When it comes to mixing colors, red and yellow are two primary colors that can be combined to create secondary colors. By varying the ratio of red to yellow, different shades of orange can be produced. Understanding color theory and how these two colors interact is important for artists, designers, and anyone looking to mix custom colors.
The Basics of Mixing Red and Yellow
Red and yellow sit opposite each other on the color wheel. In color theory, these are considered complementary colors. When complementary colors are mixed together, they neutralize each other and create more muted, earthy tones. Pure red and pure yellow will make a bright orange. The more yellow added, the brighter and lighter the orange will become. Adding more red will deepen the orange into reddish and brownish shades.
The precise ratio needed to achieve a desired orange depends on the type of red and yellow pigments used. Higher quality artist paints and pigments will often mix more true to color. Student grade paints and cheaper craft store paints tend to be less pure in their pigmentation. With lower quality paints, sometimes a higher ratio of one color is needed to offset undertones in the other color.
Common Types of Red Pigments
Understanding the most common types of red pigments used in paints and their characteristics will help predict how they mix with yellow to make different oranges.
Cadmium red – This bright red is considered a warm, pure red. It mixes cleanly with yellow. A 50/50 mix of cadmium red and cadmium yellow will make a pure orange.
Alizarin crimson – Alizarin is a cool, bluish red that leans toward purple. When mixed with yellow, it will make muted orange tones with hints of brown and grey.
Naphthol red – This synthetic red has a more neutral temperature. It can have slightly purple undertones but generally mixes well with yellow to produce clear oranges.
Quinacridone red – This modern synthetic red has a bias toward magenta with a high tinting strength. Mixed with yellow, it will quickly neutralize the yellow and produce more muted oranges and browns.
Common Types of Yellow Pigments
Like red pigments, different yellow pigments have characteristics that affect how they mix with reds.
Cadmium yellow – A bright, warm yellow that mixes cleanly with reds. Cadmium red and cadmium yellow combined make a pure orange.
Hansa yellow – This greenish yellow has high tinting strength. Mixed with red, it has the potential to make bright lime-tinged oranges.
Lemon yellow – A duller, opaque yellow that produces more muted oranges. Less preferred for mixing bright oranges.
Azo yellow – This synthetic yellow has a neutral temperature. It can mix well with both warm and cool reds to produce oranges.
Using Color Mixing Charts
Referencing color mixing charts can provide guidance on mixing accurate colors. While mixing results can vary across paint brands, these charts offer a useful starting point.
| Red | Yellow | Resulting Orange |
|---|---|---|
| Cadmium red | Cadmium yellow | Bright orange |
| Alizarin crimson | Cadmium yellow | Dull orange with grey undertone |
| Naphthol red | Azo yellow | Bright orange leaning slightly red |
These are just a few examples. With all the potential pigment variations, there are many shades of orange possible by mixing red and yellow. Testing mixes out on a palette is the best way to learn what results to expect from specific color combinations.
How Color Ratios Affect Brightness
Adjusting the ratio of red to yellow changes the brightness and intensity of the resulting orange color:
- More yellow makes a lighter, brighter orange
- Equal parts red and yellow makes a pure vivid orange
- More red makes a deeper, muted orange
- Just a small amount of red into yellow makes a rich golden orange
Understanding these mixing ratios gives artists control over the characteristics of the orange they want to produce. A heavily yellow-biased mix can produce bright citrus tones. An orange with more red takes on earthy, burnt qualities. Adjusting the balance is an important skill for fine tuning mixes.
Tinting Strength
The tinting strength of the pigments also influences the color mixing ratios. Pigments with very high tinting strength, like quinacridone red, rapidly dominate a mix. A little goes a long way. Weaker tinting pigments, like ultramarine blue, require more quantity to make their presence known. This impacts the red to yellow ratio needed to achieve a desired orange.
