Mixing paint colors is something that many people do for art projects, house painting, and other creative endeavors. When you mix the primary colors blue and orange, an interesting secondary color is created. Understanding color theory and how these two colors interact helps explain the resulting color mixture.
The Basics of Color Mixing
In art and design, there are primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. The primary colors are red, blue, and yellow. These are called primary colors because they cannot be created by mixing other colors. When two primary colors are mixed, they make a secondary color. For example:
| Red + Yellow = Orange |
| Red + Blue = Violet |
| Blue + Yellow = Green |
The secondary colors are orange, violet, and green. When a primary and secondary color are mixed, they make a tertiary color such as red-orange or blue-green.
This is important to understand when mixing two colors like blue and orange. Since blue is a primary color and orange is a secondary color, their combination will produce a tertiary color with properties of both.
Mixing Blue and Orange Paint
When blue and orange paint are mixed together, the resulting color is a shade of brown. This makes sense when you look at a color wheel and see where blue and orange fall in relation to each other.
On a 12-part color wheel, blue is located at around the 11 o’clock position and orange is located at around the 1 o’clock position. Colors that are opposite each other on the wheel (called complementary colors) tend to neutralize each other when mixed, resulting in a grayscale or brown color.
Since blue and orange are not exactly opposite, the mixed color won’t be a neutral gray but rather a muted, earthy brown. The specific shade of brown depends on how much of each color is used. Equal parts blue and orange will make a brown halfway between the two colors. More blue mixed with a little orange will be a cool bluish brown. More orange mixed with a little blue will be a warm reddish brown.
The Science of Mixing Pigments
On a deeper level, the reason blue and orange create brown has to do with the science of color and light. Pigments subtract wavelengths of light, while light sources add wavelengths. Here is a simplified explanation:
| Orange pigment absorbs bluish wavelengths of light, reflecting back reddish and yellowish wavelengths. |
| Blue pigment absorbs reddish and yellowish wavelengths, reflecting back bluish wavelengths. |
When orange and blue pigments are mixed together, the blue pigment absorbs the yellowish wavelengths while the orange pigment absorbs the bluish wavelengths. What isn’t absorbed is the intermediate reddish wavelengths, and this is what is reflected back to our eyes as brown.
So while orange and blue look vivid on their own, mixing them results in a murky brown color from the neutralization of the complementary wavelengths. This concept applies not just to blue and orange, but to any complementary color pair mixed together.
Tones, Tints, and Shades
Up to this point, we’ve discussed mixing blue and orange paint in their pure, saturated forms. However, artists don’t always work with colors at full saturation. So how does mixing blue and orange change when tones, tints, and shades are involved?
A tone is produced when gray is added to a pure hue. This makes the color muted or softened. Mixing a blue tone and an orange tone will also result in a brown, but it may be muted compared to mixing pure orange and blue.
A tint occurs when white is added to a pure color. Tints have a lighter, brighter appearance than pure hues. Mixing a blue tint and an orange tint will make a softer, lighter brown color. Using more white in the mix will result in a very pale brown.
A shade is created when black is added to a pure hue, making it darker in appearance. Combining a blue shade with an orange shade will result in a darker, richer brown color. Adding more black will deepen the brown toward charcoal or black.
So while the essential mixture of blue and orange is a brown color, many different brown variations can be achieved by adjusting the tones, tints, and shades used. A wide spectrum of light, medium, and dark browns is possible.
Mixing Paint vs. Mixing Light
An important distinction needs to be made here between mixing pigments and mixing light. We’ve focused on mixing blue and orange paints or inks, which follow subtractive color rules. When mixing light, such as on a computer screen or theater lighting, the rules are different.
Red, green, and blue are the primary colors of light. Mixing blue and orange light will produce a completely different result than mixing blue and orange pigments.
In lighting, blue and orange are complementary colors directly across from each other on the color wheel. When combined, they actually make white light! So the mixture of blue and orange light is the opposite of mixing blue and orange paints.
Uses for Mixed Blue and Orange
Now that we understand blue and orange combine to form shades of brown, what are some ways we can use this mixed color? Here are some ideas:
| – Painting tree trunks or nature scenes |
| – Rich wood stains and finishes |
| – Shadow colors in portraits or landscapes |
| – Earthy pottery glazes |
| – Warm neutral walls and home décor |
| – Ethnic textile patterns and prints |
The muted browns created by mixing blue and orange work very well for organic subjects like trees, flowers, earth, and wood. They can add a warm, grounded feel to interior design schemes. And the combination can be very pretty on pottery and artworks inspired by nature.
Mixing shades of blue and orange is also a creative way to paint shadows on complex subjects. The colors complement each other nicely in shadow effects. So don’t be afraid to experiment with these colors and see the beautiful browns they can make!
Mixing Other Color Combinations
We’ve looked specifically at mixing blue and orange to create shades of brown. But many other color combinations are possible by applying color theory principles:
– Red and green make an earthy olive or moss color
– Yellow and purple make variants of ochre and beige
– Red-orange and blue-green make pleasing neutrals and grays
– Complementary colors like red and cyan make dark browns approaching black
– Analogous color pairs like red and violet make muted versions of each hue
– Triad colors like red, blue, and yellow make a neutralized black or brown
A quick way to guess the mixture of any two colors is by looking at their positions on a color wheel. Complementary or near-complementary colors tend to neutralize each other, while colors close together mix to form hues between them.
With a basic grasp of color theory, you can combine any colors in your palette and have an idea of what new shades they can make. This understanding is invaluable for both artists and anyone who works with color for design or decoration.
Conclusion
When blue and orange paint or pigments are mixed together, the resulting color is some variant of brown. This is because blue absorbs the yellowish wavelengths of light while orange absorbs the bluish wavelengths, leaving the intermediate reddish hues that we see as brown. The exact shade of brown depends on if pure hues, tones, tints, or shades are used and in what proportions. While mixing blue and orange pigments makes brown, mixing blue and orange light actually produces white. The interaction demonstrates important principles of subtractive and additive color mixing. Mastering what colors make when combined allows endless possibilities for artists, designers, decorators, and anyone who loves working with color.