Making the color red is one of the most fundamental skills for any painter. Whether you are a beginner looking to mix your first red or an experienced artist trying to find the perfect vermilion, knowing how to make red with paint is essential. In this article, we will walk through everything you need to know to mix rich, vibrant reds with oil, acrylic, and watercolor paints.
What Makes Red Paint Red
Before diving into mixing paint, it helps to understand what gives red paint its distinctive color. The red color in paint pigments is primarily derived from iron oxide, a compound of iron and oxygen atoms that reflects wavelengths of light corresponding to red hues. Here are some of the most common red pigments used in paints:
- Cadmium red – Made from cadmium sulfide and selenium, known for its bright, saturated orange-red tones.
- Alizarin crimson – A cool, bluish red made from the pigment extracted from the madder root plant.
- Quinacridone red – A modern synthetic organic pigment valued for its deep, rich red color.
- Naphthol red – Derived from naphthol AS pigments and ranging from orange to deep red.
- Vermilion – An opaque, warm red made from mercury sulfide.
The natural and synthetic red pigments used in paint each have a slightly different molecular structure that absorbs and reflects light to produce their signature red hues. As you experiment with mixing, you’ll find that combining different types of reds allows you to create a wide palette of red tones and shades.
Mixing Red Paint
Making red paint is primarily about blending paints from the warm and cool sides of the color spectrum. Here are the essential paint mixes for making red with the three main painting mediums:
Oil Paint
With oil paints, rich reds can be mixed by combining:
- Cadmium red or vermilion (warm reds) with alizarin crimson or carmine (cool reds)
- Yellow ochre or cadmium yellow (warm yellows) with alizarin crimson (cool red)
- Cadmium orange or yellow ochre (warm oranges/yellows) with ultramarine blue (cool blue)
Try starting with a 4:1 or 3:1 ratio of the warm color to cool color. Adding more of the warm red will make the mix more orange, while extra cool red will give a pinker purple tone. Vermilion and cadmium red produce bright, warm reds. For fire engine or cherry reds, lean towards alizarin and carmine.
Acrylic Paint
With acrylics, aim for:
- Cadmium red or napthol red (warm) with phthalo blue or ultramarine blue (cool)
- Cadmium yellow or yellow oxide (warm) with alizarin crimson or quinacridone red (cool)
- Cadmium orange or yellow oxide (warm) with phthalo blue or ultramarine blue (cool)
A starting blend for acrylics is a 3:1 or 4:1 ratio of the warm color to the cool color. Cadmium red and napthol reds offer nice bright options. Phthalo blue makes more vibrant purples, while ultramarine blue will give a subtler, softened red. Adding white while mixing can lighten the red.
Watercolor Paint
For watercolors, combine:
- Cadmium red, vermillion, or orange red (warm) with alizarin crimson or ruby red (cool)
- Cadmium yellow or gamboge (warm) with alizarin crimson (cool)
- Cadmium orange or cadmium yellow (warm) with French ultramarine or cerulean blue (cool)
Watercolors blend quickly, so start with a 4:1 or 5:1 ratio of the warm color to cool. Let the washes of color mix directly on the paper. Cadmium red offers excellent opacity and brilliance. Alizarin crimson produces richer, darker hues. For brighter purplish reds, mix an orange-red with French ultramarine.
Tinting Red with White or Black
Adding white or black paint is an easy way to create tinted shades of red. Here are some tips:
- Add white to lighten and soften red mixes. This pushes the red towards pink.
- Add black to darken and deepen reds. Start with just a touch of black since it is very potent.
- Black will mute and grey down bright, warm reds more than cool reds.
- Mix white into orange-reds to make coral and salmon colors.
- For a bold red, limit adding white or black to no more than a 1:4 ratio with the red.
Key Mixing Tips
Follow these tips when learning how to blend those perfect painterly reds:
- Use a warm red as your base and add in small amounts of a cool red until satisfied.
- Err on the side of too little cool red at first to avoid making purple.
