Brown is a composite color made by combining red, yellow, and black pigments or light. It is one of the most common colors in nature and has a wide range of shades and hues depending on the ratio of primary colors used. Understanding how brown is created helps explain why it has so many varieties and how to mix custom browns.
Primary Colors for Making Brown
The three primary colors used to make brown are red, yellow, and black. Here is an overview of each:
– Red – Adds a red, ruddy tone to brown. Strong shades like vermilion intensify the reddish tint.
– Yellow – Brings out golden, ochre, tan hues. Strong yellows make brown shift towards beige.
– Black – Deepens and darkens brown, bringing out richer earthy tones. Greys also work to mute browns.
While you can make brown with only two primary colors, adding the third gives more control over the exact shade. The overall balance of the primaries used determines the brown’s hue, value, and intensity.
Ratios for Common Brown Shades
Varying the ratios of the three primary colors produces the wide range of different browns. Here are mixing recipes for some common shades:
| Brown Shade | Red | Yellow | Black |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chestnut | 2 | 1 | 1/2 |
| Chocolate | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Coffee | 1 1/2 | 1 | 1/2 |
| Hazelnut | 1/2 | 2 | 1/4 |
| Russet | 2 | 1 1/2 | 1/4 |
| Umber | 1 | 1/2 | 2 |
As you can see, increasing one primary color versus the others shifts the balance and creates a different brown. Always start mixing with very small amounts until you achieve the desired hue.
Mixing Browns with Paint
When working with paints, start by gathering tubes or blocks of red, yellow, and black. Some mixing options:
– Opaque pigments – These fully cover and easily mix to make deep solid browns. Use cadmium reds, mustard or ochre yellows, mars black.
– Translucent pigments – Mix these for transparent glazes in gouache or watercolor. Try alizarin crimson, raw sienna, ivory black.
– Earth pigments – Earth browns like raw umber or burnt sienna provide an immediate natural brown. Mix to modify the tone.
– Complementary colors – Mix complementary orange and blue paints to neutralize into brown. This creates very deep rich browns.
Mix the paints on a palette using a painting knife or brush. Test the color on a spare canvas or sketchbook paper. Adjust the ratios until you achieve your ideal brown.
Mixing Brown with Light
When working with light such as in theater lighting or photography, you can mix colored gels to produce different browns.
Overlap the gels in front of a white light source. Varying the number of layers controls the saturation. For example:
– 1 red + 1 green = Brown with a desaturated, muddy tone
– 2 red + 1 green = Richer reddish brown
– 1 red + 2 green = Earthy brown with subtle green undertone
Another option is to start with a yellow gel and add black frosted gels to darken it to brown. The darker the black gel, the deeper the brown tone.
Mixing Brown Pigment Colors
For mixing brown pigment colors, such as for dyes, inks, or cosmetics, you can blend individual pigments together.
Pigments that work well for mixing rich browns include:
– Red iron oxide – Adds a burnt umber tone
– Cadmium red – Brings an orangey rust hue
– Yellow ochre – Provides an earthy sandiness
– Carbon black – Darkens with greyish undertones
Mix a small amount of each powdered pigment together with a palette knife on a glass slab. Then add a neutral medium like isopropyl alcohol to create a liquid paint. Test the color on paper, adjust the recipe if needed.
Increasing the red iron oxide and black will deepen the brown. Adding more yellow ochre lightens it towards beige. Varying the cadmium red boosts the reddishness.
Digital Mixing of Browns
For digital art and design, browns can be mixed using RGB color sliders. The main colors to adjust are:
– Red – Increases warmth, brings out reds and oranges
– Green – Adds muted olive, greyish tones
– Blue – Cools down the temperature towards grey
You can start with a basic brown RGB recipe like:
R: 101, G: 67, B: 33
Then increase or decrease each slider to shift the hue and lightness. More red and green creates deeper, richer browns. Higher blue mixing greys it out.
Programs like Photoshop provide premade swatches for different browns. You can click through these and vary the numbers to customize your own brown.
Natural and Organic Browns
Many natural and organic materials have an innate brown color you can extract as a pigment. Here are some common ones:
– Coffee – Soak coffee grounds in hot water, strain liquid, let dry into paste.
– Coconut shells – Simmer pieces in water, strain, reduce to extract brown dye.
– Tea – Brew black tea, concentrate, allow to dry into powder.
– Cocoa powder – Sift pure cocoa powder to remove lumps.
– Walnut shells – Crush green shells, boil in water, strain liquid.
– Henna – Grind henna leaves into powder, mix with lemon juice to release dye.
These provide a range of brown hues from latte to chocolate to sepia. Mixing them with other natural ingredients like turmeric or blueberries can modify the tones.
Why Brown Has So Many Color Varieties
The wide range of potential shades is what gives brown so many subtle variations. With three primary colors affecting the hue, even slight adjustments create new mixes.
Saturated red-browns have a hot, intense feel. Muted greyish-browns are more sophisticated. Yellowish-browns bring warmth. Dark charcoal browns are bold. Brown can be cool and aloof or rich and indulgent.
The full spectrum runs from beiges and tans…to umbers and siennas…to chocolate and espresso…to deep mahogany and ebony. No other color has such breadth and depth.
Tips for Mixing the Perfect Brown
Experimentation is key to find your perfect brown, but here are some tips:
– Decide on a temperature – Is your ideal brown more warm, neutral or cool? This gives a mixing startpoint.
– Blend in small increments – Build up the brown a little at a time to gradually achieve the right balance.
– Note ratios as you go – Keeping a mixing recipe helps reproduce the color later on.
– Check different materials – Colors may vary mixing on paper, canvas, wood, fabric, etc. Adjust accordingly.
– Compare to references – Have a brown sample image or object to match. This gives you a target.
– Save leftover mixes – Leftover paints or inks mixed to your custom brown become handy premade colors.
– Get browns from nature – Don’t overlook natural found items that already provide perfect earthy browns.
Taking the time to create your ideal brown means you’ll have colors with much more subtlety and depth.
Conclusion
Brown is a versatile, complex color to mix. Its variability comes from the influence of the three main component colors – red, yellow, and black. Adjusting the ratios provides nuanced control over the exact hue, value, and saturation of the finished brown.
With pigments, light, and digital colors, you can mix an endless variety of rich, intriguing browns. Understanding the fundamentals gives you the confidence to blend custom browns for any artistic need. Experiment and explore the possibilities.