As we’ve continued our color mixing chart analyses, one glaring missing experiment has remained: Finding the answer to what colors make black! In fact, there are several useful correct answers.
As background, my name is Ms. Marshall and I’m an artist and teacher who loves doing hands-on, passionately-researched investigations into such questions as what colors make blue. On to today’s lesson…
What Colors Make Black?
You can create black through numerous different methods that all have the same fundamental core: the combination of all three primary colors in the RYB color wheel. This means that you can make it with only two colors if those colors break down into equal parts of the three primaries. Let’s see some examples of this to understand it more deeply.
What Colors Make Black?
Curious what colors make black when mixed together -- either in combinations of two or three? Let's learn a bunch of effective artistic methods to make this combination successful.
All Primary or Secondary Colors
What three colors mixed together make black? In the RYB subtractive model, you just need to mix all three of the primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. Alternately, you can mix all three secondary colors, as that's mathematically the same: purple, orange, and green.
Complementary Colors
For the answer to what two colors make black when mixed together, look at the complementary colors (ones that face opposite each other) on the RYB color wheel. We'll look at the simplest examples below, but note that any color (even less obvious ones like intermediate colors) can potentially result in black by combining with the color across the wheel.
Red and Green
Mixing the complementary colors red and green together is the classic way to form black by combining two opposite colors. Just watch your ratios and the form of green you pick to avoid accidentally forming brown.
Yellow and Purple
Because yellow and purple sit opposite each other on the color wheel, they are complementary, and thus cancel each other out by forming black when they are mixed in the correct ratios.
Orange and Blue
The final pair of complementary colors that can combine to form black is our friends orange and blue. As with all these combinations, it really depends on ratios and saturation, but it's possible.
Blue and Brown
Brown is so close to black (it's also created by mixing all three primary colors) that you can often form a black-adjacent shade by using a dark version of it and mixing it with another dark color -- like blue!
What 3 Colors Make It?
To summarize, in the RYB color model, black is created by equal parts of the three primary colors, red, yellow, and blue. (This is a similar answer to what colors make brown, except the ratios are slightly different.)
Given this, the other three colors that can create our dark friend are the secondary colors, orange, green, and purple together. Why? Because they’re just the primaries mixed a different way!
What 2 Colors Make Black?
Moving on to using just two colors for our desired mix, the key here is complementary colors: those ones that sit across from each other on the color wheel. This method works even for more obscure colors between the ones we’re used to — just glance across the circle to see the opposite and add that.
For example, the opposite of purple in the RYB color wheel is yellow, so adding those together in the right ratios and strengths can make pitch darkness! Speaking of purple, let’s go to our third method..
Brown Options
Because brown is made in such a similar way to black, we can get inky night colors by adding it to dark shades like blue and even purple. For example, some versions of midnight purple are so dark that they look black!
Beyond RYB
To add some spicy complexity to this discussion… we’ve been talking about the world of the RYB color model here, but in fact the answer is different in other models. In the additive context of RGB, black is created by the ABSENCE of all three primary colors, while in CYMK, black is the “K” in that list of its four primary colors: Cyan, yellow, and magenta.
What Colors Make Black, in Sum?
I hope this article on how to make black has been useful and enjoyable. What would you like me to illustrate and explain next, beyond what colors make pink? 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 sites, AroundTheWorldL.com (established 2009), TeachingTraveling.com (founded 2010), and ReikiColors.com. Subscribe to Lillie’s monthly newsletter, and follow @WorldLillie on social media to stay connected!
