Mix yellow and orange. How to get purple by mixing paints

Modern interior design is full of original shades. The range of finished products does not always contain the desired semitone. The color mixing table will help you get the desired result at home. The information is useful not only when renovating an apartment. Knowledge of mixing colors is useful to a wide range of people: novice painters, car repair workers, decorators and other creative people.

Blending experiments: what you need to know in advance

The world around us is filled with a wide color palette, but all the colorful splendor is based on three primary colors: blue, red and yellow. It is due to their mixing that the desired semitone is achieved.

To get a new shade, use base colors in various proportions. The simplest example of how to get green. The answer is extremely simple: mixing yellow dye with blue. An illustrative table of primary, secondary and transitional colors obtained by mixing is presented below:

This table will help you understand that the question of how to get yellow is in itself incorrect. It cannot be achieved by combining other components, since yellow belongs to the three main tones. Therefore, when a need arises for yellow, they acquire a ready-made dye or extract a pigment from natural products, which is not entirely advisable.

The same initial colors, taken in different proportions, when mixed, give a new result. The larger the volume of one dye, the final result after mixing will be closer to the original shade.

It is necessary to conduct experiments taking into account well-known rules. If you combine chromatic colors that are close to each other in the color wheel, after mixing, you get a paint with a pronounced chromatic tint, although not having a pure tone. The combination of dyes located on opposite sides leads to the formation of an achromatic tone, in which a gray tint predominates. The chromatic circle will help you navigate in the optimal combination of colors:

Attention! Mixing dyes does not always lead to a stable result. Some paints, when combined, provoke a chemical reaction, due to which the decorative coating subsequently cracks. There are cases when the desired background becomes gray or dark over time.

For example, if you take red cinnabar and white lead, the resulting bright pink color will darken after some time. It is advisable to take the most limited number of initial paints to obtain the desired tone. When mixing, their compatibility must be taken into account. For example, oil-based dyes are sensitive to solvents. Darkening or quickly fading materials are best excluded immediately. A table of combinations that should not be used will prevent mistakes in the creative process:

Variety of shades of red

Red is one of the three original colors that make up the base. Therefore, even a minimal set of colors cannot do without it. However, the question of how to get red when mixing paints sometimes still arises. This is due to the fact that magenta is involved in printing, so creative searches for how to get red are natural. Everything is solved extremely simply: to obtain natural red, yellow is mixed with magenta in volumes of 1: 1.

The color scheme of red is diverse, therefore there are many combination options:

Comment! A beautiful purple color cannot be obtained by combining violet with red. The only way to achieve a bright shade is to find a red paint without yellow impurities and mix it with blue.

The following circle demonstrates the variety of shades of red. It is worth noting that the addition of white colors to any mixture leads to a lightening of the tone, and black to a darkening.

The following table will help you understand the names of shades of red:

Variations in blue

An equally rich palette of shades gives mixing with blue dye, which is part of the basic triad. Therefore, its presence in any set is mandatory. However, even a set of 12 paints sometimes does not meet the need for a true blue tone. The reason is color variations. The classic tone is called royal, and on sale it is often replaced by ultramarine, which is characterized by a bright dark hue with a slight presence of purple. Therefore, the question of how to get the blue color no longer seems absurd. The way out of the situation is to add white to the base color in a ratio of 3: 1. Blue is obtained in the same way, only white is used more when combined.

An interesting color of blue with a moderately saturated result is obtained by combining a darkish ultramarine with turquoise.

• Equal volumes of blue and yellow dye will produce a dark blue-green tone. The introduction of white contributes to some lightening, but the brightness is reduced. The reason lies in the combination of three components, and the more of them, the more dull the color.
• To get a turquoise color, cyan blue is mixed and a slightly smaller amount of green is added. This shade is also called aquamarine.
• The color obtained from equal volumes of blue and light green is called Prussian blue. With the introduction of white, the saturation decreases, but the purity of the hue does not go away.
• Blue with red colors in a ratio of 2: 1 give blue with a hint of purple. The resulting color is lightened by the introduction of white.
• Mixing blue and pink magenta in equal parts will give royal blue, which is characterized by unusual brightness.
• Darken blue is obtained by mixing it with black in a ratio of 3:1.

An assistant in mixing experiments will be a table with the names of shades of blue:

Variety of green

The original green is usually presented in all sets; in the absence of the desired dye, there are no problems with obtaining. Combining yellow with blue gives the desired green background. But any direction of creativity, be it painting, interior design or another option for decorating objects, requires a wide palette of green. The basic principle of all experiments is to change the proportions of the base colors, white or black dye is used to lighten or darken the background.

• The combination of blue and yellow with a slight addition of brown represents khaki. Green with a small amount of yellow forms olive.
• Traditional light green - the result of mixing green with white. Adding yellow or blue will help regulate warmth.

  Attention! The quality of the original components affects the saturation of the green color. The more intense the base tones, the brighter the blending result will be.

