Whether you want to mix the deepest shadows, or add some depth and contrast to your work, knowing what colours make black and how best to mix it is an important part of developing your colour mixing skills, which will help you to master any kind of painting project.
What Colors Make Black and How Do You Mix Different Shades of Black?
Black is the absence of light. It means color has been completely absorbed. The truth is you won’t be able to mix colors to get true black, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get close. Part of the fun of mixing colors to get black is figuring out which colors make your favorite shade.
This is going to take some time, but in the end, your black will be your own.
On top of that, you could save money by not buying a pre-mixed black color. Just be sure to make notes as you experiment to recreate the steps when needed.
The following are a few tips to help guide you in the right direction.
What Colors Make Black?
First, you have to learn how to make black from the three primary colors. This is the easiest way to make black simply because you’ll probably have these colors at hand.
You will need the following colors:
You need to mix each color in equal parts to get the best result.
Remember that you are going to be using the true primary colors to get black. Don’t use lighter shades of blue or red.
You want to stay away from the pale yellow color as well. For example, if you make the mistake of using lighter shades of red and blue, you’ll probably get a shade of brown.
This could be useful if you need brown, but that’s not our goal here. Just stick to the strongest shades of the primary colors you are mixing and you should be fine.
Once you’ve got this part down, you can start to experiment a bit. There are a few shades that can produce different black colors. You are looking for strong color shades like ultramarine blue , crimson red , and yellow ochre . These are deep color shades that can help you create a rich black color.
When you mix crimson red with ultramarine blue, you’ll end up with a stunning purple. Set some aside if you think you can find a use for it. To neutralize this color, you’ll need to add yellow ochre. Keep in mind that the mix still needs equal parts of each color to give you the result you are hoping for.
Learn About the Blue Black Shade
Obtaining black from primary colors (or different shades of those primary colors) is one skill that’s going to be fun to have, but there’s so much more to learn.
There are more ways to get black, and some of them don’t exclusively use those three primary colors.
One way to get black is to experiment with blue. Yes, blue is one of the primary colors discussed earlier, but the rest of the colors you’ll use are going to be a bit of a surprise.
For example, if you are hoping for a black color that seems to have a brownish hue, then you are going to need to mix blue with orange.
You will need to get strong shades of these colors for best results, like phthalo blue and pyrrole orange , just as an example. Both are strong shades of each color that are going to neutralize each other, which is how you’ll get the black you want.
If you were hoping to create a darker black using the blue path, then you are going to need pretty strong shades of colors. A good mix is between ultramarine blue and burnt umber .
It’s hard to define burnt umber, especially when you talk to painters. Some are going to tell you it’s a dark yellow while others will tell you it’s a dark orange. You’ll even find some folks saying that it’s more of a dark red.
Mixing these colors in equal parts is going to get you a very dark black, something that can pull you into the void. If you pay attention to the type of black you create, you’ll notice that it’s actually pretty cool. The reason it feels cooler is because of the ultramarine blue you used to make it.
If you want your black to have a green-like hue – the kind of color you might see if you looked into a deep dark forest, then you’ll want to add a bit of yellow to your ultramarine blue and burnt umber .
Those who were hoping for a warmer type of black are in luck. You can get this type of black using blue as your base.
Go back to your ultramarine blue , but this time you’ll want to mix it with burnt sienna . If you look at burnt sienna, there’s no way to mistake it for anything else than a orange-reddish shade. When you look at this color, it’ll probably remind you of reddish clay. It’s a fun color you can do a lot with.
To make your warmer type of black, just mix both of these in equal parts. Don’t worry, even though this is a lighter type of black, it’s still going to look pretty black.
The primary pigments make black
The primary colours most people are familiar with—red, blue and yellow—can be combined to make every other colour imaginable. But did you know that you can also mix these primary colours together in equal parts to make black? It’s true! Magenta, cyan and yellow (also known as the three primary pigments) can be combined to produce a deep black hue.
Why do primary pigments make black?
So why do these primary colours combine to make black? Well, when two or more different pigments are blended together, they absorb each other’s light instead of reflecting it back. This absorption creates darker tones that eventually turn into black.
