Hello, artenautas! You may have already read a similar post with other colors and we want to reiterate the importance of having the color theory well rooted, how to mix them correctly, their meanings… In this case, we will talk about a tone that we usually find in any landscape and that is why we consider it important to teach you how to make the color brown with primary colors, but first, we will tell you what meaning this tone has in psychology and also what emotions the color brown conveys.
What is the significance of the color brown?
As we mentioned before, brown is very present in nature. Therefore, psychologically, it has a meaning of well-being. However, everything in excess is bad, so the excessive presence of the brown color may represent a lack of well-being.
Physiological significance
You can imagine what the brown color means in the physiological sense, but we will try to explain it; in the physiological sense, it means the well-being of the organism, release of toxins and relaxation in general.
Psychological significance of the color brown
Therefore, we repeat again, in psychology it represents a state of well-being. Being the result of mixing red (which represents the need for actuality and vitality) with yellow, the sense of vitality is somewhat lost, leaving a passive sensation.
According to the Lüscher test (Swiss psychotherapist), if brown is one of your favorite colors, it means that you attach great importance to physical contact and give importance to the family and social environment. But if this is your preferred selection in the test, you may be going through a stressful situation and have a need to find physical well-being.
In conclusion, the absence and excess of brown in your life will not benefit you, it is important to maintain balance, as Mother Nature does.
What emotions does the color brown produce and what meanings does it have in marketing?
In the field of neuromarketing, it symbolizes simplicity, naturalness, relaxation, authenticity and quality. We think these feelings have to do with the fact that two of the favorite products of many are brown (coffee and chocolate).
Once these meanings are known, let’s get down to business.
How to make brown color with primary colors?
First of all, we want to remind you that there are only 7 colors (those of the rainbow), the rest are simply tones and results of mixing those 7 colors. Also, it is important to keep in mind that there are many types of browns and obtaining each one will depend on the amount you use of each primary color to make the mixture; no matter the material with which you work, you can make the brown color with oil, tempera, acrylic …. That said, to make brown with primary colors you must mix all three:
- Cyan, yellow and magenta: generally known as blue, yellow and red (in the color theory entry we explain it in detail).
If you want a lighter shade of brown, then yellow should predominate in your mixture, but you can also use a white pigment.
If, on the other hand, you want to achieve a darker tone, then cyan or magenta should predominate in the mix, we do not recommend that you use black pigment and we explain it with the optical blacks.
Making brown with complementary colors
- Green + Red (magenta): start with 1/6 of red for every 5/6 of green, if you are not satisfied with the tone, add one or the other until you are satisfied with the shade of brown obtained.
- Yellow + Purple: in more or less equal proportions, the result will be a basic brown, similar to coffee brown.
- Orange + blue (cyan): by adding more blue than orange, you will obtain a basic shade of brown.
Obviously the order of the factors does not alter the product, so if you mix red + green you will get brown, what is important is the amount of each pigment.
And so far our brown color tutorial, we hope you have enjoyed and learned more about the world of painting and color theory; to learn in more depth everything related to this wide world, we recommend you to enter our Painting and Drawing Course.
