What Colors Make Red & How to Mix Different Shades?
What two colors make red when mixed with paint, or mixing any other type of material or pigment? We are also going into how you can create lighter and darker shades of red.
Red is most commonly symbolic of aggression, passion, and ambition. See the following article for more on the meaning of the color red.
This article looks into the art and theory of mixing colors. How you can achieve a certain color and get your desired outcome.
Red is a primary color on both the RGB and RYB color models. In light, which is the additive RGB model, your eyes have receptors to detect long wavelengths (Red).
So when it comes to the light that our eyes detect. Red is truly a primary color; dictated by the light along the electromagnetic spectrum, and also our biology.
The subtractive color models are RYB and CMY. Now, on the RYB color model, the one we learn in school, red is a primary color. So we shouldn’t be able to, or need to mix other colors to create red. However, in reality we can. The RYB color model is simply a standard that has been created and used in art classes to teach. However, these primary colors are not set in stone or absolute.
Why Red Yellow & Blue?
This seems to have come from an artist consensus that determined that red, yellow and blue were the foundational or primary colors, and all other colors could be created by mixing these three primary colors. The suggested first implementation of the RYB model was at the very beginning of the 17th century.
What Colors Make Red?
If we take a look at the CMY color model, the model that printers currently use. In this model, red is actually a secondary color. Red is created by mixing magenta and yellow.
As an alternative, red can also be created by mixing purple and orange. However, it will depend on the actual shades being mixed, which will give different results.
How to Make Light or Dark Red Shades
If you wish to make a darker shade of red, you can simply add black into the mix. Brown, green and blue will also darken the color. However, they should be mixed gradually to avoid turning red into a color which is basically, well, not red. Too much green could turn it into something that resembles a more brown color. Too much blue, and it could start to resemble more of a purple color.
If you are trying to achieve a lighter tint of red, white needs to be mixed in. However, too much white could weaken the color too much and turn it pink.
Making and mixing a bright red. Firstly, you need to start off with a really strong red, with strong pigments. Now, adding a small amount of a strong orange pigment would create a vivid red like Scarlet.