Temperature of Red and Yellow
Temperature also affects mixing. Warm reds and yellows produce clear, bright oranges. Cooler reds with blue undertones mixed with greenish yellows will create more muted, neutral oranges. Understanding the inherent temperature bias of the pigments leads to more predictable color mixing.
Opacity vs. Transparency
Opacity is another consideration. Opaque pigments completely block what lays underneath. More transparent pigments allow some of the underlayer to show through. Mixing colors with differently opacity can lead to muddiness. For pure clean oranges, mixing opaque pigments usually works best.
Recommended Color Combinations
Some suggested color pairs that mix well to produce nice oranges:
- Cadmium red + cadmium yellow (warm, bright)
- Naphthol red + hansa yellow (bright with subtle spice)
- Alizarin crimson + azo yellow (earthy, muted)
Avoid combining colors with vastly different temperatures, tinting strength, or transparency. For example, quinacridone red and lemon yellow would not make the best orange due to their incompatible mixing characteristics.
Light vs. Pigment Mixing
It’s important to note that pigment mixing follows different rules than mixing colored light. On a computer or TV screen, mixing red and yellow light makes…orange light. But with paints and pigments, the particles blend together physically to create new colors.
While mixing red and yellow light seems straightforward, pigment mixing involves understanding the nuances of different pigment types. Mastering the complexities takes experimentation and practice.
Other Factors That Affect Color Mixing
A few other considerations around materials and techniques that impact mixing red and yellow pigments:
- Paint thickness – Thicker, buttery paint blunts colors. Thinner paint keeps hues purer.
- Brush strokes – Overblending muddies colors. Keeping strokes distinct maintains vibrancy.
- Layering – Glazing over an orange with thin red layers shifts the color toward red. Doing the reverse shifts it toward yellow.
- Surface color – The color of the substrate impacts the final perceived color. White makes mixes brighter. Black dulls them down.
- Matte vs. glossy – Surface sheen affects how colors are seen. Matte shows hues more purely. Glossy shifts them cooler.
Mastering color mixing takes practice. Keeping notes on what combinations work best enables an artist to recreate desired hues. With experience, color mixing becomes more intuitive over time.
Using Analogous Colors
Oranges made by mixing red and yellow work well with other analogous colors on the color wheel. Analogous colors sit next to each other and create harmonious color schemes. Some examples of analogous colors that work with red-yellow oranges:
- Reds – Extend the red family through scarlet, crimson, burgundy
- Yellows – Include bright lemon, gold, chartreuse
- Yellow-greens – Olive, chartreuse, lime
Using analogous colors along with the mixed oranges creates cohesive palettes. This technique is especially useful for painting subjects like flowers, landscapes, and sunsets.
Complementary Colors
The complement of orange made from red and yellow is blue – specifically a blue leaning toward violet. This color combination creates a lively vibrating tension. Using small amounts of complementary colors along with the dominant orange makes the orange seem to glow and advance visually.
Split Complementary Colors
This scheme uses the two colors on either side of the complement. For orange, that would be blue-violet and blue-green. This creates a subtle complementary contrast that is less intense but still harmonious. It works well in many color compositions alongside the mixed orange.
Triadic Color Harmony
A triadic color scheme uses three colors equally spaced around the color wheel. For a red-yellow based orange, this would include its complement blue as well as the complement of yellow – violet. This creates a bold, dynamic color palette with orange as the visual star.
Tetradic Color Scheme
Tetradic color schemes use two complementary color pairs. For a red-yellow orange, this would be orange with blue, and yellow with violet. When all four are balanced right, this scheme really makes the orange zing.
These are just a few examples of color schemes that make oranges made from red and yellow really stand out. Color theory provides guidance, but ultimately an artist’s own aesthetic sense should inform color mixing choices.
Conclusion
Mixing the perfect orange comes down to understanding the interplay between red and yellow pigments. With so many variables at play, experimentation and experience provide the best education. Keeping detailed notes and mixing charts helps develop color mixing intuition over time. A painter soon learns how to tweak the red and yellow ratios to create any desired shade of orange.