How to Make Brown From a Gray Paint

Gray, yellow ochre, thalo green and burnt umber paint can be mixed to create brown paint.

Creating brown paint is a simple process. Usually it entails mixing red, yellow and a touch of blue. You can also make brown by mixing gray with a primary color and two secondary colors from the color wheel. When these three colors mix, you get a darker brown that's handy in painting areas that are shadowed or in less light than the rest of the painting.

Things You'll Need

• Palette
• Gray paint
• Yellow ochre paint
• Thalo green paint
• Burnt umber paint
• Palette knife

Instructions

1. Squirt one pea-sized amount of yellow ochre, thalo green and burnt umber paint onto your palette.

2. Mix the colors together with your palette knife.

3. Add a half pea-sized amount of gray to the mixture.

4. Mix the gray into the paint with your palette knife.

Tips & Warnings

• Use less gray to lighten the brown. Use more gray to darken the brown.

• If you are using oil-based paints always ventilate your work area.

References

• "The Oil Painting Course You've Always Wanted"; Kathleen Lochen Staiger

Resources

• Learn to Draw and Paint: Color Mixing Tips