In the perfect mix, you would use equal parts of each color to neutralize and cancel each other out exactly, creating a very rich shade of black.
What Colors Make Black? What Two Colors Make Black (Updated 2023)
Are you curious what colors make black? Or want to know what 2 colors make black? In this blog post we’re going to share with you what colors you can combine to make black.
Black is probably the most common and popular color for any occasion. However, sometimes you might be in a situation where you need the color black, but it’s not readily available.
This article presents an easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide which details what colors you can mix to make black.
Let’s get started.
One disclaimer… it might not be possible to create an absolute “perfect black” color.
But we’re going to get you close to true black as possible, and you still will love the quality of your black color when you follow this guide, and you will find the whole process creative and enjoyable.
We call the resultant color “your black” because you can choose different color quantities to mix to determine how your black color will look like.
What colors make Black?
We will cover several color combinations on how to make the black color.
The first combination entails blue, yellow, and red mixed in equal proportions. The second combination includes mixtures of secondary colors like purple and yellow, green and red, or orange and blue. The third combination is made up of a mixture of brown and blue to give you a rich black color.
First Method (Mix Red, Yellow, and Blue to Make Black)
As you can see from this diagram below you can mix the primary colors to make black. For ease of explanation, we will assume you’re trying to mix paint in the instructions below…
Here is a step-by-step process on how to make black paint.
Step one: Collect yellow, blue, and red colors
Although black is the darkest color, it is possible to make different blackness degrees. The particular yellow, blue, and red color shades you use substantially control the hue of the resultant black. When mixing paints, you are free to use your preferred oil, acrylic paint, or watercolor.
• Using Cobalt Blue, Rose Madder Genuine, and Aureolin results in a softer black color while Winsor Blue, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, and Winsor Yellow yield a bold black color.
• Whatever yellow, blue, and red shades from a basic paint set will ultimately give you the color black.
Step two: Dab or squeeze some amount of each color in separate spots on a palette
We recommend putting each color dab at a time before mixing them. Ensure that the paints are placed about 1.3cm
apart. If you desire a basic black color, ensure that you use equal color amounts.
• You will achieve different looks of your black color by using slightly more of 1 or 2 colors.
• When using a paintbrush in dabbing paint onto your palette, remember to use different brushes for different colors to avoid mixing the color before they are all on your palette.
• It is unlikely that you will make a similar quality of black from time to time. Therefore, prepare enough black color once to last all your needs.
Step three: Mix the three colors
We recommend that you mix your paint colors using a paintbrush. A palette knife might also be used as it mixes certain paint colors better. Move the paint colors around for around 15 seconds to ensure that your mixture is characteristic of a single full color without any bits of individual color leftovers.
Step four: Adjust the hue and quality of your black color
The way you would love your black to look is determined by the use into which you intend to put the
resultant color. For instance, adding a dab of white color will be vital in lightening the black, while a black color similar to a black night sky can be achieved by adding a dab of blue.
• We recommend that you experiment with your black color if you have paint colors and time to spare.
• You won’t get an exact black color if you mix your paint colors using your hands. However, it is likely that the
resultant black might have more character compared to a pure black color.
Here is a video that demonstrates this process as well.
What Two Colors Make Black
It is possible to make black by mixing secondary colors with primary colors as well.
Here are some examples of what two colors you can mix to make black.
The first secondary and primary color combination entails green and red.
Mix Green + Red = Black
Paint colors occupying opposite positions on the color wheel create black when mixed.
Are you wondering what could be the logic behind this scenario? Well, when these colors are mixed, they tend to cancel out the color properties of either color; thereby yielding a dark hue.
Select any shade of green or red depending on your desired black hue. A simple black hue can result from a mixture of Naphthol Red and Phthalo Green.
The second combination is a blend of orange and blue.
Mix Blue + Orange = Black
A blue paint dab like Cobalt Blue and another orange
paint dab like Translucent Orange will result in a vibrant black color. If your resultant black color is not dark enough, you may add a dab of blue paint to the mixture.
The last secondary color combination uses purple and yellow colors.
Mix Yellow and Purple = Black
We recommend that you create a blend of 40% yellow and 60% purple, although you can adjust this ratio accordingly to yield a desirable quality of black. If you have to use violet, then you should blend it with Cadmium Yellow.
As you can see there are many color combinations you can use to get to black by mixing primary and secondary colors together.
