How to Mix Paint Colors Into Brown

Primary colors are red, yellow and blue. Every other paint color that we use is derived by mixing these three paint colors in some way or another. Brown is one color that you can create by mixing all three primary colors. However, there are many other ways to get brown, and there are tricks to get the best quality color of paint.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Refer to the color wheel. The color wheel will help you determine primary colors as well as secondary and tertiary colors. The colors you choose to mix will make different tones of brown, and the color wheel will help you as you make your selection.

2. Mix one primary color with its complementary color. Red and green are complementary colors, so when you mix them together you get brown. Other complementary colors are orange and blue as well as purple and yellow.

3. Add one secondary color to two primary colors. Mix yellow and blue paints to make green. Add red paint to that green paint to make brown.

4. Find opposite colors on the color wheel. Mix the two opposites together to make brown paint.

5. Combine orange paint with red paint. Mix them thoroughly, and then add a touch of black paint. This makes a deep brown paint that's very versatile.

6. Darken your brown paint by adding a little bit of black paint to your mixture. You can also lighten your brown paint when you add white. This can make your brown paint the color of chocolate milk.

Resources

• Color Matters has a picture of the color wheel.