• A yellow-green effect will be obtained by combining yellow with blue in a ratio of 2: 1. Reverse proportion will result in a blue-green tone.
• Dark green is achieved by adding half the black.
• A warm light green background is formed from a mixture of white, blue and yellow paint in a ratio of 2:1:1.

A variety of colors of green hue demonstrates a circle. The base dye is located in the center, then there is an additional component, after - the result of mixing. The last circle is the experiments of the resulting tone with the addition of white and black dye.

The next table will become an assistant during the experiments.

Other color combinations

The color kaleidoscope is not limited to the combination of basic dyes. For example, gray is often required. Different proportions of white and black pigment will give a wide achromatic palette.

How to get ivory? The base will be white, ocher and dark brown are gradually added to it in small portions. Ocher contributes to the manifestation of warm tones, an increase in brown leads to a cold background.

Another table shows many blending options:

How to get black color? By combining cyan, yellow and magenta. They are not always available, so three basic dyes will become an assistant. Combining green with red will also give some semblance of black, but it will not be pure.

Conclusion

Even if you didn’t find a description for which question, tables will be of help, which not only provide recommendations for mixing, but also clearly demonstrate the result of the experiments. The results of our own mixing experiments may differ slightly from those stated above, it all depends on the composition of the dye and the surface on which it is applied.

Working with paints is a fascinating process. Remember how you played with watercolors as a child, mixing paints. You can also play now. Mixing colors can be useful for renovations, hobbies, etc.

Primary and secondary colors

As you know, there are three primary colors (red, blue, yellow) and three secondary colors (purple, orange, green). These are the base colors. By combining them, you can get all other colors and their shades (theoretically yes, in practice the situation is slightly different). In the figure, the primary colors are represented by circles, and the additional ones are formed at the intersection of the pairs. These pairs show how mixing the colors of the main row gives additional ones.

In practice, mixing colors is an interesting process, but often the result is difficult to predict. We work with paints, and they are a mixture of a coloring pigment and a binder base. That is, they have their own properties due to the presence of that very base. After all, paints are different - oil, acrylic, aniline, etc. Accordingly, the result will be slightly different. When you work with paints of the same company for a long time, you can almost accurately predict what will happen if you add this or that component.

It is also worth remembering that if you mix not paints, but light, the result will be different. Paints are only a reflection of light and not all laws work with them in the same way.

Obtaining additional colors: orange, purple, green, their shades and brown

The pairing of primary colors gives us additional shades:

• Orange is obtained by mixing red with yellow.
• Purple is obtained by adding blue to red.
• Green can be obtained by mixing yellow and blue.

Mixing colors should be in equal proportions. In this case, we get a "neutral" tone. If the result does not suit you, you can add one of the components, "shifting" the shade in one direction or another.

Please note that red with blue does not always give purple. Often this mixing of colors results in a "dirt color". This is because your red contains yellow, that is, it is not the main one, but only one of the shades. To get purple, it must be pink or purple instead of red. On the other hand, mixing pink and yellow does not make blue. So to get a certain color, first experiment with a small amount of colors. After making sure of the result, you can repeat in the right amount.

If we add to the obtained additional colors the main ones that are already present in them, we will get the same color, but of a different shade. We have not introduced new colors, just changed the concentration of one of the existing ones. So we get mixed colors: yellow-orange, red-orange, red-violet, blue-violet, blue-green and light green.

What happens if you add one that is not in it to additional colors? We get a mixture of all the available primary colors, and it will give us a brown color (when working with light it will be gray, but with paints it will be either brown or very close to it). So, to get brown, you need to mix all the primary colors: yellow + red + blue. Or add "missing" to one of the additional ones:

• add yellow to purple;
• to green - red;
• add orange to blue.

That is, to get a brown color, you can mix the three primary colors or add the missing of the primary colors to the additional ones. Interestingly, if we mix the same light waves, we get gray light. But colors are just a reflection of light, so there are certain differences.

Color wheel - how to make it

If the colors - primary and secondary - are arranged in a circle, according to how they turned out, we get the traditional color wheel. The circle is divided into 12 parts. At the vertices of the triangle, fill the sectors with primary colors.

Their derivatives, obtained from equal proportions of neighboring colors, are in the center of the sector. They are called "secondary colors of the first level". To the right and left of them we place the shades that we got by adding another part of the corresponding component. So we get our own color wheel.

Please note: mixing paints from different companies gives different shades. Therefore, creating a color wheel is useful if you are going to be working with certain paints for a while. Looking at the result, and knowing how you got it, you can understand what you can add to get the desired shade.

Receiving shades

All colors found in nature are called chromatic. This is all the variety of colors and their shades. In nature, three colors are not found in their pure form - white, black and gray. They are called achromatic. By adding achromatic colors to others, we get different shades.

For example, pink is obtained by adding white paint to red. For blue - add the same white to blue. And so with all the colors that are present in the color wheel. The lighter we want the shade, the more white paint. Sometimes - for very light shades - it is easier to get it by adding the desired dye to the white paint. Such light shades are called pastels.

