Making the colour brown is super easy! Simply by mixing the three primary colours – yellow, red and blue – you can make a lovely chocolatey shade.
Vary the ratios of the three colours in the mixture and you can create a variety of different brown shades, perfect for painting earthy landscapes and creating skin tones in portraits.
You'll need a palette knife and a palette to do your mixing. If you don't have an artist's palette, a plate or a large tile will work just as well. You can use any type of paint, whether it be acrylic, oil or watercolours.
How to make brown paint
This makes a rich chocolate brown. By varying the ratio of yellow, red and blue in the mixture, you can make other brown shades.
Step 1
Apply equal amounts of yellow, red and blue (portion ratio 1:1:1*) to the palette. *This means three equal parts of yellow, red and blue.
Step 2
Mix together with the palette knife until it forms a rich chocolate brown.
Step 3
You now have your base brown. Try adding small amounts of white to create different shades.
Make more shades of brown
How to make golden brown
Step 1
Take your base brown and add a penny sized amount of yellow to the mixture. This will make the ratio of yellow + red + blue 2:1:1.
Step 2
Mix with the palette knife until it forms a golden brown.
Step 3
You now have your golden brown. Try adding small amounts of white to create different shades.
How to make a reddish brown
Step 1
Take your base brown and add a penny sized amount of red to the mixture. This will make the ratio of yellow + red + blue 1:2:1.
Step 2
Mix with the palette knife until it forms a warm, rosy brown.
Step 3
You now have your reddish brown. Try adding small amounts of white to create different shades.
Make a greyish brown
Step 1
Take your base brown and add a small dot of blue to the mixture. Take care not to add too much blue as this to make the colour grey instead of brown.
Step 2
Mix with the palette knife until it forms a cool grey-brown.
Step 3
You now have your grey-brown. Try adding small amounts of white to create different shades.
Learn how to make brown for painting landscapes
Brown is a useful colour for painting landscapes. With different shades and tones of brown you can create depth and earthiness in the painting.
Have fun making a swatch of your brown shades by varying the ratio of yellow, red and blue in your mixture and adding small amounts of white to lighten the tone.
Learn how to make red
Enjoy making brown and want to try another colour? Learn how to make red with our fun and easy guide!
