How to get black color when mixing plasticine. Achromatic palette, or how to get black from paints

In this article we will look at what needs to be mixed to get brown color in paints.

Such a noble and calm color as brown has always dominated the clothing of rich and noble representatives. By the way, its main characteristic is stability and stability. But often the palette does not have this color or its required shade. And young or even experienced artists should be able to select the right colors in order to independently create a color scheme of the brown spectrum. And our recommendations will help in this aspect.

How to get brown color when mixing: 3 ways

Before rushing to the color scheme and brushes, you need to remember what colors there are. They are divided into two groups – basic and additional. There are also two more subgroups - composite and complex. All of them make up the design of four groups of basic colors.

Remember - primary colors cannot be obtained by combining any palettes. By the way, they are the ones that become the basis for creating other colors. Moreover, having black and white on hand, you can extract absolutely any color.

IMPORTANT: Brown belongs to the group of complex colors.

We offer three basic methods for obtaining brown color.

Green (blue+yellow) with red

  • Even schoolchildren know that brown comes out when you mix two colors together - green and red. This is the case if we talk about the primary and composite colors.
  • But the challenge is still to create a green tint. As easy as pie! Take two primary colors - yellow and blue.
  • You need to take an equal number of different shades. But take into account your wishes.
    • If you want to end up with a darker color, then add a little more blue, but to the finished green color.
    • If, on the contrary, you want to make a more transparent shade, then initially take a little more yellow.
  • After receiving the secondary color, we begin making the tertiary color. To the green color you got, you need to add a little red tone.
  • It is important to introduce red paint, and not vice versa! After all, it is the basic tone that regulates the degree of darkness and saturation of the brown shade. If you add too much red coloring, then you will get more of a brick tone.
    • But also keep in mind that the red color makes brown so warm (in large quantities it can even create a rust effect), but green, on the contrary, will make it even a little grayish and cold.

Orange (yellow+red) with blue

  • The first thing you need to do is take red. And add yellow to it. By the way, it needs to be introduced gradually and in small quantities.
  • On average, yellow should be only 10% of the volume of red. It's important to get a dark orange. But keep in mind that too much red coloring will create a reddish brown color.
  • Blue paint will need even less - 5-7% of the total volume. You also need to add gradually, in small portions and stirring the ingredients well.
  • Of course, adjust the tone and saturation of the brown color using the blue tint.

Violet (red+blue) with yellow

  • Red and blue colors should be taken in equal quantities. Then you can get a noble, and even royal shade of purple, which will have the desired saturation and warmth.
  • Then, you need to introduce yellow color little by little. It will lighten the resulting purple, so keep an eye on the amount. If the color is predominantly yellow, then the brown color will be lighter and warmer. The violet tone does the opposite.

IMPORTANT: Too much yellow paint will create an ocher tint.

How to make a light brown color from paints, gouache when mixed?

To get a light brown color, you need to give the yellow color a predominance. But! Let us repeat that too much of it will make the color look like ocher. And, of course, it all depends on the desired lordship.

  • To whiten brown color, you need add white. Yes, it's that simple. The more you add, the lighter the final color will be.
  • But don’t overdo it, brown is a warm color and white will neutralize this characteristic. Therefore, introduce very carefully, gradually and in small portions (literally, 1% of the total mass of paints).
  • Although adding the previous color will help correct the situation.

How to get a dark brown color when mixing paints and gouache?

If we talk about previous mixing options, more blue or green will make a darker brown. But they will also add their own nuance. There is another, simpler and faster way to get a dark brown color.

  • Just add black paint. But you need to work with it extremely carefully, since a small dose of excess paint will simply turn it into black.
  • Therefore, add paint in tiny portions and take note of one rule - conduct experiments with a small amount of paint.


  • By the way, in order not to make a mistake with the desired color, mix a little black with white. But leave the dominance of the first shade. Just make it a little softer as it can quickly eat up the brown color.

How to get chocolate when mixing paints or gouache?

To create a chocolate color, you need to tinker a little. The most unencumbered scheme is to choose the right tones of orange and blue. But there is another possible option.

  • Combine yellow and blue paint to create a dark green color. In another bowl, combine red and a drop of yellow to create orange.
  • Now combine the two resulting colors. And in the end you get the color of green grass or grass green.
  • Now you need to create a bloody red color. To do this, combine the same orange and red palette.


  • In conclusion, it remains to combine the two complex colors obtained.
  • And as a result we get the color of real chocolate.
    • If you want milk chocolate then add a drop of white paint
    • A mixture of white and yellow will give an additional golden tint to the color
    • Dark chocolate is again obtained by adding black paint.
    • But yellow with chocolate will help you get a beautiful and even brown color

How to get coffee color when mixing paints or gouache?