To obtain pastel shades with a "dusted" effect, gray is added to the primary colors. Note that multiple achromatic colors can be added. For example, we got the desired "degree" of pale purple, then added a certain amount of gray to it. Got a slightly more subdued tone.

If it is necessary to make a dark color from a saturated color, black is added to the base color. Here you should be very careful, add a little, stirring thoroughly.

How to mix paints to get the right color

Everything described above is easily implemented in practice if you need "simple" colors, which are obtained by mixing primary and secondary. Adding achromatic to them will not be difficult. By experimenting with the amount of "additives", you can, in the end, get exactly the shade that you wanted. By the way, try to find your color on a small amount, mixing on the palette. At home, the palette can be replaced with a plastic plate. If you are mixing paint for interior use (on walls, for example), once you get the color you like, apply it to a small area and let it dry. You will see that the color has become a couple of tones lighter. And this must be taken into account when creating your shade.

How to get shades of red

Remember that red is one of the three primary colors. It is impossible to get it by mixing some paints. It can be obtained as a pigment from natural sources. Using it as a base, adding other tones, and we get its various shades. How to mix paints to obtain the desired colors (chestnut, raspberry, plum, pink, etc.) is indicated in the table.

Please note that some shades based on red - plum, for example, are difficult to attribute to its shades. However, it is in red that the remaining components are added. In contrast, raspberry, which we used to consider one of the red shades, is made on the basis of blue. These are color games.

Separately, it is worth mentioning how to get a burgundy color. Its base is blue, add yellow and red. By changing the number of different components, we get different shades. For dark tones, add brown or black, for brighter variations, add more red.

Shades of the green palette: mixing colors to get shades

As we remember, green is not a base color. This is the primary color, which is obtained by mixing yellow and blue paints. And therein lies the difficulty: a different number of components gives different colors. Getting the same one is extremely difficult. If you don't have the base green and you get it by mixing, then it should be enough to complete all the work.

Please note that in the paint mixing table, somewhere the base is green, somewhere yellow is prescribed with the addition of blue. The difference is in the amount of color. If the base color is yellow, there should be more of it.

There is no mint color in the table, but it is quite popular. In fact, mint is a lightened shade of turquoise. Turquoise is obtained from blue by adding green. By mixing white with it, we get its various gradations. You can add a little (just a little) yellow, blue, green to them. All this will be the same color, but with a different “sound”.

But colors are strange. You can try other options as well. It all depends on what you are mixing - paints, clay, plasticine ... So, for a light mint, here are some of the options you can try:

• white + blue + green + a bit of emerald or brown to muffle;
• white + emerald + blue (blue);
• beige + turquoise + white + a little light green.

There are many options, as already "tinted" colors are used. If you have them (in paints, for example), then why not. You can go in stages - create the same emerald or turquoise, and then add others. In general, it is easier for beginners in color to work with basic colors. Then experience and intuition will come. And so you can have a lot of material to lime for experiments.

Blue and its shades: mixing colors

As we remember, blue refers to the main ones - this is one of the three basic colors, on the basis of which we get all the richness of the palette. Moreover, “blue” can be dark or bright. Accordingly, the result is different. This is the case when, depending on the base, really different colors are obtained.

Not all options are included in the table. Let's add some:

• Light blue is obtained by adding white paint.
• Cornflower blue - we get it if we add red-brown to purple and a drop of blue and black.
• To get blue-green, mix yellow (1 part) and green (2 parts).
• We get classic blue by mixing purple with blue in equal proportions. If you add some more white, it will be light blue (or blue-white).

Of the blue palette, turquoise is of particular interest. It is obtained by combining blue and green. Shades should be "pure", then the result will be spectacular. This color is on the verge of blue and green. Some shades are predominantly blue, some are green.

To get a dark shade, add brown or gray. The result will be different. For a warmer and lighter shade, you can try introducing beige.

Mixing colors: how to get purple

As they wrote at the very beginning, mixing blue and red, we get purple. In theory, everything is fine, but when you start, mixing colors does not give the same result at all. And it's all about what shades of red and blue to take.

For example, if the blue is dark, the result will be very saturated, almost black (in the figure below, the first line). If you add white to it, it will lighten, but as a result we get a gray-violet. Even if you add more red, it will only “clear up” to eggplant. But we won't get a brighter one.

If we add blue to the same red, we get medium purple. And again, it is not bright, but dark, saturated. By introducing more red, we get plum. If it is lightened with white, it will be already warm, but still a soft shade. This is a little more interesting, but still not the same.

A more cheerful light lilac is obtained by mixing pink and blue. Doubling red gives amethyst. These colors are well diluted with white, a whole range of pastel shades is obtained.

But how to get bright shades of purple? This is difficult to achieve by mixing base colors. A bright lilac is taken as the basis, to which different colors are added.

Blue-violet or cornflower blue will turn out if you add blue to the lilac (far left). Paired with indigo, we get a cold version, adding pink, we have amethyst. By adding red, we will have a berry. All of these colors can be made lighter by adding white paint.