Here is a diagram that displays what we just explained above.
How to Make Black Paint
So, yes, indeed you can make black paint by mixing other colors, and you aren’t limited to a strict two or three paint colors. If you are out of black acrylic, or you just want to mix up a fancy black, you can use any of these color combinations.
Mix Primary Colors
Mix blue, red, and yellow in equal amounts to make a black paint. You can experiment with different reds, blues, and yellows to see the slight difference in blacks you get. You can also experiment with different amounts of each of the primary colors to change your black up.
This is great news for artists on a budget, or total beginners, as you can grab 4 paint colors to mix up all sorts of new colors to paint with. (White being the fourth).
Mix Complementary Colors
Grab your color wheel and Pick 2 colors opposite each other. These are complementary colors and if you mix them, you’ll get black. This is essentially the same thing as mixing the 3 primary colors together, because take a peek above at the color wheel. Blue is opposite orange (red + yellow), red is opposite green (blue + yellow), and yellow is opposite purple. Pop quiz: what 2 colors make purple?
Mix Blue and Brown
This is a super-quick way to mix black paint. Use a mixture of Burnt Umber and Pthalo Blue, and you will get a magical deep black color that is more interesting than just squeezing black out of a tube.
Okay, so check out the paints above. I mixed a bunch of different blacks using other acrylic paint colors, and as you can see, they range in how they look both painted straight (left), and then watered down (middle column). The right hand column is all Mars black, straight from the tube, painted on for comparison.
- Cadmium Red Medium + Ultramarine Blue + Hansa Yellow Medium
- Same as 1, but in different ratios
- Cadmium Yellow Light + Napthol Red Light + Pthalo Blue
- Cadmium Red Medium + Pthalo Blue + Hansa Yellow Medium
- Quinacridone Magenta + Hansa Yellow Medium + Pthalo Blue
- Pthalo Blue + Burnt Umber
So, how cool are all those black colors I mixed up? #2 definitely has a red tint to it, and #3 is on the green side. And look how they all change when watered down! That watered-down #2 looks more purplish!
And as you can see from the differences in 1 + 2, you can even create different shades of black using the same initial colors in different amounts. For most of these, when I started mixing I ended up with a color that was not black. This will probably happen to you, because mixing black is not an exact science here.
If you get a brown color, add more blue. If you have a black that is too red, try adding more yellow and blue. If it’s too green, add more red. The #2 black obviously has more red in it than the #1 black.
Once you start playing around with mixing up black colors, you’ll get a feel for which ones you like, which will look best with other colors, and you’ll see how much more depth and interest mixed blacks can lend to your acrylic paintings.
Not pictured here, but lately I’ve been playing around a lot with Dioxazine Purple. Try mixing it with a little bit of Phthalo Green to make a great black!
Why Mix up Black Paint?
Mixing black paint may seem like an unnecessary endeavor if you have a container of it already, but there is good reason to mix black using other colors. Using black acrylic straight from the tube can look super harsh, especially if you are mixing other colors to use in your painting. Tube paint tends to stick out as looking too “perfect”. Mixing from scratch gives you more control over what your black will look like, and you can tailor it to work better with your other colors in your painting.
Even if you do have a tube of black paint that you are wanting to use, try mixing it with a little bit of another color on the palette to lessen its harsh perfection. (Does lessen the harsh perfection sound like a good t-shirt idea?)
Tips For Mixing Black Paint
Use a palette knife to mix your paint colors on the palette. Mixing paint with brushes shortens their life span. (I break this rule sometimes. Shhhhh)
Keep paint swatches of the different blacks you mix so you can refer back to them later. You can keep a paper color chart if you’d like, but I like gessoing and painting on fat popsicle sticks. That way I can place the paint colors next to each other to see what they look like.
Once your black is mixed up, you can add a tiny bit of white paint to lighten it up and give you more of a dark grey-black.
Using a Green Base to Make Black
You could have seen that when you add white to a bought black paint from an art supply store, the result is grey with a bit of a green tinge. Most commercial black paints have a base green pigment which is the reason for this green tint.
Using a very dark green is the best way to create a dark and beautiful dark black hue. We are using phthalo green in all of our methods, as it is a very dark green that is also cool and rich. We will mix this green with purple and two other types of red to make up our various black shades.
