Short answer: brown is what you get when you mix all three primary colors (red, yellow and blue) or when you mix a color with its opposite on the color wheel. The easiest pairs are red + green, blue + orange, and yellow + purple. Change the amounts and you'll get anything from warm chocolate to cool gray-brown.
Below are four simple ways to mix brown with paint, how to adjust the shade, and how to get brown when you're using crayons, markers or colored pencils.
Why mixing opposites makes brown
Colors opposite each other on the color wheel are called complementary colors. When you mix them in paint, they cancel out each other's brightness. The result is a muted, earthy color: brown. Since each complementary pair contains all three primaries between them (for example, green is blue + yellow, so red + green = red + blue + yellow), every method below is really the same idea.
4 ways to mix brown
| Mix | What you get | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Red + yellow + blue | A balanced, medium brown | Start with equal parts, then adjust |
| Red + green | A warm, reddish brown | Add the green slowly; it's strong |
| Blue + orange | A rich, deep brown | Great for chocolate and tree bark |
| Yellow + purple | A softer, olive-leaning brown | Good for earth and wood tones |
1. Red, yellow and blue
Put a small amount of each primary on your palette. Mix red and yellow first to make orange, then add a little blue at a time. Too much blue makes it look gray or green; add more red or yellow to bring it back.
2. Red and green
Mix green from blue and yellow (or use green paint), then add it to red a little at a time. More red gives a reddish brown like brick; more green gives a cooler, darker brown.
3. Blue and orange
This is many painters' favorite way to make brown. Mix orange from red and yellow, then add blue slowly. Ultramarine blue and a strong orange make a deep, chocolatey brown.
4. Yellow and purple
Mix purple from red and blue, then add it to yellow. This gives a lighter, slightly greenish brown, useful for sand, light wood and khaki.
How to change the shade of brown
| You want | Add |
|---|---|
| Lighter brown, tan or beige | White, a little at a time |
| Golden brown | More yellow |
| Reddish brown or rust | More red or orange |
| Dark chocolate brown | More blue, or a tiny bit of black |
| Cool, grayish brown | A touch of blue or white |
| Warm brown | A touch of red or orange |
Add darker colors in small amounts. It's easy to make brown darker and hard to make it lighter again.
Common brown shades and how to mix them
- Tan: medium brown + white + a touch of yellow.
- Beige: a very small amount of brown into a lot of white, plus a dot of yellow.
- Chocolate: blue + orange, with extra blue.
- Chestnut or auburn: brown + red.
- Taupe: brown + white + a touch of gray or purple.
- Skin tones: start with white or light yellow and add tiny amounts of brown, red and yellow until it matches. There's no single formula; most skin tones are a mix of all three.
Getting brown with crayons, markers and colored pencils
You can't mix dry media on a palette, but you can layer colors on paper.
- Colored pencils: color lightly in orange, then layer blue or green over the top with light pressure. Add a final layer of the original brown pencil if you have one. Our guide on how to color with colored pencils explains layering in more detail.
- Crayons: layer orange and then a little blue, pressing gently. Crayons layer less smoothly than pencils, so use two colors, not five.
- Markers: alcohol markers blend best. Layer a light orange and then a darker blue-gray. Water-based markers can pill the paper if you layer too much. See best markers for coloring.
Brown in light vs paint
The rules above are for paint, crayons and other materials that absorb light. On screens, colors mix as light: brown is really a dark orange, made with a lot of red, some green and very little blue. That's why you won't find brown on a rainbow.
Try it on a coloring page
Brown is everywhere in nature: tree trunks, animal fur, dinosaur skin and wooden houses. Pick a page from our animal coloring pages or dinosaur coloring pages and try mixing three different browns for fur, shadow and highlights.