What you should not do is add yellow paint to purple. We get the "color of dirt" - slurred and incomprehensible. Very neat with black. He quickly reduces all the resulting shades to dark gray. If you need a darker shade, it is better to add dark indigo.

How to get gray by mixing colors

One of the most desirable colors is grey. It is added to bright colors for less saturated shades, it is used as a base, as it is neutral and serves as an ideal tone. But "grey" is not just one color. There is also a whole range of them. First of all, we get a gray color if we add a little black paint to white. But this is far from the only way to get gray. Mixing the colors of an additional level also gives it, and with different "backlighting".

And that is not all. Gray has no less shades than blue or red. They are not as bright as others, but the difference is also there and quite noticeable.

Getting gray from white

Similarly, there are neutral, warm and cold tones. If you want to have warm shades, add orange or pink to gray. If only a subtle shade is needed, there should not be a lot of color. By adding more of it, you get "dusted" or pearl shades. These are called gray-blue, gray-pink, etc.

The resulting colors can be made lighter by adding white paint. Such "mixed" colors will be a good background for creating an interior. In a lighter version, they can be used as a base, adding accents that match with the tint.

Mixing paints to get yellow and orange

Yellow is one of the primary colors, but it can be obtained by mixing green with orange. But usually yellow comes in a set, it is almost always there. Another very popular color in his palette is orange. It lies on the border of two colors - red and yellow. By mixing these colors in different proportions, we get the whole gamut of shades. By adding white, lighten it to the required level.

To get darker shades, add brown to orange or yellow. Not black or gray - they quickly extinguish the color, turning it into something incomprehensible. Sometimes you can get a darker shade by adding dark red paint. Interestingly, you can get a bright light orange by adding yellow to pink.

By the way, orange is also often included. It is usually brighter than what can be obtained by mixing primary colors. If you need bright shades, you will have to use it. For example, coral. It belongs to the red group, but the mixing of colors is carried out on the basis of red-orange. Pink and white are added to it. All paints are taken in approximately equal quantities. The second option for obtaining a coral color is simpler - add white to scarlet. But it turns out it is not so bright.

Such a tricky brown

Brown can be obtained by mixing the three primary colors in equal proportions. We get the "medium" brown. It cannot be attributed to either warm or cold.

But mixing colors of the second and third levels can also give one of its shades.

• When combining red and green, we get almost the same shade.
• Orange and blue in equal proportions make tan.
• Almost the same color, but colder, is obtained from gray and orange, mixed in equal quantities.
• We get chocolate if we add dark indigo to light brown.
• We get red-brown if we mix green and bright orange in equal proportions, add a little less lilac.

Dark brown can be obtained by mixing yellow and red, and adding a drop of black. In order not to be too dark, add some white.

Interesting shades can be obtained if the brown, obtained by mixing the primary colors (red, blue and yellow), increase the "presence" of one or two components. By adding white, we get interesting options.

The range of colors that a person uses is limitless. But the main colors of the spectrum: blue, yellow, red. They exist on their own and do not contain other pigments. By mixing them in different proportions, you can get the tone we need. If the ratio of tones is the same, one color is obtained, but if the proportions are changed, a completely different color is obtained.

Green is also a derivative of the basic colors. By mixing yellow + blue, we get green. Add scarlet to it - we get a bright brown.

The colors that are present in the rainbow are called chromatic. They absorb and reflect light waves of various wavelengths. The waves that are reflected from the object, we perceive as its color. For example, a leaf of a tree absorbs all tones except green. It reflects green and we see it as such.

Black, white, gray are achromatic. The dark color eats up the waves completely, and the snow-white displays them.

All existing shades interact with each other, which leads to such diversity in our beautiful world.

Primary and secondary colors

How to make a color wheel

The color wheel is a tool on which you can visually build all the essential color schemes. Colorists, artists and designers need a color mixing chart and a color wheel to work with. He can help the child with the first acquaintance with flowers, and also explain how to combine gouache or plasticine yourself, getting something new.

You can create such a combination tool yourself:

Using a compass, draw a circle of the desired radius on paper. Without a compass, you can also circle any round object without going beyond the boundaries of the sheet. Step back from the main circle and draw another circle inside, half the size of the first one. Next, draw an equilateral triangle in the inner circle. Divide the triangle into three parts by drawing perpendiculars from the middle of each side to the center.

On the inner circle, put points opposite all perpendiculars, connect them together with the vertices of the triangle. Between the circles, draw 12 equal sectors. Take three basic tones: blue, yellow, red. They will fill the internal sectors of the triangle and the sectors that are in contact with its vertices. To fill the circle, it is better to use gouache.

To fill in the rest, simply mix the gouache in equal proportions and fill in the part of the circle located between them, as well as the sector opposite. At this stage, you will paint over the sectors one by one. Next, we take the pigment of the first order (the top of the triangle) and the pigment of the second order (the top of the hexagon) - we fill the sector between them.

Your tool is ready!

In addition to the main ones, there are additional colors, when mixed together, we create black, white or gray. In the color wheel, they are located in opposite sectors: green + yellow, orange + blue, purple + yellow.

