Brown is a tertiary color that is made by combining the primary colors yellow and red. So in a sense, brown contains yellow and red. However, brown is its own distinct color that is not just a simple combination of yellow and red.
The Color Wheel
To understand where brown fits in relation to yellow and red, it helps to look at a color wheel. The basic color wheel consists of 3 sets of colors:
- Primary colors: red, yellow, blue
- Secondary colors: orange, green, purple
- Tertiary colors: combinations of primary and secondary colors next to each other on the wheel
For example, red and yellow combine to make orange. Yellow and blue make green. Blue and red make purple. These are the secondary colors.
Then, combining a primary and secondary color makes a tertiary color. Red and orange make red-orange. Yellow and green make yellow-green. Blue and purple make blue-purple. And finally, yellow and red combined make brown.
So brown is a distinct tertiary color on the color wheel between red-orange and yellow-green:
| Red | Red-Orange | Orange | Yellow-Orange | Yellow |
| Yellow-Green | Green | Blue-Green | Blue | Blue-Purple |
| Purple | Red-Purple | Red | Brown |
Properties of Brown
Although brown contains red and yellow, it has unique properties as a color:
- Brown has a darker, more muted shade than red or yellow.
- It lacks the brightness and vibrancy of red and yellow.
- Brown has a natural, earthy feel to it.
- It is associated with wood, leather, coffee, chocolate and other organic materials.
In fact, brown gets its name from the word “brun” which means brown in Old French. This comes from the Germanic word “brun” meaning dark or shining.
So while red evokes passion, excitement or danger and yellow evokes happiness, optimism and warmth, brown evokes stability, comfort and nature.
How Brown is Made
There are a few different ways to make the color brown:
- Mixing paint pigments – Combining red and yellow paint pigments together makes a brown color.
- Mixing light waves – Combining red and green light waves in even amounts creates a brown color.
- Absorption of light – Brown can be made by absorbing certain wavelengths of light and reflecting others back to our eyes.
For example, a brown object might absorb blue and green light waves while reflecting mostly red and yellow light to our eyes. This creates a dominance of red and yellow wavelengths, which our brain interprets as brown.
The specific shade of brown depends on the intensity of the red and yellow components. More red mixed in creates a redder shade of brown. More yellow makes it yellower. Balancing the two well creates a rich, natural brown.
Brown in Printing
In the printing industry, brown is considered one of the basic process colors. The other process colors are cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK).
Printers can create a wide range of color tones by layering different combinations of CMYK ink. For example, brown can be made by layering magenta and yellow ink. The more magenta used, the redder the brown. More yellow makes it more golden.
Adding black ink to a red-yellow mix will also darken the tone and create deeper browns and even near-black browns. So when printing brown tones, combinations of magenta, yellow and black ink are used.
Shades of Brown
There are many shades of brown ranging from light tans to deep browns and chocolate tones. Here are some common shades of brown:
- Beige – Very light yellowish-brown
- Umber – Dark yellow-brown
- Taupe – Grayish light brown
- Sienna – Reddish-brown with orange undertones
- Sepia – Yellowish rich brown
- Chestnut – Reddish dark brown
- Chocolate – Dark brown with a slightly reddish tone
- Coffee – Medium saturated brown
- Hazel – Light yellowish-brown
- Mocha – Rich, dark, slightly reddish brown
These different shades arise from subtle differences in the mixing ratios of the red, yellow and black pigments that make up the brown tone.
Brown vs. Orange
Brown and orange are often confused with each other since they are close on the color wheel. But while related, they are distinct hues. Here are some key differences:
| Brown | Orange |
|---|---|
| Made from red + yellow | Made from red + yellow, but leaning more towards the yellow side |
| More muted and less saturated | Brighter and more saturated |
| Darker, with black mixed in | Lighter, with less black |
| Earthen, woodsy feel | Energetic, tropical feel |
So while both contain red and yellow components, orange has more yellow which gives it the brighter, more vivid look. Brown contains more red and black which mute it down to a darker, grayer tone compared to the vibrant orange.
Conclusion
In summary, while brown contains elements of red and yellow, it is its own distinct tertiary color with unique properties. It has a dark, earthy tone from the balanced mix of red and yellow pigments. Brown occupies its own place on the color wheel between red-orange and yellow-green.
It serves an important role in printing by mixing yellow and magenta ink. And many shades of light tans to deep chocolate browns can be created by varying the red, yellow and black components.
So in the end, while related to red and yellow, brown is definitively not just yellow and red mixed together. It is its own rich, natural color that adds beauty and depth to our visual world.