How to make a brown color from paints

Brown is a mixed color resulting from the fusion of several (2 or more) saturated colors. It is not included in the color spectrum, as well as pink, white, gray and black. Due to the use of wood to create furniture, color has become one of the most sought-after in the interior. In many nations, it is considered a symbol of fertility. And a few tens of thousands of years ago, people used the brownish umber pigment to create cave paintings. In ancient times, sepia colors were made from cuttlefish ink. They were used at a later time, the Renaissance period, by artists such as Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci. Brown was widely used by painters of the XVII-XVIII centuries. In those days, they already knew how to make the perfect brown color. In the epoch of modernism, motley and golden tones were supplanted by its shades, which became an attribute of new trends in design and architecture.

Features of color and its shades

In nature, brown is produced by the solidification of liquids of yellow shades. Because of this, it is sometimes called dark yellow. The similarity with mixed colors, for example, with bronze, chestnut and coffee, due to the large number of different pigments in their composition. In fashion, brown has always been contrasted with bright rich tones, and therefore gained the reputation of "adult and solid." This color scheme also includes many shades. They got their names due to the prevalence of brown in nature and life. Among them are wheat, brown, rusty, copper, dark beige, brown, chocolate, as well as khaki, sepia and the color of wilted leaves. Some tones have a peculiar ebb. Dark maroon is also considered a shade of brown, but this does not apply to burgundy in general, which in principle is not mixed, but is close directly to red.

Pros and cons of self-mixing

It is recommended to buy ready-made brown paint, if there is no confidence in the quality of self-mixing. When using, in particular, acrylic paints problems with drawing on clothes or a canvas are possible - there they will look differently. Some components and characteristics of raw materials from a particular manufacturer affect this. If you need to paint a lot of walls, there are two options - buying ready-made paint or preparing it to order. It’s impossible to make two mixtures of absolutely identical shade yourself - special equipment is needed. In a simpler situation, you should not avoid experiments. Your ideas about shades can be implemented in full. In this process there will be some negative points. Since the entire volume of paint is calculated initially, there may be a “slip”. In addition, tinting takes a lot of power. The problem will be the synthesis of saturated tones. Well, the main disadvantage can be considered a high propensity to fading, which is typical for such solutions.

However, there are a lot of advantages:

• saving;
• a wide range of colors for cooking;
• creation of unique shades and their adjustment;
• mixing next to the job site.

Tones mixing rules

There are several systems and models that define the interaction and similarity of colors. The science of various aspects of the compatibility of shades and their use in art is called color painting. One of its foundations is the color wheel, including those with intermediate colors. For the synthesis of different colors used 3 basic colors: red, yellow and blue. The special role is also assigned to the achromatic - black and white. Blending rules are built around these features. Mixed watercolor, acrylic, gouache, oil, water-based and construction paints need on a white palette - so the resulting shade can be clearly seen. Instead, it is also possible to use a white porcelain plate, and sometimes even plastic utensils, white cardboard or thick paper. 4 basic rules of color mixing are derived:

1. There are achromatic tones (white, gray, black) and color (all others). In the second category, they differ in saturation, depth, brightness, lightness and color tone.
2. You can mix mechanically (by mixing) and optically (by putting strokes on each other).
3. When you merge 2 of the main tones will be intermediate between them on the color wheel.
4. When mixing 2 opposite colors on a circle, we get a composite that is not like them.

Primary colors for brown

Brown is obtained by mixing several pigments. Experienced professionals can ideally calculate the desired proportions of the three primary colors. However, in practice it is more convenient to interfere in 2 colors, and gradually. Classic combinations for the synthesis of brown tones are combinations of red and green, orange and blue, as well as violet and yellow. In each of the cases, one paint is used as a base, and the other gradually forms the desired classic shade of brown. So, you need to add red to green, orange to orange, and yellow to purple. The added pigment should usually be much less. Other proportions of the merger will give different, different shades of brown and other composite colors. Brown can also be obtained by mixing in small quantities all the colors of the rainbow.
Important! You can improve the color with the help of special dyes.

Green with red

This is one of the combinations for creating dirty tones. If there is no green at hand, you will have to use a triple of primary colors, mixing blue and yellow in the desired tone. This combination, among other things, allows you to select different shades of green. This, in turn, will add options for the final result from mixing red with green. What to add is decided individually. However, it will be more correct to fill in the red paint into the container with the green one, exactly until the hue and brightness become as it should be. Whatever the proportion may be in the end, the resulting shades will come out warm. It is worth experimenting with the ingredients: choose green for a dirty shade, for example, camouflage, or light, light green, and similarly in the case of red. Usually, the darker the red and green colors, the better.

Orange with blue

In this case, when needed, the whole three main tones are also used: if orange needs to be made independently, then red and yellow are mixed. Then the first should be 9/10, and the second, respectively, 1/10. This ratio can be varied, but it requires a dark shade. The color of the solution can be made "intermediate" between orange and red. In this mixture or in the finished orange paint is added blue. The required volume is selected individually, but in the range from 5 to 10 units. 90-95 units orange component, depending on the desired indicator of lightness and the initial appearance of both ingredients. If the blue composition is used in the recommended amount, then it will be possible to adjust the brightness of the mixture or add cyanosis. Look at the final color will turn out only after the film dries. One way or another, it will come out lighter than the original version. It does not hurt to do preliminary tests on some surface.

