Searching for what colors make green? You’ve come to the right place to learn the standard, easy answer, a slightly more complex one — then a whole bunch of shocking other correct responses from our ever-growing color mixing chart!
As background, my name is Lillie, and I’m an artist and teacher who delights in hands-on experiments to solve questions like, “What colors make purple?” I adore going beyond the obvious answers in art to find the exciting ones that many people miss. Ready for our exploration around creating green? Let’s go…
What Two Colors Make Green?
The most classic answer to “What two colors make green?” is: Mixing the primary colors, yellow and blue (in the RYB color model), yields one of the three secondary colors, green. Yes, blue and yellow make green… but what other methods are there?
Well, believe it or not, one of the answers to, “Black and yellow make what color?” is… the color GREEN! Specifically, it’s an olive green, but yellow and black distinctively do work for our green quest when combined. Now let’s dive even deeper.
RYB vs. CMYK vs. RGB
Getting a bit more complex, in the world of the CMYK subtractive color model (used in printing), the primary colors are yellow, magenta (what red and purple make), and cyan: a bright aqua blue that’s slightly lighter and greener than azure color. In the world of CMYK, the two colors that make green are yellow plus cyan.
Ready to get crazier? In the RGB addictive color model used in screens and light, green is one of the primary colors (along with red and blue), so there’s nothing that makes it, since it’s just one of the foundational building blocks of the system — it just IS!
Surprising Other Methods
Heading back to the traditional RYB color (or colour, if you’re British) model that we’re used to from paints and markers, it’s time now to investigate several other ways to make shades of green besides yellow plus blue. I bet you’ll be as surprised as I was from the results of some of these hands-on experiments…
What Colors Make Green?
There are obvious answers to "What colors make green?" and not-so-obvious ones. Here is a range of options for creating shades of this wonderful secondary color.
The classic way to make the secondary color, green, is to mix the primary colors, yellow and blue. You also can replace the blue with cyan (a bright aqua blue) for a fresher green.
I was stunned to realize that black and yellow mix together to form green -- an olive green, specifically. Check out my illustrations here if you don't believe me...
Many shades of orange will produce a dark green when mixed with blue! Why? Because orange is made of yellow and red, so the yellow mixes with the blue to make green, then the red (if it's minimal enough) just darkens the shade.
I was very surprised to see that certain shades of brown produce a greenish hue when mixed with yellow. This is because brown is made of all three primary colors (red, yellow, and blue), so if there is enough blue in the mix, and the red amount is low enough, the result will be green when meshed with yellow!
Now we're moving on to how to make exciting versions of green by mixing it with other colors. In this case, we can make the light and electric bright green called chartreuse by mixing yellow and green together.
When you mix brown with green, it turns out you actually get a lovely new shade of dark green called forest color!
When you mix green and blue together, it results in the intermediate color called teal, which can be categorized as either blue or green, depending on the ratio of "ingredient colors" used.
When you swirl tpgether orange and green, you get a muddy, dull version of green called "olive" -- which looks just like the food it's named for.
Put together black and green to get various shades of dark green.
Mint green color is created by mixing green (blue and yellow) with white to create a fresh, icy feel.
Some versions of green have splendid names -- like the nature-loving, rich green called viridian!
Switching away from the world of paints, art, and dyes into the 7 Chakra System of energy work in humans, where does a green aura come from? According to this system, it's located in the 4th or Heart Chakra, and is associated with compassionate love!
What Colors Make Green?
So… were you as surprised as I was that another answer to what colors make green besides yellow and blue was what orange and blue make, and (more or less) what brown and yellow make?! I was stunned!
Did the other shades of green like viridian color go ahead and pique your interest? What’s your favorite in the bunch?
Did this article make you hungry for eating lettuce, mint, or kale, or produce the desire to frolic in verdant fields of grass? Are you curious now about the opposite of green? Do share!
If you’d like to continue exploring how to create certain colors, check out my new addition to this series in the form of the article: “What Colors Make Orange?”
Want more? Learn about mint green color, or check out my hands-on investigation of what colors make pink — a set of color mixing experiments that produced similarly intriguing and unexpected results…
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!
