Question about the color brown?

Question

I know that red and blue make purple, red and yellow make orange, and yellow and blue make green. What color combination makes brown? I had thought that it might be purple and yellow, but purple and yellow are color wheel opposites, so when they are put together, they just make a pasty gray. So, how do you make brown?

What I meant was, what colors do you mix to get brown? If you were making brown icing, what food coloring would you use if you had to make it yourself? Even if you bought brown food coloring from the store, how did the manufacturer go about mixing the color brown?

I'm not concerned about chocolate icing at all. Perhaps that was a bad example. I just want to know how to make brown. This has puzzled me for years.

Answer 1

Perhaps, if using chocolate icing is suitable to your kind of cake, then that would be an easy way to get brown icing....but you must be wanting brown icing that's not chocolate. I've professionally decorated cakes in the past, and I can't remember trying to create brown without having brown Wilton brand icing tint on hand (you can get it readily at craft stores that have cake decorating products, i.e. Michaels and Hobby Lobby). If I were to try to create it from the primary colors, I'd combine mostly red, some yellow, a little bit of blue, and some black. You'll probably have to adjust by adding one or another color until you get what you desire.

Oh, heheh, I just read that you're not concerned about icing a cake.....well, I also paint, using oil colors and have a bit of experience mixing colors. What it takes to make brown is red, yellow, a small amount of blue, and black. Of course if you want a warmer brown, then lighten up on the black and blue. If you want a brown that's not so warm, then you decrease the amount of red and yellow. You won't need much blue. Oh, and, if you want a lighter brown, once you get the tint pretty much right, then just add white until you get what you want.

Answer 2

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Question about the color brown?
I know that red and blue make purple, red and yellow make orange, and yellow and blue make green. What color combination makes brown? I had thought that it might be purple and yellow, but purple and yellow are color wheel opposites, so when they are put together, they just make a pasty gray. So,...

Answer 3

since brown isn't an actual primary or secondary colour... you can't make it by mixing two of those colours.

you need red and black to make brown. The more black you add, the darker the brown. If you over mix, it will turn out like a mud colour, so go sparingly on the black

Answer 4

Try mixing red, yellow and blue until you get the desired color.