Navy blue comes from blue deepened with a small amount of black. The black darkens the blue into the deep, rich navy of uniforms and dark denim. For a livelier navy, blue with a tiny touch of orange or brown works even better, since these deepen the blue while keeping it alive where black can…
The surprising answer is yellow and black. Mixing yellow with a small amount of black makes olive green, since the black cools and darkens the yellow into a muted, earthy green. You can also make olive green by muting a normal green with a little red, its complement, or by mixing green with brown. Olive…
Peach comes from orange and white, with a small touch of pink or red for warmth. The white lightens the orange into a soft tint, and the pink gives peach its gentle, rosy glow. You can also make peach from red, yellow, and white mixed directly, since red and yellow make the orange base. Peach…
Violet comes from red and blue, with blue leading. It is a cool, blue-leaning purple, so it takes more blue than red, unlike a balanced purple. The right red and blue matter as much as the ratio, since the wrong pair gives a dull, muddy violet instead of a clean one. Violet is the coolest…
Maroon comes from red deepened with brown, or from red with a small amount of black. The brown darkens and warms the red into the deep, earthy brown-red that defines maroon. A touch of yellow can push it warmer still, toward its chestnut character. There is no single paint formula for every maroon. The final…
The best answer is red and magenta. Magenta is already a bright red-pink, so adding it to red gives a pink without any white at all. You can also make pink without white by thinning red so that a light surface shows through, letting the background do the lightening that white usually does. Pink is…
Turquoise comes from blue and green, brightened with white. The blue and green make a blue-green base, and the white lifts it into the bright, light, jewel-like turquoise of the gemstone and tropical water. Turquoise is a light, vivid blue-green, and the white is what sets it apart from a darker teal. That single idea…
Burgundy is made by starting with a deep red and adding a small amount of blue or purple. A tiny touch of brown can warm the mixture and give it the rich, wine-like character associated with burgundy. The exact result depends on the pigments, dyes, or colors you start with. The simple formula is: Deep…
Magenta is a bright color that sits between red, pink, and purple. The answer to what colors make magenta depends on the color system you are using. In paint, you can approximate magenta by mixing a cool red with a very small amount of blue. A bright pink or magenta-leaning red can also be used…
Teal comes from blue and green. Mix the two and you get the deep blue-green that sits between them on the color wheel. You can also make teal from blue and a small amount of yellow, since blue and yellow make green, which then blends with the remaining blue. Teal is a blue-dominant blue-green, which…