Brown is an earthy, neutral color that can be made by mixing other colors together. The specific colors that are blended to create different shades of brown depend on whether you are working with paints, dyes, digital colors, or other mediums. However, in general, brown is made by combining complementary colors from opposite sides of the color wheel. The most common combinations used to make basic brown are red and green, blue and orange, and yellow and purple.
Making Brown with Paint
When working with paint, some of the most common color combinations used to create different shades of brown include:
Red and Green
Mixing red and green paint makes a classic, natural looking brown. The red pigments contain a strong warm undertone, while the green provides a cool, earthy look. Varying the proportions of red and green results in browns ranging from a rich mahogany to a olive-tinged umber.
Blue and Orange
Combining a warm orange with a cool blue produces lovely neutral browns. Adding more orange yields tawny, brownish-oranges perfect for autumnal themes. Increasing the amount of blue results in cooler, gray-browns resembling weathered wood or stone.
Yellow and Purple
With their complementary positions on the color wheel, yellow and purple blend seamlessly into natural, muted browns. Mixing in more yellow creates tan and beige hues, while extra purple produces earthy, mushroom browns.
Red, Yellow, and Blue
Blending all three primary colors together is another classic way to make a basic, neutral brown. The red, yellow, and blue balance each other out into a generic brown shade. Adjusting the proportions alters the warmth, coolness, and intensity of the final result.
Creating Brown with Dyes
Like paints, combining complementary dye colors generates rich browns. But the specific color combinations differ slightly for dyes versus paints. Some go-to pairings for mixing dye colors into browns include:
Red and Green
Just as with paints, blending the complementary colors red and green dyes produces natural, earthy browns. Varying the amounts of each color results in hues ranging from chestnut to moss.
Orange and Blue
Mixing an orange dye with a blue dye is a classic technique for creating lovely, muted browns. Adding more orange shifts the tone warmer, while extra blue creates cooler gray-browns.
Yellow and Violet
Pairing yellow and violet dyes makes sophisticated browns with subtle dimension. Increasing the yellow proportion gives beige, tan hues. More violet yields complex mushroom and taupe variations.
Red, Yellow, and Blue
Combining the three primary dyes in different ratios generates an array of neutral, generic browns. It’s an easy way to get a basic brown shade as a starting point for further customization.
Mixing Brown Digital Colors
Digital design applications like Photoshop provide a range of pre-made brown color swatches to choose from. But you can also mix custom browns by blending primary and secondary digital colors. Useful combinations include:
Red and Green
Inputting a red RGB code and a green RGB code merges them into digital browns ranging from rich mahogany to olive-green depending on the ratio.
Orange and Blue
Combining an orange hex code with a blue hex code makes lovely brownish-orange to gray-brown hues.
Yellow and Violet
Mixing a yellow and violet hue from the color picker generates natural, understated browns with beige to mushroom undertones.
Yellow, Magenta, and Cyan
Blending the secondary digital colors yellow, magenta, and cyan together produces neutral browns with excellent shade flexibility.
Shades of Brown Color Combinations
Here are some examples of specific color recipes for generating popular shades of brown:
Tan
- Paint: Yellow + small amount of Red and White
- Dye: Yellow + touch of Orange and Brown
- Digital: R: 210 G: 180 B: 140
Beige
- Paint: White + small amount of Yellow and Red
- Dye: Yellow + Brown + Grey
- Digital: R: 245 G: 245 B: 220
Taupe
- Paint: White + Purple + small amount of Red and Black
- Dye: Grey + slight amounts of Purple, Red and Brown
- Digital: R: 128 G: 111 B: 100
Chestnut
- Paint: Red + Yellow + small amount of Black
- Dye: Red + Brown
- Digital: R: 142 G: 77 B: 42
Chocolate
- Paint: Red + Green + Black
- Dye: Red + Green + Brown
- Digital: R: 94 G: 38 B: 5
Coffee
- Paint: Yellow + Red + Brown + Black
- Dye: Medium-Dark Brown + Grey
- Digital: R: 141 G: 60 B: 15
Conclusion
Brown is an extremely versatile color that can be mixed from a wide range of color combinations. By blending complementary paint hues, dye shades, or digital colors from opposite sides of the color wheel, you can create everything from rich mahogany browns to neutral earth tones. Understanding the basic principles of how to generate browns allows you to easily mix custom shades for any project or medium.