  • Coffee color can be obtained by adding the same black gouache. Also, you need to mix according to technology - orange paint plus blue color. In this case, you can achieve the desired tone.


Getting coffee color
  • Alternatively, you can achieve the desired color using a composition of purple and orange paint. If necessary, you need to add a drop of black tint.

Color mixing: table

For clarity, we would like to provide you with a table that will show all possible versions of the development of brown color and its range. To get a brown color, you need to mix the component colors, adding the main shade to them. True, there are other options where the composition includes not just secondary colors, but even complex palettes.

Even a beginner knows that all shades can be made with just three basic colors - blue, red and yellow. You just need to know the rules for combining paints and the required proportions. But in practice, everything may turn out to be more complicated, and instead of the required color, a grayish, achromatic tone is obtained. It is also difficult to find the right way to get black by mixing paints. The finished paints will be similar to it, but not 100%.

Features of black color

Natural black (charcoal) is, in fact, the absence of color - that's what scientists say. This achromatic tone is the complete opposite of white. If the latter reflects an overwhelming amount of light rays, then black, on the contrary, tends to absorb them. There is no absolutely black color in the world, but the darkest vantablack carbon is very close to the “ideal” - it absorbs 99.965% of the rays of the sun, microwaves, and radio waves. That is, this material reflects the minimum possible amount of light, and therefore is considered the blackest on Earth.

Black dye is made from various carbons; it is these substances that make it possible to obtain all types of paints of the desired tone. The most commonly used materials are carbon black and graphite. Previously, artists obtained matte black from burnt bone, and there was no darker tone. Today, production from minerals has been put on stream, so in any art store you can buy paint, pencil, plasticine or a dark-colored felt-tip pen.

Color models and color synthesis

Scientists have “derived” two main color models that allow you to create all kinds of tones and shades. Color synthesis involves the use of one of the models:

  1. RGB, or additive. It involves the superposition of light rays on top of each other in a certain order, with a set intensity. The main range of colors fits into the standard (basic) ones - red, blue and yellow. Additive synthesis is used in monitors, but it will not be possible to make black in the same way as the others. Black, according to RGB, is the absence of reflection.
  2. CMYK, or subtractive. All tones are obtained by mixing paints physically. Black is created by adding all other tones, and white in this system is the absence of color. This model is used in printing, its main colors are cyan (blue), yellow, magenta (magenta).

Subtractive mixing method

This method of adding colors involves creating fewer tones than is possible using RGB. In theory, this model involves obtaining black color by mixing a number of other colors. But when the pigments are actually mixed, what comes out is not a black tone, but a dark brown one, with a brown tint, which will be very noticeable when diluted.

Therefore, in a printing house where the subtractive method is used, a key tone is added to this mixture - real black in finished form. No ink obtained by mixing colors can replace true black pigment, as printers have long known.

Combining paints to produce charcoal

If you read manuals for beginning artists, you can find instructions everywhere: no combination of paints will give a 100% black tone. But there are tables with information about what paints need to be mixed to create the darkest possible shade, close to black.

The easiest way involves combining red, blue and yellow paints. Gouache and oil are best suited, but watercolor will be too transparent and will not provide the necessary depth. Any basic set of paints will do, although artists often use cyan, magenta, cadmium yellow, royal blue and alizarin red.

The instructions are:

  • place a drop of each paint on a white palette (take an equal amount of all colors) at a short distance from each other;
  • gently mix the colors with a brush or spatula;
  • Mix the materials for at least 15 seconds so that there are no veins, using circular movements.

If you need to lighten the black a little, add a drop of white paint into it. To give the tone of a natural sky, add a drop of blue or violet pigment. To draw a night forest, add a little green to black, and to draw the rays of the sun on a dark surface, add a little orange. Of course, the expressiveness of such blackness will be less; for a rich tone it is better to buy a ready-made color in the store.

There are other methods for obtaining the desired color:

  • red + green;
  • purple + brown;
  • blue + orange;
  • purple + yellow;
  • blue + brown.

All the resulting tones will be close to black, but not ideal; upon closer inspection, it is easy to identify a “fake”. In the first option, it is better to take red alizarin and emerald. But the finished color can still have a shade of one of them or become olive, purple, or brown.

According to artists, the best color is obtained by mixing blue and brown paint, regardless of its brand and specific type. Moreover, the more brown, the “warmer” the blackness will be. On the contrary, blue greatly “cools” the finished color. Diluting this color with water gives an excellent gray tone.

