How to mix popular colors?

There are many colors and then there are many different shades for each color. While this may seem overwhelming, the advantage is that it is not impossible to find exactly the color you are looking for when it comes to painting your property.

The specific color you are looking for may not be available in a pre-packaged can, but you can mix paint colors to achieve that perfect match. Let's take a look at how best to do this and some popular color mixing mixtures to get you started.

How to mix paint colors

It’s true that almost any color can be created using just a few basic colors. The trick to getting it right is making sure you understand the basics of the color wheel. But before we start mixing paint colors, let’s gather everything we need.

Step 1: Gather paint mixing tools

Mixing paint is a bit more complicated than mixing two colors of paint together. It’s important to get the color on a smaller scale before mixing it on a larger scale. Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

Different paint colors – if possible, try to get sample paint cans from your paint supplier. Depending on the result you want, we will know what colours you will need. It is always handy to have white and black on hand to try out different shades.

Paint palette – you will need something to mix your paint colors with. You can just use paint can lids, but you need to make sure you clean them thoroughly before putting them back in the paint cans so you don’t mix any paint colors you don’t want.
It would be a better idea to use a paint palette, especially if you mix paint colors frequently.

Paintbrushes or palette knives – you can use paintbrushes or knives to mix paint colors. This is a personal preference, but palette knives should give you a more even color than paintbrushes.

Step 2: Start mixing paint colors

Once you have everything together you can start playing around with different paint colors to find your perfect match. Keep the color wheel in mind and always try to start with the three primary colors as all other colors come from them, namely blue, yellow and red.
Mixing the primary colors then yields the secondary colors: green, orange, and purple.

You can then create tertiary colors by mixing primary and secondary colors: yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, red-violet, red-orange, and yellow-orange.
From there, you can mix a tertiary color with a primary color to make brown. Mix complementary colors together to make black. Mix a primary, analogous, and complementary color together to make gray.

Add varying amounts of the colors you are using to lean more toward the desired color. Don't forget to have white and black paint on hand to adjust the hue, shade, and saturation of the color you are mixing.

Here are some popular paint color combinations:

Pink = White + add some red
Royal red = Red + add blue
Light orange = Yellow + add some white red
Gold = Yellow + some red or brown
Yellow = Yellow + white lighting, red or brown for darker tones
Pale green = Yellow + add blue/black for depth
Green grass = Yellow + add blue and green
Olive = Green + add yellow
Light green = Green + add white/yellow
Turquoise-green = Green + add blue
Bottle green = Yellow + add blue
Turquoise blue = Blue + to add a little green
Royal blue = Blue + black and add some green
Dark blue = Blue + Black and add some green
Gray = White + add some black
Pearl gray = White + black add some blue
Mustard = Yellow + add red, black and a little green
Beige = Gradually add white to give brown and beige. Add yellow for brightness.
Off-white = White + add brown or black
Emerald green = Yellow + add green and white
Aquamarine = White + add green and black
Tomato red = Red + add yellow and brown
Plum = Red + add white, blue and black

To repeat the same color in the next mixture, the proportions must be repeated exactly.