What Colors Make White? (And How to Get White)

Short answer: you can't make white by mixing paints, crayons or colored pencils. White is one of the colors you have to buy or leave blank. In light, though, the answer is different: red, green and blue light mixed together make white.

This page explains why those two answers differ, and then gives you practical ways to get white when you're coloring, painting or drawing.

Why you can't mix white paint

Paint works by absorbing some colors of light and reflecting others. A red apple looks red because its surface soaks up most colors and bounces back red. The more colors you mix together, the more light gets absorbed, and the darker the result gets. Mix lots of different paints and you end up with brown, gray or near-black, not white.

White paint is made differently. It uses a pigment that bounces nearly all colors of light back at your eye. You can't make that out of colored pigments, so white has to come from a tube, a jar or the paper itself.

The same is true of crayons, colored pencils and markers. White crayon is made with a white pigment, not by mixing.

What colors make white light?

Light mixes the opposite way. Sunlight and the light from a lamp already contain all the colors. When you mix colored light, each color adds to the others, so the result gets lighter.

That is how screens work. A phone or TV has tiny red, green and blue dots. When all three glow at full strength, you see white. Turn them all off and you see black.

A prism or a raindrop does the reverse: it splits white light into the rainbow. If you want to read more about that, see colors of the rainbow.

Paint vs light: a quick comparison

If a worksheet or a quiz asks "what colors make white," check whether it means paint or light. For paint, the honest answer is "none, white has to come from a white pigment or the paper." For light, it's red, green and blue.

How to get white when you're coloring

White is useful in a coloring page for snow, clouds, highlights, teeth, eyes, foam and sparkles. Here are the best options:

1. Leave the paper white

This is the simplest and often the best. Color around the area you want to keep white. It takes a bit of planning. Before you start, lightly mark the spots that should stay white, such as the shine on an eye or the top of a wave.

2. Use a white colored pencil

White pencil is mainly good for two jobs:

• Blending. Layer it over other colors with light pressure to soften them and smooth the grain. This makes colors look lighter and creamier.
• Highlights on colored paper. On dark or toned paper, white pencil shows up well.

A white pencil will not show up as bright white over a dark color on white paper. It only lightens what's underneath.

3. Use a white gel pen or paint marker

For bright, solid white on top of colors, a white gel pen or an opaque white paint marker works much better than a pencil. They cover darker colors. Use them last: add small dots for eye highlights, snowflakes, stars or sparkles.

4. Use white paint

Opaque white paint (often labeled as gouache, acrylic or poster paint) covers most colors if you apply it thickly. Watercolor white is less opaque, so for watercolor, it's common to save white by leaving the paper unpainted.

5. Use a white crayon as a resist

Draw with a white crayon on white paper, then paint over it with watercolor or a thin marker wash. The wax pushes the paint away, so your drawing shows up in white. Kids love this because it feels like magic. It works best with watercolor or very watery paint.

6. Erase back to white

On a pencil drawing, a kneaded eraser can lift color to bring back some light areas. It won't get all the way to pure white, but it's good for soft highlights.

How to make a color lighter without white

If you don't have white, there are some options:

• Use less pressure with pencils or crayons so more paper shows through.
• Add water to paint or marker so it's thinner.
• Choose a lighter shade of the same color, like pale pink instead of red.

For tinted paints, white is usually mixed into the color to make a lighter version. Red plus white makes pink, and blue plus white makes light blue. See the color mixing chart for more combinations.

Ideas to practice with white

• Snowy scenes. Try a winter page like our Christmas coloring pages. Color the sky a deep blue and leave the snow as bare paper.
• White animals. Polar bears, snow geese and the white fur on a dog all look better when you use shadows (light blue or gray) to shape the white areas.
• Black paper art. If you have black paper, try white or silver gel pens on it. Printed coloring pages on dark paper look very different.

Remember: white on a coloring page is often made by what you don't color. A good eye for what to leave blank is part of being a good colorist. If you want to try it, print a page from the coloring pages collection and challenge yourself to leave at least three spots white.