Also, look closely at the subject you want to paint and try your best to arrive at the color tones you are looking for.
What color does red and blue make when mixed?
There are many colors that will come in even the most standard paint sets, but others we have to make on our own.
When you answer the question of what color does red and blue make, you will have one of those colors.
The combination these two colors make is one that is really popular and that has many uses. It is a color that we see in many funky designs as well as in nature.
But what is this color, how can we make it and what can it be used for? These are all questions we will be answering soon, so let’s begin!
How you can mix red and blue?
As we mentioned in the intro, we have a few questions we will aim to answer in this guide. We will get to all of these answers by the end, but first let’s tackle how you can mix these colors.
This may sound like an easy question, as surely you just grab red and blue and combine them. It’s not quite as simple as that if you wish to do it right, though.
There are many factors to consider before you dive in and start mixing colors. First, you will need to consider the medium you are using.
When it comes to color mixing, paint is the medium of choice for many. No matter what paints you’re using, it will be easy to combine colors together.
Mediums such as pastels can also be good for color mixing, but it’s a little harder to experiment with those. Speaking of experiments, that is a key factor in color mixing.
There will always be a degree to which you can predict the results of your colors, but a large part is a trial and error.
Try to find something that you can play around on such as a piece of wood or cardboard.
Try out different shades of the colors you’re mixing, see what happens and then try to remember the amounts you used of each. Don’t worry, as we will cover the mixing process in greater detail soon.
How you mix the colors will depend heavily on what you’re painting. A monster with neon fur will have very different color tones to the petals of a flower, for example.
We have many tools for achieving the colors you need, and this is another thing we will go over soon. Now that we know how you can mix red and blue, let’s dive deeper into the results that you can expect.
Are red and blue a good combination to mix together?
We have covered how to mix these colors, and now there’s the question of whether it’s even a good idea to begin with.
The short answer is that they are a great combination for a few reasons!
Colors generally come in warm and cool tones, and what we have here is a mixture of both. Red is generally seen as a warm color.
This is easy to understand, as if you think of hot things they will often be red. Fire, the sun and lava are all red, and so it makes sense that red would be considered warm.
On the other side, blue is usually a cool color. It is a color that makes us think of water, ice and mist.
Just looking at these colors will make you feel a certain way, and it can have an emotional impact too. There’s a reason bright and warm colors are used in pictures meant to make us happy.
So what do you get if you mix red and blue? There’s no use keeping it a secret anymore, and the answer to that question is that you will get purple.
Purple is a color that can come in many different forms, but it is generally considered a cool color like blue. It’s a color that is really popular due to how pretty and versatile it is.
Mixing red and blue is great, but you can also use them near to one another to create a nice contrast. We will be covering both of these aspects as we proceed on in the guide.
But to conclude this question, red and blue certainly are a great combination to mix. Now, let’s move on and see how we can mix these colors and what we can expect at the end.
You may be surprised by how many uses this color combination could have!
Understanding Color Theory
- Primary colors are colors that exist on their own and do not contain traces of any other color. Aside from red, the other primary colors are blue and yellow.
- Even though you cannot make pure red, you can still make other hues of red by mixing pure red with other colors. You can change the value of any red hue in a similar manner.
- When combining red with the other primary colors, you should only add a small amount of the other color to prevent the red from changing color completely. A little yellow can create an orange-red hue, but too much will create orange. Small amounts of blue can create a violet-red hue, but too much makes violet.
- Mixing red with the secondary color orange will make orange-red, but you should limit the amount of orange to an equal part or less to prevent the hue from becoming more orange than red. Similarly, mixing red with the secondary color violet will make violet-red, but you should limit the violet to an equal part or less.
- You can also mix red with small amounts of the final secondary color, green. Since the two are complements (two colors lying on opposite sides of the color wheel), adding green to red will give the red a hint of brown. Adding too much will change the red to brown or muddy gray, though.
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- Adding white will lighten the tint. Too much white creates pink, though.
- Adding black will darken the shade. Too much black can make it difficult to distinguish the original red hue, however.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 4:
Mixing Red Paint
- At minimum, you should have red, yellow, blue, orange, violet, green, black, and white paints. Try to choose paints that are as close to the pure hue as possible for each color.
- Take a good look at the red streak. This will be your original sample, and you should compare it to the other reds you mix throughout the rest of the process.
- For either addition, work in vary small amounts and mix them in until no streaks remain. Adding too much of either color can alter the red too drastically and change it into another hue.
- Paint a line of orange-red (made with the yellow) to one side of your original red streak. Paint a line of violet-red (made with blue) to the other side of the original red streak. Compare the different hues.
- You should be able to mix the two colors in equal parts and still make a red hue, but the red element will be stronger if you use a little less of the secondary color (orange or violet).
- Paint a line of your new orange-red next to the previous orange-red. Paint a line of your new violet-red next to the previous violet-red. Compare these new hues to their counterparts and to the original red sample.