Violet with yellow

Another way to get brown is to mix yellow with purple. In the absence of the second, a mixture of blue and red is made. Violet more to blue, so to create a "true" color you need more blue paint. Violet and red on the spectral circle are adjacent, but are located at opposite ends of the visible spectrum. With equal proportions or an overweight in the direction of the red color you get purple. It is also suitable for mixing with yellow. The latter, in one way or another, is used to add to a darker pigment. Yellowness must be added gradually, so as not to make too light mixture. The composition will need to constantly mix, otherwise you can miss the moment when the yellow is no longer needed. Next, you need to do a shade test on a hard surface. Decisions are then made based on the color of the surface layer.

The resulting paint is suitable for use on both mineral and metal surfaces.

Ways to get shades of brown

For warm shades, add yellow or red to brown paint. Do not immediately pour large portions, you need a gradual stirring. Light and warm shades of brown allow you to paint elements such as reflected light, earth, brick and wood surfaces. If the tone is too warm, then the balance can be restored with blue paint. You should initially add only a blue tone to create a dark and calm shade. Color can be varied with white and color paints. For dark brown shades need black pigment. You should add no more than a few percent of the total volume of the mixture. Excess black is very difficult to compensate, except that increasing the mass of brown several times, and this is not always acceptable. Adding a large amount of white or water to eliminate blackness will only worsen the mixture.

It is recommended to do the following:

1. Compare results from different proportions of primary and secondary (s) colors.
2. Experiment with shades and record the ratio of colors in the mixtures that are most liked.

You can also create several shades of brown of different brightness for subsequent blending - often soft, pleasant colors are obtained.

Getting a red-brown shade

This color is also called terracotta. It is obtained by mixing red and yellow inks with a slight dominance of the first. For the final result, you need to add a small amount of blue and 0.1% white. Thus, you will need 3 primary colors and white. There are general guidelines for the proportion of tones. Red and yellow is taken approximately equally, and blue is 4 times less. However, in practice, the percentage of the latter can be reduced. Instead of yellow with red, it is theoretically possible to take orange, but it should be borne in mind that when mixing the first two, as a rule, it turns out not pure orange with a pinkish tint, but pumpkin. You can achieve the desired color by mixing many saturated colors with a predominance of light shades, and among the whole palette, the emphasis should be shifted to the red region of the spectral circle.

How to make a dark brown color

One of the most sought-after shades, dark brown, is produced in several ways. The first involves mixing the 3 primary colors, red, blue and yellow, in the same proportions. Paints should not be too dark. Then add black to the desired saturation. The second method involves adding a small amount of black or blue paint to the resulting shade of brown, again to a certain darkness. The color will be deep. The third method is based on the use of 3 main colors of the visible spectrum: red, green and blue. To do this, take 2 different dark shades of green and blue colors and mix in equal parts (i.e. 1: 1: 1: 1). To the resulting mixture add red and black, also in equal proportions. We do this until we reach the right tone.

Some nuances of blending:

• if red, blue and yellow inks are used, the latter should be added to the mixture of the first two;
• yellow color can remove excessive shading;
• for dark brown paint a light red or green tint is acceptable.

We mix paints for a gray-brown shade

In this situation, there are many options for action. One of them involves manipulating the standard brown color. In this case, you will need to additionally use white and black tones. We take at first white paint and we lighten brown solution. Next, add a little black, carefully stir the mixture and see what happened. Gray-brown should be sufficiently light so that it can be taken from a distance as gray. White paint add a lot more than black. Another method for the synthesis of gray-brown involves adding a gray component to an orange solution. Lightness is regulated by black and white colors. One alternative method of using the orange base is to mix the blue and black components. We can get a distinct grayish tint by mixing orange on one side and purple or a small amount of black on the other.

What colors to mix for light brown

To prepare the basics fit any of the above combinations. For example, you can take the classic combination of red, yellow and blue colors. At the same time, they use more yellow pigment and the rest are selected in bright colors. The resulting solution is lightened with white paint. To what extent change the initial shade - a matter of personal preference. If necessary, it can be reddish, give blue or purple or be the color of cocoa. The mixture rarely turns out to be lighter than needed, but if this happens, adding black paint will easily fix the situation. In any case, mix the ingredients must be gradually and in small quantities. If the paint is intended for painting, then when mixing it is better to use not a brush, but a special tool of palette knife - then you will be able to avoid divorces.

Color mixing table and proportions for brown

The most popular shades (represented by one common option for each):

Thanks to this table, you can accurately calculate the ratio without the risk of making a mistake. Usually, 3 primary colors are enough to make a mixture of the desired shade only from them or to synthesize orange / purple / green for their subsequent mixing with red, blue or yellow. In some cases, black or white paint is indispensable. Of great importance is the brightness of the original tones. If it is unsuccessful to choose the ingredients, then the color will not always succeed. It is necessary to add black in minimal portions, because it is the most difficult to “kill” this color. With proper skill, you can independently choose the components and get the same classic or special rare shades. The brown base for subsequent adjustment is synthesized even from a combination of yellow, turquoise and pink / magenta colors, which are secondary or absent in the spectrum.

Conclusion

Brown is one of those that can be printed independently. The synthesis of its shades allows different color combinations and proportions. The shading range has several dozen original versions. When one of them is selected for tinting, you need to decide on the composite ingredients. Accurate proportions are calculated for some color combinations, which greatly simplifies the work. However, small errors in the tinting process will not affect the final result. Brown can be created by merging orange and blue, red and green, purple and yellow and in many other ways using 2, 3, 4 and more colors. Lightness is regulated by black and white. Self-mixing is very convenient for painting and other works in a small area. In other cases, it is better to get ready-made color.