How to Make the Color Brown

Brown is a combination of other colors.

Brown comes in many shades from light beige to nearly black. If you've run out of brown paint during a project make it by combining other colors. Choose the colors based on the color wheel, developed by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666, according to colormatters.com. The three primary colors form the first set of colors. The secondary colors are combinations of the primary colors. The tertiary colors are the secondary colors mixed with a primary color.

Things You'll Need

• Red paint
• Blue paint
• Yellow paint
• White paint
• Black paint
• Container
• Mixing spoon

Instructions

1. Mix equal parts of the primary colors of red, blue and yellow. Primary colors can't be broken down into other colors.

2. Mix equal parts of secondary colors of green, orange or purple. Green is blue and yellow mixed together. Orange is red and yellow. Purple is blue and red. In effect ,you're mixing the primary colors.

3. Mix equal parts of tertiary colors. Examples of tertiary colors are yellow-green, orange-red and blue-purple.

4. Darken the brown by adding black.

5. Lighten the brown by adding white.

Tips & Warnings

• Develop different shades of brown by adding a bit more of one primary color than the other two. A brick shade of brown results by adding a bit more red than blue or yellow.

• Colors you mix yourself are difficult to duplicate so mix enough for your project at one time.

References

• Color Matters: Color Theory
• "Color Mixing Bible"; Ian Sidaway: 2002

Resources

• Tooter 4 Kids: Color Mix