Is your artwork missing that perfect shade of brown that you can’t seem to find? We have an easy solution for you!
You can try making brown paint by blending different colors. However, it isn’t a matter of coincidence; experimenting with blending colors might waste your time and not give you the shade you need. That’s why you need us!
We’ll tell you how to make brown paint in different shades; all you have to do is read on!
Short Answer
To make brown paint, you should focus on complementary colors, which are the ones you can find opposite each other in the color wheel. You can try many color pairings, and we’ll give you a brief about each one.
So now that we’ve given you a broad answer, it’s time to dive into more details.
How to Make Brown Paint: A Step-By-Step Guide
Here’s our step-by-step guide to making the perfect shade of brown paint that’ll complement your artwork nicely.
1. Prepare Your Painting Supplies
The first step in our guide is to prepare your supplies properly. To do that, take a look at the color wheel first and choose two complementary colors. The combinations should be yellow and purple, red and green, or blue and orange.
Then, choose the coloring material you prefer. If you’re used to coloring with acrylic paints, go for them. But if you like the effects that oil paints give more, it’s OK to use them. Finally, you can either use a brush or a palette knife for blending the colors and a mixing container.
2. Blend Equal Proportions of Two Colors
After choosing the two colors you want to go with, you should mix them in equal proportions. Put a small amount of each one in your mixing container, then use your brush for blending till you get the elegant brown color you need.
3. Experiment With Different Proportions
You don’t have to use the brown shade you get on your first try. Instead, you can experiment with different proportions of each complementary color till you get the perfect shade. And you can also add other colors to the mix.
For instance, if you want a lighter shade than the one you got, it wouldn’t harm if you added a drop of white paint. On the other hand, you can add a drop of black paint to get a darker shade.
That said, those tricks are mainly meant for beginners. Practicing color blending will eventually make you better at getting the shade you need on your first try.
Making Brown Paint: The Different Shades Edition
If your artwork is missing a specific shade of brown, and you don’t want any lighter or darker tones on your painting, here’s how to make different shades of brown.
Dark Brown
Dark brown is widely considered the color of chocolate. If you need it to complete your masterpiece, you should ideally mix red and green colors, but not without adding a dash of black.
After you get the dark brown color, you can add blue to the mix for a cooler shade or add red for a warmer one.
Light Brown
The right colors you should use to get a light brown shade are purple and yellow. Then, you can add a tiny amount of white paint to get a complementing light shade. Keep mixing till you achieve the color you want, and you can add as much white paint as you need. And to brighten your color a bit, you can use cadmium yellow.
See also: How to Draw a Hand Holding Something
Cool Brown
While brown is generally considered a warm color, you can try to achieve a bit cooler shade. To do that, blend orange and blue with cool shades of your choice, like purple. Generally, using purple will give you a dusty shade of brown, while using blue will result in a foggy one. However, you can try both and see which goes better with your painting.
Warm Brown
Warm brown shades often have coppery and earthy tones that grace paintings and give them a unique charm. To reach the warm shade you need, you can start with any of the three complementary color combinations we’ve mentioned earlier. The only difference you’ll make is adding warm colors to the mix.
For example, you can add cadmium red for a bright brown color. Alternatively, if you want a burnt brown, you should use orange. Finally, using yellow will give you a muddy shade.
See also: What Colors Make Purple?
To Wrap Up
Blending colors is an art on its own. To ace it, you should first choose two complementary colors to combine. Then, decide on the shade you want, whether light, dark, warm, or cool. According to your choice, you can add a third color to the mix. Hopefully, you’ll get your desired brown shade on your first try.