What Does Red and Green Make When Mixed?
Last updated: May 8, 2025 by Michelle
When you see red and green, you might think about Christmas. These contrasting colors are well known for tying into the holiday, but they can do a lot more. When you mix red and green you make new colors you might not expect. We’ll dive into exactly what red and green make, how to mix them, and the practical uses for these color combinations in your everyday life. Let’s take a closer look at how and why red and green make brown!
From bright Christmas colors to the warm brown of trees on a sunny day, the mixture of red and green can do so much. Some people also ask if red and green make purple or yellow. Don’t worry. We’ll get to that as well, but first we’re going to take a closer look at all the hues you can achieve when you mix red and green to make brown.
Blending Red and Green | Troubleshooting Your Brown | Different Hues and Shades of Brown | Brown Aesthetics
How Do Red and Green Make Brown?
To learn how red and green make brown, we first have to take a look at complementary colors. Complementary colors are colors on opposite sides of the color wheel. If you look at the chart below, red and green are opposite one another, as are yellow and purple, and orange and blue. All of these combinations create brown.
But things aren’t quite that simple. You might notice that there is more than one type of red and one type of green on that color wheel. Blue-green plus red produces a different color than red-violet plus yellow-green. There are a lot more combinations available than you might assume at first blush, but these variations only make it more exciting to mix red and green. You might make colors you never expected!
How Did I End Up with Gray or Black?
That's not what you signed up for, I know. Sometimes when we mix colors together, we get gray or black instead of the color we’re looking for. This tends to happen when you mix primary colors together (red, blue, and yellow). You’ll notice green isn’t on that list, but as we discussed above, some greens are a bit more yellow or a bit more blue. This can be enough to produce gray when you mix red and green. Let’s take a quick look at two other possibilities you might not expect.
Do Red and Green Make Purple?
You can make colors that contain a bit of purple when you mix red and green. Normally, blue and red make purple. We have the red, and some shades of green contain quite a lot of blue. If you mixed red with a color like mint, teal, or even some forest greens, you could get a color with a lot more purple in it than you expect. You may also get something more like mauve, a purple that looks almost brown.
Do Green and Red Make Yellow?
This is harder because yellow is a primary color, but if you mixed yellow-green with red-orange, you could get a brown that has a lot of yellow in it. Softening this brown with white paint may produce a shade of yellow. However, with yellow being a primary color, it’s often best to start at yellow instead of mixing other colors to make yellow.
How to Mix Red and Green to Make Different Hues and Shades
It's time to experiment! Now that we have a basis for how red and green mix, we can start exploring different hues and shades of brown. As we’ve seen, not all reds and greens are the same, so you will not always get the same thing by mixing red and green. You could get a rich, warm brown or a cool, purple-toned brown.
The best course of action is to practice, practice, practice. Then experiment some more. Brown is one of those colors that comes in a huge range, so you’ll only know exactly what you’ll get when you mix red and green by playing around a bit.
If you don’t get the exact color you want, don’t worry. You can always add more red or more green to adjust your mix. You can also use black and white to try to darken or lighten your brown color. Be careful with these. When it comes to black and white, a little goes a very long way. Add these colors cautiously, as they can drastically change what you get by mixing red and green.
The Aesthetics of Brown
Brown can be modern and sleek or comforting and warm. It’s the color of chocolate, of nature, of a soothing cup of tea. You can work this into several aspects of your life, from interior design to art. Here are a few suggestions for making the most of your red and green mix.
Interior Decorating with Brown
If you're decorating your home using brown, it can be overwhelming to consider all the different shades. Just trying to pair different types of wood alone can be a little stressful. Don't panic!
When pairing with brown, keep in mind the color wheel. If you have a warmer brown, you may want to choose reds and yellows and oranges in order to stick with that theme. For example, a coffee table made of a warm brown wood could pair well with walls that have a warm red or yellow undertone.
Branding and Brown
Advertisers are well aware of the power of mixing red and green. You can make brown, or you can let red and green act as a strong contrast. Check out how often you see red and green contrasting each other out in the wild. For example, many Christmas designs place red and green against each other. The vibrancy of these complementary colors tends to grab our attention.
Brown itself can convey a lot of meaning to us. We tend to associate brown with natural things. So you might notice that food companies or brands that want to portray an eco-friendly, environmental image use a lot of brown in their branding.
Art and Design with Brown
Create your own art by mixing red and green to make brown. Whether you’re using paint on a canvas or colored pencils on a coloring page, you can put your newfound knowledge into practice. It’s super satisfying to see these theories actually work in the real world, and it may help you understand what we’ve described about how red and green make different browns.
Paint is a great medium for these experiments because paint is very easy to mix. You can try a bunch of different reds and greens to make various browns as well. However, colored pencils work great as well. Perhaps with those you’ll want to place pure red and pure green next to each other to experience that vibrant contrasting effect that complementary colors produce.
Practice Your Deep Brown Tones on Cozy Fall Coloring Pages
If you’re ready to dive in and mix red and green to make brown we’ve got just the thing to help. Try crayons, markers, or colored pencils to achieve a range of brown tones on these free coloring pages. These autumn-themed and fall coloring pages are full of fallen leaves and cozy imagery perfect for practicing your brown blends.
What Other Colors Can I Mix?
