Hence by mixing red and orange, you get a stunning hue of red-orange! But in order to have more contrast and a wide range of hues of a specific color, you should add white, grey, or black to create tints, tones, and shades. Red-orange has more of the effect of red, so it’s bold and vibrant and the touch of yellow in orange adds a cheerful appeal to it. So you can use it in your artworks and designs to create warm and outgoing subjects. In deisgn, it’s best to pair red-orange with something darker, but if your red-orange hue is dark, choose a lighter color instead.
Red and Orange Mixed! What Color Do Orange and Red Make? (Updated 2023)
Curious what happens when you mix the colors orange and red together? In this article, we will discuss the answer and some information about color theory.
As an artist, you regularly work with colors in order to create your breathtaking masterpieces.
To do this, you don’t just paint with the colors right out of the tubes. Instead, you experiment by mixing them with one another to create a wide variety of hues that you can use in many different ways.
When exploring your palette, you have probably created many complex mixtures, giving you a good grasp on how color mixing works. However, it is always smart to look back at the basics to refresh your mind on the foundation of colors.
Today, we will be talking about what color orange and red make.
Ready? Keep reading…
Basic Color Theory
When reviewing the foundations of art, there is nothing more fundamental than basic color theory, which features the color wheel.
Now, think back on the times when your art teacher showed you this wheel. You probably noticed that it has a bunch of similar-looking colors. There is an explanation for this.
But before that, let’s talk about what makes up the color wheel: primary, secondary, and tertiary colors.
Back in grade school, we learned that there are three primary colors, specifically red, yellow, and blue. When you combine one with another, you will get a secondary hue.
The three secondaries are orange, purple, and green. Mix one secondary and one primary, and you will get a tertiary hue.
Now, let’s go back to the observation that there are similar-looking colors in the wheel. The best explanation for this is that the wheel is made up of different combinations of red, yellow, and blue. Then, these hues are arranged according to their chromatic relationship.
So, you will see that blue is followed by blue-green, green, yellow-green, and so forth.
Are you curious about what hue you will create when you blend orange and red? You might want to review the color temperature first…
Color Temperature
Before we reveal the resulting hue when you mix orange and red, it is important to know that colors have temperatures, too. There are two temperature categories: warm and cool.
Warm tones are those that have red or yellow characteristics. These are usually called active or advancing colors because they tend to visually pop when placed alongside cool hues.
Meanwhile, cool tones are those that have blue or green characteristics. They are also referred to as passive or receding colors as they seem to retreat when placed beside warm colors.
In fact, some types of reds and yellows are recognized as warm-cool because they have a greenish or bluish bias. For example, Magenta is considered a cool or warm-cool hue because it has a bluish bias.
There are also types of greens and blues with yellowish and reddish bias.
So, what hue can you expect to create when you blend orange and red?
What Colors do Orange and Red Make?
The answer is simple: red-orange. Basically, you just need to add an equal part of orange and red to create this tertiary color.
Not sure what this is? It’s simply orange with a reddish undertone.
If you do not have orange readily available, you can create it by mixing equal parts of red and yellow. Now, when you throw another part of red into the mix, the result is this hue.
Looking back on the difference between warm and cool hues, you know that this tertiary hue is extremely warm, especially as it is composed of yellow and a significant amount of red.
How to Use Red-Orange in Design
You can use this color in many ways. If you are looking to paint a rich sunset, then a dollop of this color can help you with that. You can also use gradients of this hue by adding white, gray, and black.
Moreover, there is nothing wrong with experimenting by adding more yellow or red to truly convey the magical phenomenon of the setting sun.
Aside from nature scapes, you can use this hue to paint many other things. To do this effectively, you might want to take advantage of color psychology.
Keep in mind that orange is closely associated with adventure and socialization. This is why it is often linked to enthusiasm, vitality, and courage.
Negative traits connected to orange are dependency, self-indulgence, pessimism, and exhibitionism.
Compared to red, orange hues are seen as passionate and aggressive, which can be considered positive and negative. So, you can use this color to convey a more intense version of the traits associated with orange, but less extreme than red.
Orange & Red: An Introduction
Orange and red are two of the warmest colors on the color wheel. So the impact they have on us makes sense – they look bold and joyful at the same time. If you want to make any space pop, red has the most extreme wavelength. The one major difference between orange and red is that red is a primary color and orange is a secondary one made of yellow and red. Confused? Don’t worry, read on to see how orange and red create a beautiful color when mixed!
Mixing the primary color red and secondary orange will give you red-orange. The resulting red-orange depends on the orange and red hues being mixed. For instance, cadmium red would produce a bright red-orange, whereas using alizurun crimson red hue would make a toned-down red-orange.
Understanding the Color Wheel and Color Theory
On the color wheel, red and orange are warm colors!
Yellow and red – both are primary colors. When these two colors are mixed, they create orange. Hence, orange is a secondary color and it can be found on the warm side of the color wheel as both yellow and red are warm.
Types of Colors
The primary colors are known as red, yellow, and blue. These colors cannot be made from any other color, but they can be used to create a wide range of hues by color mixing. When this happens, the resulting color is known as a
. So basically, orange is a
that you get by mixing primary colors
And when you mix one primary color with another secondary color, you get a tertiary color . So red-orange is actually a tertiary color because orange is
tints, tones, and shades
Neutral colors like white, grey, and black can be used to vary the lightness and darkness of any hue. It is important to have varying hues because otherwise, you can’t create contrast or interest in any art or design project.
Creating tonal values
Let’s look at creating tonal values in a bit more detail. While white, grey, and black are great choices, you can create dark colors even by mixing a particular color with its complementary color. For instance, if you have red, you can mix a bit of green into it to create a dark red hue.
Other than that, here are tints, tones and shades in detail:
Tints: A tint is made when you add white to color. It’s necessary to create highlights and apply the color where you want to show light.
Tones: You can get the tone of a color by adding grey to it. This is great for creating mid-tones, where you have to show a bit of shade but not necessarily complete shadow or darkness.
Shades: Adding black to a hue will create its shade. It’s the best way to add shadows and depth but remember to add black in little quantities because there’s a risk of overdoing it any many art media. Mixing black with lime-green would also tone down the hue but it would always be darker than creating a tone.
cool and warm oranges
To make an orange cooler, you could add a bit of blue to it. However, blue is the complementary color of orange, so it could make it darker too. So you can add a pastel blue instead of using dark blue.
Creating hues of Red-Orange using Orange & Red
Adding a bit more red or a bit more yellow will give you many red-orange hues!
What happens if you add more red to the red-orange mix?
Adding more red to red-orange would incline towards red. Since red-orange is already warm, it would only make the hue warmer .
- Cadmium red
- Scarlet red
- Alizurin crimson
What happens if you add more orange to the red-orange mix?
Keep in mind that orange is a secondary color. So when you’re adding more orange to the red-orange, you’ll basically be mixing both red and yellow. So
Here are some orange hues you may already have:
- Vermilion
- Carrot orange
- Burnt orange
So whether you’re adding more red or more orange, the resulting hue will be warmer. But if there’s more yellow, your red-orange could look brighter as basic yellow is usually brighter than the basic red.