- It’s best to start with small dots of green. If desired, you can gradually add more green in small increments to further alter the hue. Adding too much will create brown or gray-brown paint, however. [1] X Research source
- Paint a streak of your new color onto the paper, somewhere near the original red sample. Compare the colors.
- Paint a streak of the darkened red near the red-brown sample and compare them; both colors should be dark, but the red-brown sample should have a notable brown element, while the darkened red should not.
- Paint a streak of the lightened red onto the paper, too. Compare the tint with the other samples.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 4:
Making Red Frosting
- This is especially important if you want pure red frosting made with only red food coloring, but the same trick can also apply to red variations if they aren’t as deep in color as you’d like.
- Taste-testing the icing as you work will allow you to monitor the change in flavor and prevent too much bitterness from developing.
- If the icing does become bitter, however, you can usually fix it by adding more flavoring. Stick with clear extracts, and use roughly 1/4 tsp (1.25 ml) per 1 cup (250 ml) of icing.
- It’s best to work with gel or paste food coloring specifically formulated for use with icings. Standard liquid coloring isn’t concentrated enough; the amount needed to make red frosting would ruin the taste and texture of the icing.
- As a general guideline, you’ll need roughly 1/2 tsp (1.25 ml) of red icing color per 1 cup (250 ml) of white icing. If using “No Taste” red icing formulas, you may need 1 tsp (5 ml) of dye per 1 cup (250 ml) of icing. [2] X Research source
- Add red food coloring to a dish of white icing, following the same procedure used before. Continue until you achieve a very dark pink or light red.
- Add brown food coloring to the red icing and mix. The amount of brown dye should be roughly one-quarter the amount of red dye, if not a little less. Once mixed, you should have deep red icing with a hint of brown.
- Similarly, you could mix brown cocoa powder into the red icing to deepen the color. Doing so will usually improve the flavor, too.
- Make burgundy frosting using five parts “rose pink” dye and one part violet dye.
- Mix maroon frosting by combining two parts red-red and one part burgundy dye.
- Create raspberry red by combining red-red and pink.
- Make rust-red by mixing relatively equal amounts of two to three parts red-red, five to eight parts orange, and one part brown.
- Prepare a dark ruby red by adding a small dip of black to prepared red icing. [4] X Research source
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Method 4
Method 4 of 4:
What Color Does Red and Blue Make?
Time for one of the most fundamental questions in any color mixing chart: “What color does red and blue make, when the two are mixed? The answer is a pleasing, beautiful, and popular color that makes me smile.
Before we dive into the answer to this question, here’s some background. I’m an artist and a teacher who loves doing color mixing experiments (such as “What do red and green make?” and “Yellow and purple make…”). In this article, I’ll be illustrating the answer as we investigate. First, let’s see what blue and red look like when swirled together…
How to Make Purple
Red and blue are both primary colors in the RYB model of paint or pigment mixing, and when they are mixed together, the color they make is the secondary color, purple! Yes, that’s right… blue plus red makes purple: that key part of any drawing of a rainbow, beloved in fashion and art everywhere.
Other secondary colors are green (what blue and yellow make), and orange (what red and yellow make). If you want to get more complex, intermediate or tertiary colors come when a secondary color is mixed with a primary color, such as the fact that red and purple make magenta, and green and blue make teal.
Now, the answer to “what colors make purple” gets a bit more complex when we get into shades of “ingredient colors.” Red is usually easy to find a pure version of, but it can be hard to find a pure blue if you’re working with paints, markers, or colored pencils, or other media, and that can yield very different versions of purple. To make sure it’s the version you want, read on…
Types of Purple
As you can see from my illustration below, combining red and blue produces purple, yes — but the TYPES of purple yielded are different, depending on the kind of blue that is used in the mix. How much green or purple is in it? How much black or white?
More greenish or blackish blues will yield dustier (browner) purples and plums. More violet blues will produce more clear, vibrant, reddish purples. If you add black, you even get a deep, dark shade called midnight purple. Play around with the mixes and see what you get!
What Color Does Red and Blue Make?
Congratulations — you now know the answer to the question, “What do blue and red make?” You also know how to make purple, including different types of purple. Now that’s a satisfying artistic investigation. Keep creative, and enjoy this colorful life! Oh, and if you’re curious for a twist on this answer, peruse, “Pink and blue make what color?”
Want more? Check out “What do Purple and Orange Make?” and “Purple and Green Make…” plus “Purple Aura Meaning” if you’d like to look at the color in a different way.
The author and artist, Lillie Marshall, is a National Board Certified Teacher of English who has been a public school educator since 2003, and an experienced Reiki practitioner since 2018. All art on this site is original and hand-drawn by Lillie. She launched DrawingsOf.com Educational Cartoons in 2020, building upon the success of her other sites, AroundTheWorldL.com (established 2009), TeachingTraveling.com (founded 2010), and ReikiColors.com. Subscribe to Lillie’s monthly newsletter, and follow @WorldLillie on social media to stay connected!