Creating the most unusual shades

How to mix paints to produce a particular color

The formation of all kinds of shades of one color scheme is a whole science. Sometimes it's not easy to get accurate results. By adding black, white or gray to the main pigment we can get different results. You can also vary the proportions of mixed colors.

Often this process takes a long time if there is no proper preparation. It is especially difficult to work with selection for an already painted part. A colorist who does not have a prescription can independently obtain a suitable shade. An important role is played by the light in the room where the work takes place. It is better to prepare the necessary conditions in advance and access to natural light. Any fluorescent lamp will distort the colorist's work.

Brown

Often used when writing canvases, it is obtained quite simply:

• Herbal + scarlet;
• Scarlet + blue + bright yellow;
• Scarlet + a drop of white + black + one drop of yellow.

• Mustard is easy to create by mixing yellow + red + green + black.
• Tobacco is scarlet, green, yellow, white.
• Autumn bright brown - a combination of bright yellow, scarlet, green, white, blue.

Violet

An interesting purple can be obtained by mixing blue + red, or blue + pink.

The formation of many tones of purple: light purple can be quickly diluted with an existing dark color scheme with white, carefully adding them one drop at a time.

For a crimson tint in purple, you need to include more drops of scarlet color.

Red

Juicy, fiery. Without it, it is difficult to imagine the modern world.

You can't get real red. But with it, you can create many shades.

• Chestnut is red + black.
• Bright fiery orange color - red + a little yellow.
• Purple dye - blue + yellow + red pigment.
• The color of ripe raspberries is red + white + brown + blue.

Beige

Delicate and so concise color scheme can play in many shades. You can often find beige in design, calm interiors and a colorist's workshop.

Brown + white - we will create beige. And adding the main colors to it drop by drop - adjust from warm to cold colors.

Green

The most pleasing color to our eyes. They like to use it when creating interior plans, and when making canvases, it is simply necessary.

How to get green? The most logical thing is to add blue to yellow. If you add more bright blue - the color will be more saturated, and if white - mint. The needles are the result of mixing bright grassy, ​​black and yellow.

Grey

Gray is indispensable in modern design. Valuable because it goes with everything. And how many shades a colorist can form from this color cannot be counted.

You can get gray by adding white to black. You can also always add one of the colors of the rainbow for the experiment to give bright overflows and change the tone.

Black

The deepest, and also necessary in the palette. With it, the artist will quickly draw a shadow or adjust any color scheme to the desired tone.

Deep black is mixed from blue and dark coffee. Also combine blue, red, yellow in equal proportions. Exquisite varieties of black:

• aspid (with a particle of gray color);
• anthracite (with a metallic sheen);
• bull's blood (beautiful overflows of scarlet).

Blue

Often used by colorists. Not a single artist can do without it when depicting a heavenly canvas, lakes, ice and other frequent elements.

Beautiful blue, as the main one among many colors, cannot be formed by another mixing. Mix purple with soft blue - the paint will be too dark. You can lighten it by adding a few drops of light pigment.

Yellow

Real yellow also cannot be obtained by mixing other available colors. By carefully adding light green to orange, you can only achieve similar.

Pink

For the basis for pink, bright snow-white paint is used. Scarlet is introduced drop by drop. The more intense the shade is needed, the more scarlet should be introduced, so the necessary tonality is controlled.

Orange

How to make orange color? Let's combine juicy yellow and scarlet paint in one ratio, then adjust:

• For light orange, they take bright pink + yellow, and if necessary, you can also include a few drops of white;
• For coral, dirty orange, pink, white are combined in a similar ratio;
• For a delicate peach, you need such as orange, yellow, pink, perhaps a drop of white;
• For copper, use bright orange + a drop of coffee. The brightness of the color can be given with white, gradually adding one drop at a time.

What colors are already in your palette? And which ones are you going to mix for yourself?

There are no limits in a person's imagination to try, experiment, invent their own interesting colors. You can combine one with the other to create something new.

If you find that a particular color is missing from your palette, you will no longer doubt, but create it for yourself from what is at hand. The colorist already has all the necessary tools, you just need to know how to do it.

It is difficult for children to understand the process of mixing and obtaining new colors, and these tools will help your child quickly navigate and engage in their favorite drawing for a long time with interest.

When you need to mix the primary colors and get your favorite purple, green, orange shades, the way you get them depends on many factors. The question is, do you mix pigments or light? We will tell you how to work with any materials and share ways to get all the colors of the rainbow!

Steps

Color Mixing: Subtractive Colors

Take paint. Any kind of paint will do - even those used on furniture or walls - but it's best (and cleaner) to practice with a few small tubes of oil or acrylic paint. First, let's see what happens if we mix just two colors - red and blue.

• Note: Black can be obtained by mixing the available colors. Black pigment, of course, exists, but its use is too conspicuous. It is better to get dark colors by mixing transparent primary colors: shadows also have shades depending on the time of day and other factors.
• Read the "Other Tips" section below for guidance on choosing the best magenta and cyan.