Shades of black

Professionals highlight a lot of shades of the darkest dye. Not so long ago, artists designated the following tones:

  • slate (with an admixture of gray);
  • anthracite (with shine);
  • ox blood (mixed with red).

Nowadays, colorists and artists create completely different colors; their range has expanded significantly. With the introduction of different colors, the charcoal will not be so dark, but brownish, bluish or with a hint of purple. Many shades are obtained by adding white. Here are some interesting dark tone variations:

  • soft coal - to create it, mix turquoise, pink, yellow, add a drop of ready-made black;
  • medium coal - combines ultramarine, reddish, light yellow, adds a little black;
  • black and blue - combine brown and blue, and the second color should be 2 times larger.

Mixing paints is easy, and experimenting is always fun. In practice, you can select the necessary proportions to create the required color scheme for a drawing - even a schoolchild can do this.

Knowledge about color mixing options can be useful not only in the professional activities of artists. Individual design of a living space often poses the question to the designer of how to achieve this or that interesting undertone. The proposed combination options and color mixing table will help you achieve the desired effect.

Everyday life is filled with a wide range of different colors. To get the right one, you need to know the intricacies of combination.

Blue, red and yellow paint are the three pillars on which a wide palette of halftones rests. It is impossible to form these colors by mixing other colors. At the same time, combining them with each other gives an unusually large number of combinations.

Important! You can create a variety of shades by mixing only two colors by changing their proportions.

Depending on the volume of one part of paint added to another, the resulting result approaches one or another original color. One of the most famous examples is mixing blue and yellow to create green. The resulting result, when adding new portions of yellow paint, will gradually change, getting as close as possible from green to yellow. You can return to blue by adding more of the original element to the green mixture.

Mixing chromatic colors that are located close to each other on the color wheel produces a paint that does not have a pure tone, but has an expressive chromatic hue. Combining colors that are on opposite sides of the chromatic circle will result in an achromatic tone. An example is combining orange or purple with green. That is, a mixture of colors located closely in the color wheel gives a rich chromatic shade; the maximum distance of colors from each other when mixed leads to a grayish tone.

When individual paints interact, they give an undesirable chemical reaction, which can result in cracking of the decorative layer. In some cases, the resulting background may darken or turn gray. A good example is the mixture of white lead and red cinnabar. The attractive pink color darkens over time.

It is optimal when the impression of multicolor is achieved by mixing a minimum number of colors. At the same time, it is important to consider which paints, when mixed with each other, give a lasting result, and which ones are unacceptable to combine. The knowledge gained allows us to eliminate paints that fade or darken in the future from work.

The table of unwanted mixtures below will help reduce the risk of erroneous combinations:

Having tried the examples given in practice, future painters and designers will gain valuable professional experience.

Methods for obtaining red and its shades

Red is one of the three primary colors and is necessarily present even in minimal sets. But for mass printing, magenta tone is used. The answer to the question of how to get red is quite simple: mix the proposed magenta with yellow in a 1:1 ratio. There are other options for getting red when mixing paints:

The main red is located in the center. Next are the options for mixing. The next circle is the result of combining the first two colors. Finally, color options are presented when adding red, black or white paint to the final result.

Blue and its shades

Blue is considered a primary color, so to form all its shades you will need blue paint.

Attention! No combination of other colors produces a shade of blue, so the presence of this paint in the kit is mandatory.

Even with a set of 12 colors available, the question periodically arises of how to get blue. The classic tone is called “royal”, and in a set of acrylic paints the main color is often ultramarine, which has a bright dark shade with a purple undertone. A lighter effect can be achieved by mixing blue and white in a 3:1 ratio. Increasing the white leads to a lighter tone, up to a sky blue. If you want to achieve a moderately rich result, dark blue paint is mixed with turquoise.

Let's look at what colors need to be mixed to get shades of blue:

  • The effect of a dark blue-green tone is achieved by mixing blue and yellow paint in equal proportions. Adding white paint will result in a lighter shade while reducing the brightness due to the combination of the 3 elements.
  • The creation of “Prussian blue” is carried out by mixing 1 part of the main blue and adding 1 part of a composition of bright green and light green. A rich and deep shade can be diluted with white, and its purity will not change.
  • Combining blue and red in a 2:1 ratio produces blue with a hint of purple. Adding white allows you to lighten a dark and rich tone.
  • Royal blue is distinguished by its brightness; a similar effect is achieved by mixing the main blue with mangento pink in equal parts. An admixture of white traditionally brightens the result.
  • Combination with orange gives a gray mass. Replacing orange with brown in a 1:2 ratio to the base creates a dark color with a complex gray-blue tint.
  • The formation of dark blue occurs with the help of an admixture of black in a ratio of 3:1.
  • You can create a blue tone yourself by mixing the main color with white.