Using Phthalo Green and Alizarin Crimson to Make Black
In the previous method of making black with primary colors, we made black with alizarin crimson. Essentially, this method is similar to the primary color mix, but we are combining yellow and blue into one color. Red and green are complementary, much the same as blue and orange.
The darkness of alizarin crimson and phthalo green is the most critical part of using this set to make black.
Mix equal amounts of each color and try out your shade of black on a white piece of paper. This bright and lovely shade of black has a slight hint of brown, though it is almost entirely masked by darkness.
Using Phthalo Green and Quinacridone Red to Make Black
This is another similar method as before as we also used this red in one of the primary color mixes. This shade of black is called transparent black because the two colors used are called transparent colors. Due to this transparency, you wouldn’t be able to create a neutral grey from this black by lightening it. It takes a bit of practice to get this black hue perfect but the effort is worth it. The shade of this transparent black is very close to the store-bought black paint and has a cool temperature.
Using Dioxazine Purple and Phthalo Green to Make Black
This is a slightly different combination than the usual, purple and green are not both primary shades so are different from the last two mixes. The darkness of the dioxazine purple and the phthalo green is what gives this shade of black its special magic. Combine equal parts of the shades and test your hue of black on paper. This shade of green is very strong, so could overpower the purple color and you could have to add more of it to get a better balance.
A dark, velvet, and beautifully rich shade of black will be created by these two colors.
Learning About Temperature Adjustment
A large variety of black shades have been shown in these three methods we have used. Some of the hues of black we have created are cooler and some of them are warmer, all because of the component colors. We can adjust the temperature of our black shades after we have mixed them if we would like warmer or cooler tones.
How To Make Black in a Warmer Temperature
Numerous colors can be mixed with black shades to make them a bit warmer. A word of warning, always use the smallest bit of color to add at a time, as they can easily overpower the component shades, and then you won’t have black anymore.
Here are a few of the best shades to add warmth to your black shades.
How To Make Black in a Cooler Temperature
Adding a small amount of cooler shades makes it very easy to make your black shades cooler. Also, remember to add little bits at a time so as not to change your base tones too much. The best colors that can be used to make your shades of black paint cooler are:
We have come to the end of our tutorial on how to make black, hopefully, you will feel way more empowered to experiment and create your unique shades of black and use them in your artwork. Black has just as many varieties as any other color, so the world of possibilities becomes infinite and full of ways to add yourself to your work. Putting more of yourself into a piece adds more life to it and enhances your creativity.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Two Colors Make Black?
Black can be made from a variety of colors and in a few different ways. In the instance of what two colors make black, you can use a dark green hue such as phthalo green, mixed with a red hue, such as alizarin crimson. A mix of a blue color, such as ultramarine blue, can also be used, with a shade of orange such as cadmium orange.
How to Make Black Paint?
Lose your need to buy black paint in a tube from a shop. It is very straightforward to create your shades of black paint by mixing different colors in the methods we have shown. A combination of the primary shades and using green or blue as a base.
What Happens if You Mix Every Color?
Many people believe that you can make black if you simply mix every color together. This is not the case. Usually, when you mix all colors together, you will end up with a slightly murky brown. Color mixing is an art and a science, and you will get the best results by following some guidelines.
Do Red and Blue Make Black Paint?
Red and blue do not make black on their own, they make purple. You can, however, create black from red and blue by simply adding the third primary color, yellow! A combination of all three primary shades will create a perfect shade of black paint.
Duncan van der Merwe ( Color Theory Expert, Video Editor )
Duncan graduated with a diploma in Film and TV production from CityVarsity in 2018, after which he continued pursuing film while taking on a keen interest in writing along the way. Since having graduated, he began working as a freelance videographer, filming a variety of music videos, fashion and short films, adverts, weddings and more. Throughout this, he’s won a number of awards from various film festivals that are both locally and internationally recognized. However, Duncan still enjoys writing articles in between his filming ventures, appreciating the peace and clarity that comes with it.
His articles focus primarily around helping up-and-coming artists explore the basics of certain colors, how these colors can be paired with other shades, as well as what colors are created when you mix one with another. All while relating these shades to historically significant paintings that have incorporated them into their color palette. As a lover of the arts himself, he takes great interest in the Renaissance era of paintings, an era that has directly inspired many of his favorite films.
Learn more about Duncan van der Merwe and about us.
