Mix a dark neutral first, then add white
- Mix ultramarine blue and burnt sienna in roughly equal amounts.
- Adjust until the mix looks neither blue nor orange. This dark neutral is your starting point.
- Add it to white, a little at a time, until you reach the lightness you want.
Warm grays, cool grays
Leave a little more of one color in the mix to tint the gray. Extra burnt sienna gives a warm gray, good for stone, wood and shadows in warm light. Extra ultramarine gives a cool, bluish gray for skies, metal and distance.
| Gray | Mix | Leans |
|---|---|---|
| Neutral gray | Ultramarine and burnt sienna | Balance them until neither shows |
| Warm gray | Ultramarine and burnt umber or sienna | Brown, with more of the earth color |
| Cool gray | Ultramarine and a little burnt sienna | Blue |
| Green-gray | Red and green | Green, with more of the green |
| Violet-gray | Yellow and purple | Purple, with more of the purple |
Why not black and white?
Black and white make a gray quickly, and it has its uses. It tends to look flat and slightly cold next to mixed colors, though, and it can make shadows look dirty. A gray mixed from the paints already in your painting carries a little of their color, so it sits more naturally beside them.
Gray from the three primaries
Red, yellow and blue mixed together also make a dark neutral. Balance them until no one color shows, then add white. If it turns brown, add a little more blue; if it looks green, add a little red.
Sources and further reading
Keep the grays you mix
PaintCue names each saved color in plain words, like light grey or dark brown, and keeps the recipe that got you there in rough parts, with a note. The next time you need that gray, start from what worked.
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Questions
What two colors make gray?
Any two complementary colors, mixed until neither shows, make a dark neutral that turns gray with white. Ultramarine blue and burnt sienna are the most common pair, and red and green or yellow and purple work too.
Can you make gray with just primary colors?
Yes. Mix red, yellow and blue until no single color stands out, then add white. Correct a brownish gray with a little blue and a greenish gray with a little red.