A small table of combination options is presented below:

Green color palette

Solving the problem of how to get green if it is not in the set is quite simple: combine yellow and blue. A rich palette of green halftones is created by changing the proportions of the original components and adding additional elements that perform the function of darkening or lightening. Black and white paint plays this role. The olive and khaki effect is achieved by mixing two main elements (yellow and blue) and a slight admixture of brown.

Comment! The saturation of green depends entirely on the quality of the constituent elements: intense tones of the source materials guarantee a bright result.

If green is obtained by mixing, then all subsequent undertones will be duller. Therefore, it is better to experiment with the range of green if you initially have a ready-made primary color. There are many combination options:

  • A combination of blue and yellow in equal proportions produces a grassy green.
  • Increasing yellow to 2 parts and adding 1 part blue results in a yellow-green effect.
  • An experiment on the contrary in the form of a blue-yellow proportion of 2:1 will allow you to obtain a blue-green tone.
  • If you add ½ part of black to the previous composition, you will achieve a dark green effect.
  • A light green warm tone is formed from yellow, blue and white paint in a ratio of 1:1:2.
  • For a similar light green shade, but a cool tone, you need to take yellow, blue and white bases in a 1: 2: 2 ratio.
  • Dark olive color is formed by mixing equal parts of yellow, blue and brown paint.
  • The gray-brown tone is obtained from similar elements in a ratio of 1:2:0.5.

The expressiveness of the green color is directly dependent on the original elements; accordingly, the brightness of the halftones is based on the saturation of the green. The graphic palette gives a clear idea of ​​the mixing options:

As in the case of the red circle, the main paint is located in the center, followed by mixing options, then the result of the experiments. The final circle is the shades of the previous level when adding base, white or black paint.

Other combination options

There are many other techniques to create the desired effect by adding some kind of dye to the base color. The answer to the question of how to get ivory color is multifaceted and depends on the surface where you plan to apply the paint. The simplest option is to mix a snow-white base with a yellowish one. For example, yellowish ocher or a minimal amount of strontium is added to white. To tint paper, a small amount of potassium permanganate is diluted in water. A light pink tint indicates a correctly diluted solution. A cotton swab, brush or sponge is moistened with the resulting composition, after which the surface of the paper is treated.

Advice! For double-sided tinting, the sheet can be dipped in a container with a solution of potassium permanganate for a couple of minutes. After drying, it will acquire the desired ivory effect.

There are also several ways to get black:

  • by mixing the three basic colors of red, blue and yellow;
  • when combining cyan, magenta and yellow;
  • a combination of green and red, but the result will not be 100% clear, but only close to the desired effect.

We will try to answer the most popular questions about mixing options:

  • How to get raspberry color: the base is blue with the addition of red, white and brown tones.
  • You can get turquoise color, whose second name is aquamarine, by mixing blue and green. Depending on the proportions, the tones of the new shade range from soft pastels to intense and bright ones.
  • How to get yellow? It is a basic color and cannot be obtained by combining other colors. Something similar to yellow can be created with watercolors by combining green and orange or red. But it is impossible to achieve purity of tone in this way.
  • How to get a brown tint? To do this you will need basic paints: red, yellow and blue. First, a small amount of yellow is added to the red (in an approximate ratio of 10:1), then the volume is gradually increased until an orange tone is obtained. After which they proceed to the introduction of the blue element, 5-10% of the total volume will be enough. Minor adjustments to proportions will produce a wide variety of brown effects.
  • Combining black and white elements in different proportions gives a diverse range of gray tones.

As you can see, there are countless options to achieve the desired effect in the creative design process. The information presented will be supplemented by a table with options for mixing colors and video:

Black is an achromatic shade that completely absorbs all colors. In other words, black color indicates the absence of luminous flux as such. Black color is the opposite of white color, which reflects the radiation falling on it. Black color, on the contrary, absorbs it. There is no absolute black color in the world. However, material has already been found that is as close as possible to it. It's called Vantablack. As of 2014, this particular substance was named the blackest on the planet. It absorbs 99.965% of the radiation incident on it, which means not only light itself, but also radio waves and microwaves. Now we’ll talk about how to get the most black color possible and what you need for this.

What colors to mix to get black?

There are several ways to obtain black. The first one is mixing green and red. As already mentioned, it is almost impossible to achieve a completely black color, but using this method you can get a color that is as close to a black shade as possible. If you want to get a more saturated black color, then you can try the following method - using a subtractive scheme. To do this, tediously mix purple, cyan and yellow. These colors are called primary. Blue and purple colors have another name - cyan, magenta. You can mix oil, watercolor or acrylic paints.

