The top row below is darkened with black. You can see from the example the effect black has on the orange when you darken it.
How To Mix Vibrant And Exciting Orange Acrylic Paint Colors
Even if you know the basics of mixing orange when you paint it is not so straightforward as there are many other things to think about. Here I share some of the things I have learned about orange. To make orange acrylic paint you mix red and yellow, orange and yellow, or red and green. Depending on the orange you want, you use either warm or cool, bright or subdued colors, or add other colors to it to make the orange darker or lighter, less bright. or burnt orange. There are lots of exciting ways to mix many different and interesting oranges. I touch on a few of those with examples of how you can make them. Once you have eth basics you can swap out the colors to make many more oranges. I love to use my acrylics to experiment and explore color. I share some of those colors here with you. I hope it helps.
Lots Of Interesting Ways To Make Orange Acrylic Paint
You can mix Orange using any of the following mixes: using yellow and red, orange and red, orange and yellow, or red and green. For this section, I am exploring the first 3 ways to mix orange. Then going on to warm and cool oranges. For how to mix red and green to make orange please see the section on how to make orange without yellow.
Two Color Primary Color Orange Paint Mixes: Red and Yellow Make Orange
This is the most classic way to make an orange. To get a bright vibrant orange this way use cadmium red and cadmium yellow.
Cadmium red + cadmium yellow with increasing amounts of red paint. Art Tip: When you create orange add the red in small amounts to the yellow or it will overwhelm it and you will end up with red
Two Color Primary Mix: Orange and Yellow Make Orange
Cadmium Orange + Cadmium yellow Here you have increasing amounts of cadmium orange acrylics added to the yellow.
Orange And Red Another Two Color Mix To Make Orange
If you have a ready-made orange like the one I here you can add red to it to make a more red-orange
Makes a much deeper orange as you already start with less yellow in the orange.
How To Make A Lovely Warm Orange
To make a warm sunny orange you need warm red and yellow. Pick warm colors like cadmium red and cadmium yellow.
Here are two examples. The top one is the orange plus yellow mix. The bottom one is red and yellow all cadmium colors. If you want a slightly less warm color simply swap out one of the colors to a neutral or cooler color like lemon yellow.
How To Make A Cool Orange With Acrylics
To make the orange cooler choose cooler or mid reds and yellows like lemon yellow and Naphthol Crimsonor Alizarin Crimson.
Lemon Yellow + Naphthol Crimson
Alizarin Crimson + Lemon yellow You can see just by looking at these oranges that they have cooler undertones than the warm oranges above. This changes the whole look of the orange. Great for cooler areas in a painting.
How To Mix Orange Paint Without Using Yellow
Red and green It has to depend on which red and green you use.
To make the brightest orange you need to know not only what colors make orange but also which paint colors have their complementaries or will mix their complementaries. Then you need to avoid them when you mix orange. This avoids your orange being dulled down. So choose red and yellow. The complement of red is green The complement of yellow is purple If you have alizarin red it has a blue bias so it will dull down your orange mix. This is because green is the complement to red. When you mix this red with yellow you are in effect mixing in green The same goes for lemon yellow which has a greenish undertone. It’s not quite as intense as alizarin crimson but it’s there. These colors will dull down your orange as the blue will mix with the red. The color bias in your paint tube is not always as obvious as with alizarin crimson. If you are unsure you can either look it up or mix it. It will soon be clear if it has a bias. The colors I have found to make the brightest orange are cadmium red and cadmium yellow. This is because cadmium red is an orange-red and many cadmium yellows have an orange bias, cadmium yellow deep even more so.
What Colors Make Orange?
Let’s take a step back to color mixing 101.
Orange is a secondary color. To mix orange, you need to combine yellow and red (primary colors).
If you want to mix a vivid orange, then you need to use a yellow and red which do not contain any traces of blue. Remember, when you mix three primary colors together, you get a tertiary color.
You also need to give consideration to the saturation of the yellow and red you use (you cannot mix a vivid orange by mixing a dull yellow with a dull red).
Color Bias – Warm and Cool Yellows and Reds
There are all kinds of yellows and reds you could use to mix orange. Some yellows lean towards red (warm yellows) and some lean towards blue (cool yellows). Some reds lean towards yellow (warm reds) and some lean towards blue (cool reds).
To mix a vivid orange, you need to mix a warm yellow with a warm red; that is, they both lean towards orange on the color wheel (shown below).
Mixing a cool yellow with a cool red, will most likely result in a relatively dull orange. That is because there would be a small amount of blue in the mix.
If you want to learn more about the bias of certain colors, then you should take a look at this color wheel.
What You Need for This Exercise
For this color mixing exercise, you simply need the following:
- Palette for mixing your colors;
- Palette knife for mixing (or you could use a brush);
- All the different yellows you have; and
- All the different reds you have.
You could do your mixing on your palette (like I did), or you could paint the colors onto a canvas board or another surface if you want something more permanent.
