if you know the basic rules of how to mix dyes, you can do it at home with your own hands.

One thing to keep in mind when mixing important rule: do not combine liquid products with a dry mixture. They have different indices, so the coloring composition may eventually curl up.

The most interesting part of the process is creating the desired shade. There are four primary colors:

• white;
• blue;
• red;
• green.

By mixing them, you can get any others. Here are illustrative examples:

1. Brown is obtained by combining red and green. For a lighter shade, you can add some white.
2. Orange is the result of mixing yellow and red.
3. If you need green, you need to combine yellow and blue paints.
4. To get purple, you need to mix blue and red.
5. Red and white will result in pink.

So you can mix ad infinitum.

Mixing acrylic materials

Designers love acrylic paints the most. They are very easy to work with, the finished coating has excellent water-repellent properties. Their use has several nuances:

1. The work surface must be perfectly flat and smooth. To do this, it needs to be sanded.
2. It is important that the paint does not dry out.
3. To get an opaque color use undiluted paint. Conversely, for transparency, you can add a little water.
4. To be able to slowly choose the right color, it is recommended to use. Thanks to him, the tool will not dry so quickly.
5. To distribute the paint, use the edge of the brush.
6. Mixing is best done with a clean instrument. In this case, the colors should be directed towards each other.
7. To make a light tone, you need to add a white dye to the solution, and to get a dark one - black. It is worth remembering that the palette dark colors much wider than the light ones.

Here are some examples of mixing acrylic-based colorants:

1. Apricot color is obtained by mixing red, yellow, brown and white.
2. The recipe for making beige paint involves combining brown and white. If you need a bright beige, you can add a little yellow. For a light beige shade, you need more white.
3. Gold is the result of mixing yellow and red.
4. Ocher is yellow with brown. By the way, it is considered popular in the current season.
5. Khaki can be made by mixing green dye with brown.
6. Magenta requires three different colors: red, yellow, and blue.

Mixing oil paints

Oil-based paints are more fluid, which necessitates more thorough mixing of the compositions if mixing tones is performed. The specificity and properties of oil colors give the following advantages:

• the tone will be the most uniform, so the paint is perfect for decorating any surface;
• if desired, you can leave streaks in the paint, which will allow you to create unusual effects on a canvas or wall.

Oil stirring

Before work, it is important to evaluate whether it is possible to combine individual tones with each other, what will be the result. If you introduce a little glossy paint into a matte one, the result will be inexpressive. Adding a matte paint to a shiny one helps to make the latter a little more subdued.

It is possible by such methods:

1. Mechanical. In one dish, on the palette they combine different colors by mechanical mixing. The saturation of the finished mass is adjusted by adding brighter or lighter shades.
2. Optic. This method practiced only by professionals. Paints combine to obtain a new color when they are applied to the canvas, wall.
3. Color overlay. By layering strokes, a new tone is created.

Features of mixing paints

The mechanical method is the simplest, therefore it is recommended for beginners. When using color overlay, the result may differ from what was intended, which must be taken into account in advance. You can apply the glazing method - first apply a darker color, then lighten it with strokes light paint. It is better to practice combining oil paints in their small portions, learn how to create original effects, and then start creating paintings or decorating the interior.

The working process

By mixing several different colors, you can get a large number of a wide variety of shades. What?

shades of gray

Quite often used in interior design. Help to create a shadow or unobtrusive color, as well as:

1. You can create regular gray by mixing black with white.
2. To create cold shades, you need to add a little green to gray, and for warm ones - ocher.
3. Grey-green is gray with white and green.
4. Gray-blue - gray, white and a little blue.
5. Dark gray is the result of mixing gray and black.

brown tones

To dye, you need to mix:

• green with red;
• red with blue and yellow;
• red with white, black and yellow.

How to create other original tones:

1. Mustard will turn out if you add red, green and black dyes to yellow paint.
2. Tobacco shade is red, green, yellow and white.
3. Golden brown is the result of combining yellow, red, green, white and blue. In this case, there should be more yellow pigment.

Red tones

1. The basis for the pink shade is considered to be white. Red is added to it. The brighter the desired shade, the more red should be added.
2. To get a rich chestnut, you need to mix red and black.
3. Bright red-orange color - red and a little yellow. The more of the latter, the paler the result will be.
4. You can give the dye a purple tint by mixing a few drops of bright blue and yellow colors and red pigment.
5. To create crimson, according to the recipe, you need to mix bright red + white + brown + blue. The more white, the pinker the shade.

Deep green color formed when yellow and blue tones. The saturation of the finished dye depends on the amount of each of them. To create shades, you need to add other colors to green:

1. For mint you need white.
2. To get an olive color, you need green and a few drops of yellow.
3. A shade of grass can be obtained by mixing green with blue. Yellow paint will help even out the color.
4. The color of the needles is the result of mixing green with black and yellow.
5. Gradually mixing green with white and yellow, you can make an emerald tone.

purple tones

Purple is made by mixing blue and red. You can also use blue and pink paints - the final color will be light, pastel. To darken the finished tone, artists use black paint, which is added in very small portions. Here are the nuances for creating shades of purple:

• for light purple, you can dilute the finished color with white in the right ratio;
• for magenta, you need to enter more red paint than blue.

