What Colors Make Yellow? Mixing Surprises…

Today we come to one of the core questions in our color mixing chart exploits: What colors make yellow when combined together? Surprisingly, there is more than one correct answer, depending on your context.

As background my name is Ms. Marshall and I’m an artist and teacher who loves doing hands-on experiments and deep research to answer such questions as: What colors make blue when mixed together? On to today’s lesson…

What Colors Make Yellow?

As we learned with our lesson on the opposite of green, the correct answer in color theory depends on which model you’re using — and there are at least three. Those models are RYB, CMYK, and RGB.

The RYB Model

In the RYB color model used in paint, markers, pigments, colored pencils, and food coloring, red, yellow, and blue are the three primary colors that are the building blocks for the three secondary colors, orange, green, and purple — and are used to form all the other colors. Thus, in RYB, yellow cannot be created by mixing other colors.

The CMYK Model

Moving on to the CMYK color model used in printing, we see in my hand-drawn diagram above that the primary colors are cyan (like a lighter, slightly greener version of azure color), magenta, and yellow. Given this, the answer is the same for CMYK as for RYB: Yellow is a primary color, and thus cannot be made by mixing other colors in this model.

The Additive RGB Model

Now, thus far, we’ve been taking about subtractive color models that combine to form black. However, things change completely when we introduce the RGB color model used in screens and light, because this model is additive, meaning the colors combine to make white.

As we saw in “What Colors Make Red?” in the RGB model, the primary colors are red, green, and blue, and the secondary colors are yellow, magenta and cyan. Ah hah! We at last have an answer to what two colors make yellow — at least in the world of RBG light: red and green!

What Colors Make Yellow, in Sum

I hope this article has helped illuminate the power of context in accurately answering art questions. What would you like me to illustrate and explain next? Do share!

Want more? Check out my article on what colors make purple! Hint: There are a whole lot more options than for the primary color in question in this article.

Looking for a whole different take on this topic? Read about a yellow aura meaning, in the world of meditation and energy centers.