1. Mix red and blue. Everyone knows that red and blue, when mixed, make purple, right? Indeed, but this is not that bright, lively purple. Instead, they form something like this:

   • Not very pleasing to the eye, is it? This is because red and blue absorb more and reflect less spectrum, giving a dark, dirty purple instead of a vibrant, vibrant one.

2. Now try this: mix magenta with a little cyan and you will see the difference. This time you will get something like this:

   

   • Magenta is a shade of purple, cyan is a blue-green hue, often referred to as bright blue or turquoise. Along with yellow, they are the primary colors in the CMYK model, which is based on a subtractive color scheme (obtaining color by subtracting individual components from white). This scheme is used in printing, including color printers.
   • You can see that using the real primary colors - magenta and cyan - results in a much brighter and more vibrant hue. If you want a richer purple, add more blue. Add black for dark purple.

3. Mix pigments to get primary and secondary colors. There are 3 main color pigments: cyan, magenta and yellow. There are also 3 secondary colors obtained by mixing two primary colors:

   • Cyan + yellow = green
   • Cyan + magenta = blue
   • Magenta + yellow = red
   • Cyan + magenta + yellow = black
   • In subtractive color mixing, the combination of all colors produces black.

4. "See the information below. See the "Mixing Colors" section for more detailed tips on how to achieve a wide variety of shades, including light, dark, and greyish. The Tips section provides an extensive list of colors and combinations that can be used to get those colors on the palette.

   Light Blending: Additive Colors

   1. Take a look at your monitor. Look at the white areas on this page and get as close as possible. Even better if you have a magnifying glass. Bringing your eyes closer to the screen, you will see not white, but red, green and blue dots. Unlike pigments, which work by absorbing color, light is additive, that is, it works by adding up light fluxes. Movie screens and displays, whether it's a 60-inch plasma TV or the 3.5-inch Retina display on your iPhone, use additive color mixing.

      Mix light to get primary and secondary colors. As in the case of subtractive colors, there are 3 primary and 3 secondary colors obtained by mixing primary colors. The result may surprise you:

      • Mixing red + blue = magenta
      • Mixing blue + green = cyan
      • Mixing green + red = yellow
      • In additive color mixing, the combination of all colors produces white.
      • Note that primary additive colors are secondary subtractive colors and vice versa. How can it be? Know that the effect of subtractive color is a combined process: it absorbs some colors, and we perceive what is left, that is, the reflected light. The reflected color is the color of the light output that remains when all other colors have been absorbed.

   Modern color theory

   1. Understand the subjective nature of color perception. A person's perception and identification of color depend on both objective and subjective factors. While scientists can define and measure light down to the nanometer, our eyes perceive a complex combination of not only hue, but also the saturation and brightness of a color. This circumstance is further complicated by the way we see the same color on different backgrounds.

      Hue, saturation and lightness are the three dimensions of color. We can say that any color has three dimensions: hue, saturation and lightness.

      • Tone characterizes the position of a color on the color wheel - red, orange, yellow, and so on, including all intermediate colors, such as red-orange or orange-yellow. Here are a few examples: pink refers to a magenta tone or red (or somewhere in between). Brown refers to an orange tone because brown is a dark orange.
      • Saturation- this is what gives a rich, vibrant color, like on a rainbow or color wheel. Pale, dark and muted colors (shades) are less saturated.
      • Lightness indicates how close a color is to white or black, regardless of the color. If you take a black and white photograph of flowers, you can tell which ones are lighter and which ones are darker.
        • For example, bright yellow is a relatively light color. You can lighten it even more by adding white and making it a pale yellow.
        • Bright blue is naturally dark and low on the light scale, while dark blue is even lower.

   Mixing paints

   1. Follow this guide to get any color you want. Magenta, yellow and cyan are the primary subtractive colors, which means that any other color can be obtained by mixing them, but they themselves cannot be obtained from other colors. Primary subtractive colors are used when mixing pigments such as inks, dyes and paints.

      Colors with low saturation (dim colors) come in three main types: light, dark and muted.

      Add white for light colors. Any color can be lightened by adding white to it. To get a very light color, it is better to add a little bit of the main color to white so as not to waste excess paint.

      Add black for dark colors. Any color can be darkened by adding black to it. Some artists prefer to add a complementary (complementary) color that is opposite the given color on the exact CMY/RGB color wheel. For example, green can be used to darken magenta and magenta can be used to darken green because they are opposite each other on the color wheel. Add black or complementary color a little at a time so as not to overdo it.

      Add white and black (or white and a complementary color) to get muted, grayish colors. By changing the relative amount of added black and white colors, you can get any desired level of lightness and saturation. For example: add white and black to yellow to get a light olive. The black will darken the yellow, making it olive green, and the white will lighten that olive green. Various olive green shades can be obtained by adjusting the amount of paint added.

      • To obtain a desaturated color, such as brown (dark orange), you can adjust the hue in the same way as for a bright orange - by adding a small amount of colors nearby on the color wheel: magenta, yellow, red or orange. They will make the brown more vibrant while changing its hue. But since brown is not a bright color, you can also use colors on the other sides of the triangle, such as green or blue, which will darken the brown while changing its hue.

