A lot of people think color mixing means “find the closest color on the palette and lighten or darken it.”
Nope.
If you want real control, you need to understand how a color moves — light to dark, clean to muted, warm to cool. Every color isn’t one spot on the palette. It’s a family.
Today we’ll use orange to show the concept, not because this is only about orange — but because orange makes the logic really clear. Once you see it here, you’ll know how to do it with every color.
Watch the Lesson
This lesson starts at the point where we get into mixing — so I’ve set it to jump right in.
👇 After watching, scroll for the written breakdown + palette notes.
Step 1 — Mix a Clean High-Chroma Orange
I start with:
- Cadmium Yellow
- Cadmium Red
Mix them together → you get a bright, high-chroma orange.
This is your starting point — the “pure” version of the color family.
Step 2 — Darken Orange Without Killing It
Most people reach for black to darken a color.
That kills chroma fast.
Instead, go to a darker member of the same family:
- Burnt Sienna
Burnt sienna is basically a darker orange.
Mix it in and you get a deeper, warmer orange — not mud.
Add more burnt sienna → richer and darker
Add cad red back → more glow and heat
Step 3 — Check Value With a Neutral Gray
Value (light vs dark) matters more than hue.
Mix a neutral gray:
- White + Ivory Black
Ivory black naturally leans blue, which works perfectly here.
Now squint your eyes at the orange and the gray.
Squinting collapses color and lets you see value clearly.
If the orange looks darker → add white to the gray
If the orange looks lighter → add black to the gray
Match the value first.
Step 4 — Make a Muted Orange (“Brown”) by Adding Gray
Once the gray matches the orange in value, mix a little into the orange.
You’ll get:
- Same value
- Less chroma
- A muted orange
Most people call this brown.
Painters should think grayed-orange.
It keeps your thinking systematic — and your painting cleaner.
✅ Quick Recap
| Goal | Mix |
|---|---|
| Bright clean orange | Cad Yellow + Cad Red |
| Dark orange | Add Burnt Sienna |
| Match darkness/value | Compare to mixed gray |
| Muted/Brown orange | Orange + Gray (same value) |
Brown = low-chroma orange in the same value range.
Think in color families, not isolated colors.
Key Takeaway
Color mixing isn’t “pick a color.”
It’s steer the color — through hue, value, and chroma.
Once you get that, color mixing stops being a guessing game.
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Question for You
What color family do you struggle with most?
- Greens
- Skin tones
- Earth reds
- Blues
Tell me in the comments — I’ll make a lesson on it.