Orange color

When creating a classic orange, they combine one part of yellow and red paint. But for many types of paint, you have to take more yellow, otherwise the color will turn out to be too dark. Here are the main shades of orange and how to get them:

• for light orange, take pink and yellow, you can also add a little white paint;
• coral requires dark orange, pink, white in equal proportions;
• peach needs colors such as orange, yellow, pink, white;
• for red, you need to take dark orange and a little brown.

Important rule

Many people ask the question: is it possible to mix paints and varnishes from different manufacturers? It is desirable that the dyes to be mixed be made by the same company. It's even better if they are from the same batch. Mixing dyes from different companies is not recommended. Often they have different properties, such as density, brightness, etc. Because of this, the finished coating may curl.

If there is a desire to take a chance, you can combine a little bit of one and the other paint and apply the resulting solution to the surface. If it thickens or clumps, the experiment is not a success.

Computer help

You can mix several colors correctly using special computer programs. They help to see the final result and determine in percentage terms how much of one or another tone needs to be added. Such programs will help you figure out what shade can be obtained from the funds that are available. They consist of several elements:

1. A button that removes tones from a set.
2. Color names.
3. Lines of input or output to or from a calculation.
4. samples.
5. A button that introduces colors into the set.
6. Result windows.
7. New selection window and list.
8. The composition of the finished dye as a percentage.

Mixing several various colors- a fairly common technique among designers. Unusual shades will help to advantageously decorate the interior, make it original or even unique. You can mix dyes even at home. There are many recipes for creating a particular shade. For example, to get beige, you need to combine white and brown, and for pink, white and red.

It is recommended to always have a thinner on hand to prevent the paint from drying too quickly. Do not mix products from different manufacturers, because the result will be a poor-quality coating. To find out the final result of mixing, you can use a special computer program.

Everyone knows that by combining 3 primary colors (red, yellow and blue), you can achieve any other color. This theory was developed by Leonardo da Vinci in antiquity. The conclusion from the theory can be drawn such that it is impossible to obtain primary colors by mixing others. But what to do and, for example, how to get red? To resolve the issue, let's approach it from a practical point of view and consider how red is made in a printing house, how artists get it, and what needs to be done for this.

The red color in the printing house is made by mixing other primary colors. The CMYK color model is used here. All the difference in the colors of the model used is made by mixing the desired base colors:

• blue - cyan
• Magenta (violet) - magenta
• yellow
• black

As in other color models, you need to take at least 2 colors, and in our case, red on printed products is made by a combination of 2 process colors: purple (magenta) and yellow. This method is also used to make color engravings. If you get these paints, you can make not only red, but also achieve its shades by adjusting the ratio of yellow and purple (violet). The range of red colors will be from pale purple to rich orange-red.

Mixing yellow and purple makes red

Info: In addition to printing, the CMYK model underlies most printers. It is also used in professional painting of cars, decoration of interiors and facades of buildings, in fabric production.

natural red

In addition to artificially obtaining color, it can easily be made from natural materials. So bedstraw flowers allow you to color objects in bright red. To prepare such a paint, the flowers are dried and boiled with alum for half an hour. Safflower and St. John's wort flowers are also suitable for making red dye by boiling water until thick. close in color cherry paint made from orange lichen. You need to finely chop the lichen and mix with baking soda (it is better to use a solution), wait 3-4 minutes and you can use it.

In nature, red color can be found quite often. Therefore it different shades sometimes named after their natural hosts: fruits, minerals, and berries. Among them you can find such names as: raspberry, pomegranate, cherry, coral, blue, wine, burgundy. All such colors form the red scale.

Red shades in painting are made on the basis of pigments of warm and cold shades. Ruby or purple quinacridone should be classified as cold, light cadmium, orange sienna (natural and burnt) as warm.

RGB and CMYK color models

Interaction with other colors

Many people wonder if it is possible to make red from other colors, for example, pink. Our answer is no! If you replace purple with pink and mix with yellow, then you will not see red, there will only be its likeness.

Burgundy from red is obtained by mixing with black. Depending on the types of paints, the ratio can be up to 2:1 (you need 2 parts red and 1 black). By changing the concentration, you can make different shades of burgundy.

Another question, what happens if you mix red and yellow? Answer: get orange.

The most popular question is: “what do we get when we mix red and blue colors? To clarify, let's look at the RGB (red, green, blue) color model, where you can clearly see that using blue in combination with red, we get purple.

Conclusion

The base colors for red are yellow and magenta (violet). To make the desired color when mixing, it is not necessary to take artificial paints, you can use natural ones. Red is the base color in the RGB model and must be mixed with green and blue to make other colors.

We offer you to watch an interesting video