   2. Get black. This can be done by mixing any two mutually complementary, as well as three or more equidistant colors from each other on the color wheel. Just don't add white or any color that contains white unless you want to get a shade of gray. If the resulting black leans too much towards a particular color, neutralize it by adding a little complementary color to that color.

      Don't try to get white. White cannot be obtained by mixing other colors. Like the three primary colors - magenta, yellow and cyan - you will have to buy them, unless, of course, you work with materials like watercolor, for which paper itself is used instead of white if necessary.

      Develop an action plan. Think about the tone, lightness, and saturation of the color you have and the color you want to achieve, and make adjustments accordingly.

      • For example, a shade of green can be brought closer to cyan or yellow - its neighbors on the color wheel. It can be lightened by adding white. Or darken it by adding black or its complementary color, namely purple, magenta or red, depending on the shade of green. You can tone it down by adding black and white, or make a desaturated green a little brighter by adding (bright) green.
      • One more example. You mixed red and white to make pink, but the pink came out too bright and warm (yellowish). To correct the warm tone, you will have to add a little magenta. To tone down a hot pink, add white, a complementary color (or black), or both. Decide if you want a darker pink (add only the complementary color), taupe pink (add white and complementary color), or just a lighter pink (add only white). If you're planning on adjusting the hue with magenta and muting the pink with green or cyan (complementary to magenta and red), you can try combining the two by using a color between magenta and cyan, such as blue.

   3. Mix paints and start creating a masterpiece! If all this seems impossible to you, you just need a little practice. Creating a color guide for your own use is a good way to practice using the principles of color theory. Even by printing it out from a computer, you will provide yourself with useful information while you still have no practice and you cannot work on an intuitive level.

   Color samples and how to get them

   • Choose the color you would like to receive and follow the instructions below. Each pattern provides a range of possibilities; you can adjust the amount of paint used to get exactly the color you want. For example, any light color can be lightened or darkened by adding more or less white. Complementary, or complementary, colors are colors located opposite each other on the RGB/CMY color wheel.
   • Red: Add some yellow or orange to the magenta.
     • Light red (salmon pink, coral): Add white to red. Use less white and more red to get coral.
     • Dark red: Add some black (or cyan) to red. Cyan is complementary to red.
     • Muted red: Add white and black (or cyan) to red.
   • Yellow: Yellow cannot be obtained by mixing other colors. You will have to buy it.
     • Light yellow: Add white to yellow.
     • Dark yellow (olive green): Add some black (or purple-blue) to the yellow. Violet-blue is complementary to yellow.
     • Muted yellow (light olive): Add white or black (or violet-blue) to yellow.
   • Green: Mix cyan and yellow.
     • Light green: Add white to green.
     • Dark green: Add some black (or magenta) to the green. Magenta is complementary to green.
     • Grey-green: Add white and black (or magenta) to green.
   • Cyan (turquoise blue): Cyan cannot be obtained by mixing other colors. You will have to buy it.
     • Light cyan: Add white to cyan.
     • Dark cyan: Add some black (or red) to cyan. Red is complementary to cyan.
     • Grey-blue: Add white and black (or red) to cyan.
   • Violet blue: Mix magenta with cyan or blue.
     • Light Violet Blue (Lavender): Add white to purple-blue.
     • Dark purple blue: Add some black (or yellow) to violet-blue. Yellow is complementary to purple.
     • Greyish Violet Blue: Add white and black (or yellow) to violet-blue.
   • Violet: Mix magenta with a little cyan, blue or violet blue.
     • Light purple: Add white to purple.
     • Dark purple: Add some black (or lime green) to purple. Lime green is complementary to purple.
     • Muted purple: Add white and black (or lime green) to purple.
   • Black: Black can be obtained by mixing any two complementary colors or three colors equidistant on the exact CMY/RGB color wheel, such as red, green, and blue. If you get a dark color instead of pure black, correct it by adding its complementary color.
   • White: White cannot be obtained by mixing other colors. You will have to buy it. To get a warm white (such as cream), add some yellow. To get a cool white, add a little cyan.
   • Grey: Gray is a mixture of black and white.
   • When mixing paints, add them little by little to control the color. You can always add more. This is especially true when working with black and blue, which tend to dominate other colors. Add a little at a time until you get the desired result.
   • To find out if a color is complementary, use your own eyes. It's an old trick: look closely at a color, then look away at a white surface. Due to the "color fatigue" of the eyes, you will see the opposite color.
   • Choosing primary colors when shopping can be tricky. Look for a magenta that is free of white and blue pigments (PW and PB). Violet and red pigments such as PV19 and PR122 work best. Good cyan PB15:3. PB15 and PG7 are also good. If you need art paints or glazes, you can try to match the colors with a printer. Print a sample from your computer to a printer to take with you to the store, or look for the primary colors on the sides of a cereal or cookie box.
   • You need one color triangle of colors that provide visual balance to the picture, and another color triangle to determine pairs of colors that cancel each other out, since complementary colors for these tasks are slightly different. So, ultramarine works well with lemon yellow and other beautiful yellows, but to darken these yellows, use purple. More information on this subject can be found online.
   • How many tubes of different paints do you really need to paint a picture? Jean-Louis Morell's book on watercolor painting shows how, using the cyan-yellow-magenta color triangle, to get almost any desired color from just four or five, but this can also be done using these three plus white (as white in watercolor painting protrudes paper)!
     • The best range of shades can be obtained by mixing colors that are close to the CMY primary colors, but to get a darker shade, one - or even better two - should be darker than these primary colors, for example, Persian blue or cobalt blue, crimson alizarin.
   • What are you writing? The colors you need depend entirely on what you're writing. For example, ultramarine, Neapolitan yellow, burnt sienna and white are useful for distant landscapes if bright greens and yellows are not needed.