How to get a shade of black

In addition to the classic black color, there are also its shades, with which you can add originality to your work. In order to consider this issue, let's plunge into history and look at what shades of black existed before and which of them are common in our time. Previously, the following shades of black existed:

  • Slate shade. It is black and gray in color.
  • Anthracite black shade. This is a very rich black color with shine.
  • Karamazy shade.
  • Klushi.
  • A shade of oxblood. It is a black color mixed with red.
  • Bardadym.

Currently, other shades of black are used. With different proportions of paint used, black may turn out to be bluish, brown and other shades. Moreover, by adding white to the already obtained paint, you can achieve one or another shade of black. Let's look at several shades of black, and also tell you how you can get them.

  • Soft shade of black. To get this shade you need to mix turquoise, pink and yellow. You can also add a little white to the already obtained black paint.
  • Medium black shade. This color will have much more black tint than a soft shade of black. To obtain it, you need to mix pink, ultramarine and light yellow.
  • Rich black color. This color of black can be obtained not only by mixing the three primary chromatic colors. To obtain it, you can mix red, yellow and blue paint.
  • Blue-black shade. It can be obtained by mixing brown and dark blue paint.

If, when you receive a particular shade, the color does not suit you, then you can add red, yellow or blue paint to it.

To achieve a black paint color, you will have to work hard when mixing colors, since you need to add paints in certain proportions. However, in the future it will be much easier to do this, since you will already have a lot of experience in mixing colors.


Black and white are considered the actual absence of color. Therefore, to the question of how to get black, you can answer that it is only possible to get a color close to it by mixing several.

For an artist, this color means the darkest, and for scientists, it means the absence of color. Black is an achromatic shade that absorbs all light. In terms of absorption of light flux, it is opposite to white, which completely reflects the light and radiation incident on it. In the natural environment, there is a material close to it in tone - this is dark Vantablack carbon, which absorbs 99.96% of incident light and other radiation.

Even during the Renaissance, masters of painting tried to obtain black paint and concluded that it was impossible to do this from other paints. Therefore, they used burnt bones, from the soot of which they made a matte black paint.

Today, black paint is made industrially from natural carbon pigments such as graphite and carbon black.

In practice, 2 main color models are used:

  • RGB- additive, which is based on the superposition of rays reflected from the surfaces of objects. It is used in computer monitors and contains the main colors: R-red, G-green, B-blue. The remaining colors and shades are obtained by overlay.
  • CMYK- subtractive model, which is based on the physical mixing of pigments, with white being the absence of color, and pure black obtained by mixing cyan (C-cyan), magenta (M-magenta) and yellow (Yellow) tones, K (key color) - key. This system is used in the printing industry and printing on printers.

What colors should I mix?

To get a black color close to ideal, you can go by mixing paints of the following colors:

  • Red and green– the resulting tone will be close to the desired one (in fact, it turns out to be very dark, and if you look closely, it’s not quite ideal).
  • Blue, yellow and red– if you take these 3 primary colors, then mixing them will also allow you to get a fairly rich color scheme.
  • D additional colors (brown, purple, blue)– you need to mix them in small quantities, then you will get an approximate color.

You can use any paints intended for painting or household purposes for mixing: acrylic, gouache, watercolor and oil. If there is no ready-made dye of a classic tone, then there are a lot of options on how to make black paint from others.

To obtain a pure color, you will have to work hard and select the necessary proportions, gradually adding different colors.

On the video: what colors to mix to get black.

There are many shades, slightly different from classic black, that will allow the artist to add originality to his work. Historically, the following shades have developed:

  • Slate - Essentially a dark grey, the name comes from the slate slate that was previously used in blackboards.
  • Karamazy – synonyms for “dark-haired”, “dark-skinned”.
  • Anthracite is a highly saturated color with some shine.
  • Ox's blood is a black and red color.
  • Bardadym is the name of the king of black suit in the game of cards.

Modern shades of black differ from those used previously:

  • Soft black - to obtain it you need to mix the following colors: turquoise, pink and yellow, sometimes adding a little white.
  • Medium - pink, ultramarine and light yellow paints are mixed for it.
  • Rich color It is possible to make not only from three primary colors (chromatic), but also using red, yellow and blue.
  • Blue-black - obtained by mixing brown and dark blue.

Many shades of dark and light gray can be made by experimenting with adding white paint or adding a little water at a time. Experience will show you what colors and shades you get.