Brown is an earthy color that can be created by combining other colors. The specific combination of colors that makes brown depends on the type of brown you want to produce.
Primary Colors
The three primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. Combining two primary colors creates a secondary color. When you mix red and yellow, you get orange. Blue and yellow make green. And red plus blue makes purple.
None of the combinations of just two primary colors creates brown. However, if you combine all three primary colors, the resulting color is brown. The combination of red, yellow and blue pigments results in a dark brown shade.
Tertiary Colors
Tertiary colors are made by combining a primary color with a secondary color. Some combinations of tertiary colors can also produce shades of brown.
For example, mixing the primary color red with the secondary color orange results in a reddish-brown color. This is because orange contains yellow, so red and orange contain both primary colors red and yellow.
Another tertiary combination producing brown is blue and purple. Since purple contains red, mixing it with blue yields a color containing all three primary pigments – resulting in a brownish tone.
Complementary Colors
Complementary colors are pairs of colors located opposite each other on the color wheel. The complement of a primary color is obtained by mixing the other two primaries. This means:
- The complement of red is green
- The complement of yellow is purple
- The complement of blue is orange
When complementary colors are combined, they neutralize each other to produce shades of brown or gray. So mixing complementary pairs like red and green, yellow and purple, or blue and orange will all result in brown hues.
Warm and Cool Colors
Another approach is combining warm and cool colors. Warm colors like red, orange and yellow contain more red. Cool colors like blue, purple and green contain more blue. Balancing a warm color with a cool color neutralizes the temperature extremes and brings the combination towards a more neutral brown.
For example, you can make various browns by mixing:
- A warm color like red, orange or yellow
- Plus a cool color like blue, purple or green
The specific brown shade depends on the choice of warm and cool colors used.
Tones, Tints and Shades
One final way to mix colors into brown is to start with a base color, then vary its saturation and brightness.
Decreasing the saturation or vividness of a color by adding gray creates a more muted, brownish tone. For example, desaturating red, yellow or blue individually results in dusty browns.
Mixing a hue with white creates a tint of that color. Tinting allows lightening a shade without completely changing the base pigment. Adding white to darker colors like purple, green or orange washes them out towards lighter browns.
On the other hand, adding black to a color creates a darker shade. Shading produces deeper, richer browns by darkening colors like red, orange or yellow.
Summary of Color Combinations
To summarize, there are a number of color combinations that can be mixed together to create different shades of brown:
- All three primary colors – red, yellow and blue
- A primary color with a secondary color (red + orange, blue + purple)
- Complementary colors (red + green, yellow + purple, blue + orange)
- A warm color + cool color
- Tones, tints and shades of a single hue
The specific brown color that results depends on the choice and amounts of the colors mixed. Lighter browns contain more white or orange. Darker browns have more black, purple or green. Reddish browns trend towards primary colors like red and yellow. Grayish browns have more blue, green or black.
So in summary, many color combinations blended together can form the shades of brown we see in the natural world around us.
Examples
Here are some specific examples of color mixes that result in common brown shades:
| Color 1 | Color 2 | Resulting Brown |
|---|---|---|
| Orange | Blue | Dark brown |
| Red | Green | Reddish brown |
| Purple | Yellow | Taupe |
| Yellow | Grey | Beige |
Art Media
The principles of color mixing apply across different media used by artists – both traditional and digital.
In painting, common pigments that produce browns when combined include:
- Burnt umber
- Raw umber
- Burnt sienna
- Raw sienna
- Sepia
For digital art, brown can be created in RGB color models by mixing low-to-moderate levels of red, green and blue. Or in CMYK models using portions of cyan, magenta, yellow and black.
In fabric design and dyeing, combining appropriate shades of red, green, blue, yellow, orange, and purple dyes will result in a wide spectrum of brown tones to work with.
The same color principles come into play whether mixing pigments, dyes, light or digital pixels – a diversity of browns can be produced by blending the right combinations of source colors.
Properties
Brown is a dark neutral color, generally considered warm, stable and positive. Its key attributes include:
- Earthy, organic, wholesome
- Utilities like sturdiness and resilience
- Tangible, down-to-earth, practical
- Simplicity, subtlety, humility
Different shades of brown have their own flavor. Lighter tans and beiges suggest dryness, historicity, and wear. Dark browns are richer, weightier, and more grounded. Reddish browns feel warm, cozy, and nostalgic. Greenish browns are natural, wholesome, and stabilizing. And grayish browns are somber, formal, and traditional.
Use Cases
Some common uses of brown color include:
- Fashion – Brown shades like tan, beige and taupe are popular in clothing, shoes and accessories as neutral earth tones
- Interior design – Browns give rooms an earthy, natural feel and are especially popular in living spaces, dining rooms and study spaces
- Packaging – Warm browns help products convey wholesomeness, organic ingredients, or artisanal production
- Makeup and beauty – Brown eyeshadow, lipstick and bronzers complement a wide variety of skin tones
- Food – Brown’s association with farming and earth makes it fitting for agricultural products, grains, coffee and chocolate
- Nature – Diverse browns cover barks, soils, feathers, sands, leaves and animal furs throughout the natural world
The earthy wholesomeness and grounded stability of brown make it versatile for connecting people more closely to the world we inhabit.
Psychology
Brown has a grounding, stabilizing effect on the emotions and moods. Its key psychological attributes are:
- Comforting, reassuring
- Supportive, dependable
- Wholesome, nourishing
- Organic, rural
- Historical, ancestral
Brown creates a feeling of resolve and endurance. It’s a color of constancy – sticking firmly to its principles while supporting steady, long-term growth.
Different shades of brown have distinct emotional effects. Light tans and beiges are laid-back and approachable. Full-bodied reddish browns feel intimate, protective. Deep solid browns are authoritative, wise, steadfast. And grayish-browns suggest solemnity, grief, or formality.
Surrounded by supportive dependability of brown, people feel securely connected to the enduring things that matter most.
Culture
Brown has symbolic meanings in cultures across the world:
- In Asia, brown relates to the life-giving earth and is connected to the harvest
- Celtic cultures saw brown animals like bears as embodiments of earthly power
- In the Middle East, brown is associated with coffee and connects people together
- In Central America, brown represents the strength of the indigenous peoples
- In the US, brown connotes simply, free, and honest living close to the land
Some other cultural associations of brown include:
- Monks’ robes
- Rustic country living
- Natural wood crafts
- Vintage leather goods
- Traditional earthenware pottery
Brown themes unite people through time by linking us to ancestral lands, fundamental elements like earth and wood, and basics of life like growing and cooking food.
Conclusion
Brown arises from combinations of diverse pigments – many color pairings together create earthy, wholesome browns. It’s a dark neutral that promotes stability and support. Grounded in natural associations, brown connects us to the enduring fundamentals of life.
So whether you’re an artist mixing paints, a designer choosing product colors, or just observing the tones around you – browns have deep roots in the meaningful experiences that matter most.