   What will you need

   • Palette - disposable paper is well suited.
   • Palette knife (any size)
   • Watercolor paper or primed canvas (available from your local art supply store; ready-made primed canvas works well)
   • Containers with water or solvent for washing brushes
   • Synthetic brush of your choice (#8 round or #6 flat works well)
   • Spray bottle to keep water-based paints from drying out
   • Paper towels to remove dirt and clean brushes
   • Color circle
   • Paints
   • A bathrobe or an old shirt that you don't mind getting dirty
   • Gloves

How to get an orange color and its shades in 10 photos + a table of all possible derivatives. How to get coral, peach, terracotta and red colors? Influence of white, black and brown in color composition.
Orange color is obtained by mixing red and yellow, but you can get a shade of this color (soft and light enough) by adding pink to yellow paint. Subsequently, all the main saturated shades of orange are somehow associated with red, yellow, pink, white. More complex and darker tones are obtained with the participation of purple, brown and black.

How to get an orange color by mixing paints: red and yellow of the desired tone?

Everyone knows that the main orange gradient lies between red-orange and yellow-orange. Since the color is obtained or two colors, then, depending on the percentage of each color, there is a shift in one direction or another.
Of course, all the resulting shades from the primary colors (in our case, red and yellow) will be paler. However, orange is made up of 2 warm tones, the waves of which are not very different (the opposite would be blue and yellow to create green), and even in the second order it looks quite catchy.

Mixing acrylic paints for painting:

How to get yellow-orange and red-orange?

It is believed that to get a classic orange, you need to take 1 part of yellow and 1 part of red. However, in practice it turns out that you have to take more yellow than red. In the palette, you can always choose the right tone by adding yellow or red to the mixture.

How to get a light orange color?

This tone has a wide range of pastel shades. They are built using white, but there is an alternative: mix pink and yellow, the resulting shade is a soft orange tone related to the light range:

Another option would be to add yellow and white.
Usually in a palette of 12 colors there is already an orange tint, which is much brighter than the color obtained by mixing, so when building shades, we will use the existing one.
There is a bright red-orange tone in my palette of glossy acrylic paints. To get light orange tones from it, I need to mix red-orange, yellow and white:

How to get coral color?

Although this shade is closer to pink, its construction is completely tied to orange, and there are 2 scenarios for obtaining it:
1) Complicated: we take red-orange, pink and white in approximately equal parts (when you mix, adjust the shade by eye, the main thing is to mix the paint thoroughly).

2) Red-orange is close to scarlet, and scarlet is a shade of red. Red mixed with white gives pink, and coral can be called a light shade of pink with an orange undertone.

In this case, the coral will lean closer to orange, but still remain a luxurious tropical shade.

How to get peach color?

Another light and subtle shade of the base color. Peach belongs to the soft pastel range., Standing out from it with its sophistication, it has long been loved and entrenched in our imagination. Its construction consists of 4 colors:
1) Red+yellow+pink+white
2) Orange+yellow+pink+white
3) Coral + yellow + white

How to get terracotta color?

Let's move on to darker shades of orange. One of the interesting options is terracotta: a medium-dark, but rich, complex red-orange hue is obtained by mixing purple and red-orange:

To make the shade lighter, adding a drop of white will help.

How to get red color?

The red color has an orange undertone. If you take brown and mix it with red-orange, the resulting shades will be dark, but saturated. You can adjust the tone by adding yellow.

How to get a dark orange color?

You can adjust the brightness of orange shades using black: either to completely darken it, or simply dim the brightness. This is necessary to create contrast.
If you want to dim light shades: mix white with black to a gray mass and bring it into the working tone.

Table for obtaining orange shades when mixing colors:

Practice in color science is indispensable, but theory can give you an understanding of how this or that tone is built.

In the center - the main color from which the color is built. The first circle of colors is the shades with which the color is mixed in the proportion indicated below. The third circle is formed by tones that are the result of mixing the primary color and the first circle in a smaller proportion than the third. On the sides of the color at the end of the beam, the same color with the addition of black (darker) and white (lighter).

How to get other colors and their shades: theory and practice. Click on the icon.