But there are other ways to mix black paint as well. For example, one method is to mix burnt umber and ultramarine pigments in equal amounts. The result is a deep and rich pure black paint that is perfect for achieving the darkest shadows in your painting. The black shadows in the headland in this seascape painting were created using burnt umber and ultramarine.
Black and the colour wheel
The colour wheel is a tool used to arrange the primary colours, secondary colours and tertiary colours in a circular arrangement. The primary colours—red, yellow and blue—are placed at three points on the wheel. Combining two of these primary colours creates a secondary colour like orange and mixing all three primary colours together produces black. If you want to learn more about the different colour wheels and how they can be used by artists, check out our colour theory guide. To learn about how to mix colours accurately using the colour wheel as a reference, read our colour mixing guide.
Short Answer
Unfortunately, you can’t get a perfect black pigment by mixing colors. That’s because black is what happens when all color is absorbed. But don’t lose hope because you can blend colors to get black shades that are as close as possible to that true black color.
To make black, you can use primary colors or secondary ones. Note that you can apply the methods below to acrylic paint, oil paint, and watercolor.
Primary Colors
This method is straightforward; you mix the three primary colors in equal parts: red, blue, and yellow. Note that you need the exact shade of the primary colors, so don’t use lighter blue, red, or yellow hues. If you do, light blue and red will give you a brown color.
Otherwise, rich black color is possible with crimson red, ultramarine blue, and yellow ochre. Crimson red and ultramarine blue create a gorgeous purple, and yellow ochre neutralizes it. Also, remember to use equal amounts of the three colors for optimal results.
If you want a soft black color, try mixing cobalt blue, aureolin, and rose madder genuine. Otherwise, permanent alizarin crimson, Winsor blue, and Winsor yellow create a bold hue.
Secondary Colors
If you only want to use two colors, the secondary colors method might appeal to you. For example, you can mix tones of green and red, blue and orange, or yellow and purple to get a black color. As you’d expect, these will give you different black tones, which means you have the freedom to get the black color you want!
Now that you’re on the right track, you need to experiment with these three options; a little trial and error goes a long way. And spread the black tones you come up with on blank white sheets to see how much you like them. But remember to take notes of your process for future reference.
Aside from that, if you want more details about the exact tones you should use, you can mix:
1. Green and Red
When mixing green and red, you want a dark green hue, such as phthalo green, and a solid red, like quinacridone red. With equal parts of both pigments, you’ll have a cool transparent black color.
Another red hue to use with phthalo green is alizarin crimson. Add the colors in equal parts to get a warm and rich black color, but note that it might take you a few tries to get the tone right. Also, the black pigment will probably be lighter than the ones you can create with color compositions other than phthalo green and alizarin crimson.
Speaking of phthalo green, you can blend the color with purple for a black pigment. To illustrate, a dioxazine purple works great if you use it with an equal amount of green color.
Feel free to add more purple if you feel that the green is too prominent in your black pigment. The result should be a gothic black, and you can try out other purple shades if you want.
2. Blue and Orange
You can mix blue and orange to get a brownish-black. If that’s what you’re looking for, we’d recommend using pyrrole orange and phthalo blue. This way, the strong hues will neutralize one another.
For a lighter black color, mix ultramarine blue with burnt sienna, a reddish-orange. Again, be sure to use equal parts of both colors.
Do you want a darker black? Try ultramarine blue and burnt umber. Also, if you’re unsure what burnt umber is, we’re here to tell you that we aren’t either. Seriously, it’s a topic of debate among painters. Some say it’s dark red; others claim it’s dark orange, and some painters will tell you it’s dark yellow.
Tip: You can add yellow to ultramarine blue and burnt umber if you want a greenish-black hue. Remember this hack the next time you’re painting a deep dark forest.
3. Yellow and Purple
You want to start out with %40 yellow and %60 purple, and you can tamper with the ratio later on (as needed). Regarding the exact tones, we’d suggest using violet and cadmium yellow to create a quality black shade.
