The Basic Ratios for Mixing Any Color From Three Primaries
One of the biggest struggles when starting watercolor is figuring out how to make a color that isn't in your palette. In theory, red, yellow, and blue alone can be mixed into most colors. Orange comes from red and yellow, green from yellow and blue, and purple from red and blue — and which color you weight more heavily subtly shifts the resulting hue.
This guide lets you pick a target color and shows a rough mixing ratio based on the three primaries, along with tips for getting the mix right. For example, brown can be made by mixing orange first and then adding just a touch of blue to mute the saturation, while gray relies on mixing small amounts of two complementary colors to cancel each other's vividness out. Water only affects concentration and transparency, not the color ratio itself, so nail the ratio first and then dilute with as much water as you like.
Actual results can vary somewhat depending on paint brand and pigment concentration, so it's a good idea to test-mix a small amount before committing to your final piece.
Frequently Asked Questions
Red, yellow, and blue can theoretically mix into most colors, but for certain highly saturated colors a dedicated paint gives a cleaner, more vivid result.
Water only affects concentration and transparency, not the color ratio itself, so mix your colors first and then dilute with water as needed.
Pigment concentration varies by paint brand, so treat this guide as a starting point and adjust gradually with small amounts of paint.