- Cool reds are very strong, so you only need small amounts for blending.
- Test your mixed reds on a practice canvas before applying to your actual painting.
- Certain red pigments stain more than others, so swatch your paints to see their staining power.
- Some reds are more opaque (cadmium) while others are more transparent (alizarin).
- Mixing complementary colors like red and green will produce brown or gray.
With oil and acrylic paints, save some of your color mixes to use for touch-ups later. With watercolors, remixing the exact shade can be difficult.
How to Make Specific Shades of Red
Once you understand the basics of blending paints, you can start to mix up specific shades of red for your artwork. Here are some classic red shades and how to create them:
Vermilion
Vermilion is a vivid orange-red. For oil paints, you can purchase genuine vermilion pigment. For acrylic and watercolor, mix cadmium red or cadmium orange with a touch of alizarin crimson or carmine.
Crimson
For a deeper, ruby saturated red, blend alizarin crimson and cadmium red. Thin with water for watercolors. The more alizarin used, the cooler and darker the crimson.
Scarlet
Scarlet is a bright red with a slightly orange tint. Mix cadmium red with a small amount of yellow ochre or cadmium yellow. Add white to lighten. For watercolor, try mixing vermilion and orange red.
Burgundy
For a dark wine red, mix alizarin or carmine with cadmium red and a touch of black or phthalo blue. Thin with water or medium for an inky burgundy wash.
Raspberry
Raspberry is a mid-tone pinkish red. First make a bright fuchsia by mixing alizarin and cadmium red. Mute it down into raspberry by adding a white/orange mix like naples yellow.
Cherry
For a brilliant cherry red, blend cadnium red with just a touch of alizarin crimson or carmine. Keep the ratio around 4:1 for best brightness. Add a little black to darken it to wine or maroon.
Fire Engine
A fire engine red is a bright, warm, slightly orange-y red. Mix cadmium red or vermilion with a small amount of yellow ochre or naples yellow to boost the orange. For watercolors, try mixing scarlet lake and vermilion.
Tips for Matching Reds
Trying to color match a specific red precisely can be tricky. Here are some tips for matching existing red hues:
- Analyze the red visually – is it warm, cool, light, dark, muted, pure? This will guide your mix.
- Match the value first by adding white/black before getting the exact hue.
- Take a photo of the red under natural light to check your mix as you go.
- Mix your red thickly at first for accurate color checking.
- Test swatches of your mix next to the target red under the same lighting.
- Double check how your mixed red changes when dried vs wet.
Don’t be afraid to take your time and tweak the blend until the color is just right. With practice, your red mixing skills will continue to improve. Keep notes on successful mixes to recreate them efficiently.
Frequently Asked Questions
What two colors make red?
The primary way to make red is by mixing a warm color like an orange or yellow with a cool color like purple or blue. Popular combinations are a warm red/orange/yellow mixed with a cool red/purple/blue.
What color mixed with red makes pink?
Adding white to red paint produces pink. Start with a bright cool red like alizarin crimson or carmine and add titanium or zinc white to lighten it into pink.
What colors make burgundy?
Burgundy is made by mixing a red with blue and sometimes a touch of black. Try combining alizarin crimson, carmine or cadmium red with ultramarine or phthalo blue and a little black.
What two secondary colors make red?
Mixing the secondary colors orange and violet will produce a nice red. For example, blend cadmium orange or burnt sienna with dioxazine purple or ultramarine violet.
What primary colors make red?
While red is considered a primary color, you can make a vibrant red by mixing the primary colors yellow and blue, such as cadmium yellow with French ultramarine.
Conclusion
Learning the essentials of blending paints makes mixing any red hue possible. With practice, you will be able to look at a red shade and instinctively know what paints you need to use. Don’t be afraid to take notes, make color swatches, and take your time matching reds perfectly. Mixing that ideal vermilion, crimson, raspberry or fire engine red for your artwork is a satisfying and invaluable skill.
