What Do You Get When You Mix Red and Green? (Three Colors of Light)

Wondering what you will get when you mix red and green color?

Life is full of beautiful colors. As humans, we can perceive such an array of colors to enjoy the entire rainbow and varying shades of those colors.

These different colors and shades are created by combining colors. Artists are experts at color combination, as they mix paints and other mediums to achieve the perfect color for their work.

This article will explore different color combinations. We will dive into how those colors are achieved and why the resulting color is found.

Table of Contents

What Do You Get When You Mix Red and Green?

If you mix red and green together, you will get a shade of brown. The reason for this is because red and green together include all of the primary colors, and when all three of the primary colors are combined, the resulting color is brown.

Mixing red and green what does it make? >> Check out the video below:

What are the Primary Colors?

The primary colors are, fundamentally, used to create all other color combinations that we see. They are called the primary colors because they are the first “layer” or fundamental colors.

The primary colors for art are considered red, yellow, and blue.

What are the Secondary Colors?

At their most basic level, secondary colors are colors that result when two of the primary colors are mixed.

They are the “second” level of color because they require mixing to form, while the primary colors do not require mixing.

The secondary colors are purple, green, and orange. They form accordingly:

Purple: blue and red combine to form purple.
Green: blue and yellow combine to form green.
Orange: red and yellow combine to form orange.

What are Tertiary Colors?

Often, a color wheel is filled in with other color combinations. These color combinations are formed by combining a primary color and a secondary color. Those combinations are known as tertiary colors.

The tertiary colors derive their names from the primary and secondary colors they contain. They are hyphenated to show which colors are combined to form the tertiary color. The tertiary colors are:

Yellow-orange
Red-orange
Red-purple
Blue-purple
Blue-green
Yellow-green

Beyond the tertiary colors, there can be unique and nuanced combinations. Adding a lot of yellow with green can create chartreuse—the right combination of red and purple results in a beautiful plum.

Adding neutral colors can change the shades of these colors.

What is a Color Wheel?

A color wheel is a circular representation of colors. Artists use color wheels to explore how different colors relate to each other.

A basic color wheel would include yellow, blue, red, purple, green, and orange. Yellow, blue, and red would each be located on a specific third of the circle.

The space between those would represent the colors formed by combining those primary colors.

For example, if we think of the color wheel as a clock and place yellow at 12:00, blue would be at 4:00, and red would be at 8:00.

The space between yellow and blue would be filled in with green, like blue and yellow combine to form green.

The space between blue and red would be purple, and the distance between red and yellow would be orange.

COLOR THEORY BASICS: Use the Color Wheel & Color Harmonies to Choose Colors that Work Well Together >> Check out the video below:

What are the Neutral Colors?

The neutral colors are black, white, and brown. Tan, beige, and gray are combinations of these neutral colors.

The neutral colors are not considered primary colors. Combining the neutral colors with any of the primary, secondary, or tertiary colors will create different shades of those colors.

Adding white to another color will lighten the color and make it more pastel. For example, adding white to red will create pink. The greater the quantity of white paint you add, the lighter the pink shade will be.

Adding black to another color will darken it. This will cause the opposite of what happens when you add white. For example, if you start with a neutral blue and add black, you may end with a color closer to navy.

Adding brown to another color will mute the color more. This can happen with paints if you are looking for a less vibrant look.

Sometimes, if you mix secondary colors and find a more muted color is showing up, it could be because you are inadvertently creating brown along the way.

“For example, mixing yellow-green and red-blue will not produce only brown because the most prevalent colors are green and blue.”

However, because brown will form with the red paint added for the red-blue, you will end with a muted greenish color.

MIXING Wicked Wine + Extra Lime >> Check out the video below:

What Happens if you Mix all of the Primary Colors?

Mixing all of the primary colors results in brown. That is why if you combine red and green, you will get brown.

Red is a primary color, and green is comprised of both blue and yellow, the remaining primary colors.

How to Use a Color Wheel

Using a color wheel can help your designs pop. Color wheels are built to help you easily find which colors will look good together.

Staying within a color shade “family” can help as well. This would include using all pastels or all neon shades for a more harmonious look.

Complementary Colors

Complementary colors are colors that are positioned opposite from one another on a color wheel. For example, red and green are complementary colors because they are situated opposite from each other.

Combining complementary colors usually results in creating a shade of brown. Complementary colors are excellent for highlighting something important in a piece of art.

In large quantities, they can be overwhelming, but you can use them to make a logo or important piece of information “pop.”

Analogous Colors

Colors that are located next to each other on the color wheel are known as analogous colors. For example, red, red-orange, and orange are analogous colors. They are closely related and tend to blend well together.

Using analogous colors is a great way to add depth to your artwork without introducing jarring colors. You are probably familiar with sets of analogous colors appearing in the world around you.

Red, red-orange, and orange form colors found in the fire. Green, blue-green, and yellow-green are in the leaves of trees and plants.

Triadic Colors

Triadic colors are sets of three colors that are evenly spaced from one another on a color wheel. Red, blue, and yellow (the primary colors), are an example of triadic colors. Another example would be the secondary colors purple, orange, and green.

The three colors in a triadic color scheme will all be quite different from one another. You will have similar effects with triadic color schemes as with complementary color schemes.

Adding different shades in a triadic color scheme can add highlights without creating an impact that is too inspired by a fast-food children’s toy.

Successful uses of triadic colors highlight one color and utilize the other two as accent colors.

What are Hex Codes?

If you have found the perfect shade for your graphic or artwork, you may want to save it for easy future usages.

This is where hex codes come in. Hex codes are names for specific shades of colors. They begin with a # symbol.

Knowing the hex code for color is essential for web design. Knowing the hex codes for the colors in your logo can help you create consistent graphics with your brand.

References

https://www.usability.gov/how-to-and-tools/methods/color-basics.html

https://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/basic-color-theory

https://www.tigercolor.com/color-lab/color-theory/color-harmonies.htm