Hello, and welcome to a joyful world of swirling colors together! My name is Lillie, and I’ll be your teacher today. We will start with the basic primary color combinations, then get more complicated with adding secondary colors and intermediate or tertiary colors together in a beautiful color mixing chart to answer such complex questions as: “What does red and green make?” Get prepared for some surprises.
Primary Color Misconceptions
Now, despite being an artist and teacher for decades, it’s only recently that I realized how much I still had to learn about color mixing. Most of us were taught the basics back in elementary school finger paint activities: The primary colors are red, yellow, and blue, and they form all the other colors, and cannot be made by mixing any other colors, right?
Here are the primary color combination rules we learned along with this: Red and yellow make orange. Red and blue make purple. Blue and yellow make green. All three primary colors (or colours) together make either black or brown, depending on the ratios. Easy peasy, eh? Not so fast.
Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow?!
Yes, for old-fashioned paint mixing, the primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. However, if we really get into the science of printing and painting (the CYMK Model), the primary colors are cyan (a bright blue), magenta (pinkish-red), and yellow, which form the subtractive model of color mixing in which the pigments absorb light, and all three together make black. Part of why the green in my illustration above looks so muddy is because the blue I used wasn’t cyan enough — it’s too dark.
Subtractive vs. Additive Color Combinations
Ready for things to get even crazier? In the world of light and screens, the primary colors are red, blue, and GREEN (the RGB Model), and all three colors together make WHITE! What?! Yes, that’s right — the realm of light uses the additive model of color combination, which reflects instead of absorbs light, as it produces the opposite effect from the subtractive model: thus yielding white instead of black. Oh my.
Not To Worry…
Now that we have that scientific background out of the way, let me lead you back to the comfort of old-fashioned color mixing in the RYB model, because this color mixing chart is all about basic paint combinations. As you see in my lovely illustration above, red and orange make reddish-orange, and red and purple make magenta. Blue and green make teal, and blue and purple make deep bluish-purple, or violet. Green and yellow make chartreuse, and yellow and orange make amber. All these are bright and pleasing intermediate colors formed by analogous colors next to each other on a color wheel.
The specific resulting hues depend upon the ratios and shades you pick as your ingredients. But what about the more complex color combinations, like “What does orange and blue make?” Let’s find out with in-depth investigations.
Color Mixing Chart
Ever wonder what color results from mixing a certain pigment with another? This color mixing chart has illustrations by an artist of results of the more complicated and surprising combinations.
Orange and Blue
What happens when you mix the secondary color, orange, with the primary color, blue? You can already see in my illustration, below, that GREEN is one of the resulting colors! Click to see the other answers.
Yellow and Purple
When you swirl together purple and yellow, there are several possible results, including brown -- but mostly I got this mauve color: dusty brown-purple.
Orange and Purple
What do purple and orange make when mixed together? Mostly they make russet -- a reddish-brown -- but there are several other answers to this question, if you click through to the full investigation.
Green and Blue:
Green (a secondary color) and blue (a primary color) form a luscious tertiary color called teal. That hue is in heavy rotation in my art and clothing!
Purple and Green
Wait... purple and green can form a sort of grayish blue?! I was shocked at the results of this experiment, but the scientific breakdown makes it all make sense. Click through to read more.
Red and Purple
When purple and red are mixed, they produce one of my all-time favorite colors: magenta! This wine-ish reddish purple is integral in the jewel tone palette, and is rich and satisfying. You'll see it all over my artwork on this site!
Orange and Green
Green and orange together yielded several results, including olive green, dusty purple, or brown. Here's a chart of why that happened -- it comes down to the primary colors hidden inside each of the ingredients.
Red and Green
Mixing together green plus red definitely yields brown -- but it can also make black! Check out the illustrations of what happened during each experiment here.
Red and Blue
No color mixing chart is complete without the old classic of red plus blue. These two primary colors make the wonderful secondary color, purple!
Green and Yellow
Ready for a shocking neon color that's only used when you really want your design or art to POP? Mix green and yellow to make chartreuse! This color combination can also form lime, and other yellow-green variations. See more here.
Yellow and Orange
When the primary color, yellow, is mixed with the secondary color, orange, you get the intermediate color, yellow-orange: also known as amber.
Red and Orange
When you mix red and orange together, you get the bright and pleasing tertiary color, red-orange: also known as vermilion! This color can really knock your socks off with its rich and fiery drama.
Blue and Purple
Blue and purple are analogous colors (next to each other on the color wheel), so combining them makes the pleasing tertiary color, blue-purple: also known as violet or blue-violet. Depending on ratios and shades of colors coming into the combination, this mix can also result in indigo, periwinkle, lavender, lilac, and more!
Blue and Yellow
In the RYB model of color mixing, the primary colors yellow and blue make green. Just watch out, because the type of blue you pick for the mix can dictate different shades of graen: from making olive (a muddy brownish-green), to a cheerful light lime green.
Red and Yellow
Here's a classic: the primary colors, red and yellow, form the secondary color, orange!
Pink and Green
Pink is just a lighter red, so it makes sense that if red and green make brown or black, pink plus green makes a lighter tan brown, and gray -- but you can make some other interesting colors, too, depending on the "ingredient" colors.
Pink and Yellow
This delicious combination of pink and yellow reminds me of lemonade flavors, and yields a juicy peach shade.
Blue and Brown
I was so surprised to realize that mixing blue and brown together can yield a dusty purple or teal, in addition to the obvious brownish-blue result! See the illustrations here.
Purple and Brown:
I was surprised to realize that brown plus purple actually makes plum! I expected more of a brown. The "color math" here explains the reason behind the result.
Brown and Green:
Understanding what goes into each color makse it more understandable that green plus brown actually equals... much more of a green than brown: "Forest" color.
Brown and Yellow:
I was intrigued to see that the tan, beige or khaki produced by mixing brown and yellow together has a greenish tinge. Click here to see why that happens.
Red and Brown:
Mixing red plus brown equals maroon: that rich, deep, brownish red that looks so regal.
Pink and Purple:
Are there any two more jolly colors to put together than pink and purple? Yes: when you also add in their result -- magenta!
Pink and Blue:
Since red plus blue equals purple, and pink is just a lighter red, pink plus blue makes a lovely, light pastel purple -- lilac or lavender.
What Makes Brown?
Though brown isn't technically on the color wheel, it's an essential neutral color for making art with natural-looking skin tones, hair and fur, and earthy hues. So how is it made? The good news is that there are a huge number of options for mixing brown, since many combinations that have all three primaries will yield a form of it. See the choices here.
This Color Mixing Chart, in Sum
What are your thoughts after learning about the science behind color combinations, and seeing the results of the experiments in this color mixing chart? What are your favorite pigments to use together or blend? Do share!
The author and artist, Lillie Marshall, is a National Board Certified Teacher of English who has been a public school educator since 2003, and an experienced Reiki practitioner since 2018. All art on this site is original and hand-drawn by Lillie. She launched DrawingsOf.com Educational Cartoons in 2020, building upon the success of her other two sites, AroundTheWorldL.com (established 2009) and TeachingTraveling.com (founded 2010). Subscribe to Lillie’s monthly newsletter, and follow @WorldLillie on social media to stay connected!