Arts
What are primary and secondary colours?
Quick answer
Red, yellow and blue are the primary colours in painting: you cannot make them by mixing. Mixing two primaries gives a secondary colour: orange, green or purple.
In one sentence
Primary colours are the starting colours that can be mixed to make nearly all the others, and secondary colours are made by mixing two primaries.
Explained
Pick up three paints: red, yellow and blue. These are the primary colours in art class. You cannot make them by mixing other paints. But from these three you can mix many more.
palette
paintbrush
crayon
When you mix two primaries, you get a secondary colour:
- red + yellow = orange
- blue + yellow = green
- red + blue = purple (also called violet)
Add more of one colour and you get different shades. More yellow in the mix gives a yellow-green, and more blue gives a blue-green. If you mix a primary with the secondary next to it, you get a tertiary colour, such as red-orange or blue-green. See the colour wheel.
Mixing all three primaries together gives a muddy brown or grey. Adding white makes a colour lighter (a tint), and adding a little black makes it darker (a shade).
There is more to the story. Printers do not use red, yellow and blue. Their primaries are cyan (a bright blue-green), magenta (a pinkish red) and yellow, plus black, and they can print almost every colour. Screens such as phones and TVs make colours from tiny lights, so their primaries are red, green and blue and mixing them makes light. When red, green and blue light shine together, they make white. This is different from paint, where mixing makes things darker. For more about light, see light.
For beginners, the classic red-yellow-blue set is a good start. It also helps to know which colours give a feeling of heat or cold; read about warm and cool colours.
Examples
| Mix | Result |
|---|---|
| red + yellow | orange |
| blue + yellow | green |
| red + blue | purple |
| red + white | pink |
| blue + white | light blue |
Common mistakes
- "Green is a primary colour." In paint, it is made from blue and yellow. (On a screen, green is a primary.)
- "Black and white are colours you mix to make others." They change how light or dark a colour is.
- Mixing too many colours. Three or more usually make mud.
Quick quiz
Primary and secondary colours
Check what you know with 4 quick questions.
Question 1 of 4
What do you get by mixing red and yellow paint?
Practise it
Try it
Colouring pages to try colour mixing
For grown-ups
Related topics
The colour wheel
The colour wheel is a circle that arranges colours to show how they relate. Colours opposite each other, like blue and orange, are complementary and make strong contrast.
Light
Light is a form of energy that travels in straight lines, very fast. We see things when light from them enters our eyes, either because they make light or because they reflect it.
Warm and cool colours
Warm colours are reds, oranges and yellows, which remind us of sun and fire. Cool colours are blues, greens and purples, which remind us of water, ice and sky.
Musical instruments
Musical instruments make sound in different ways: by plucking or bowing strings, blowing air, or hitting. In an orchestra they are grouped as strings, woodwind, brass and percussion.
Musical notes
Musical notes are written symbols that show which sound to play and for how long. Their position on a five-line staff gives the pitch, and their shape gives the length.
Perspective drawing
Perspective drawing is a way to make a flat picture look three-dimensional. Things that are farther away look smaller, and parallel lines seem to meet at a vanishing point on the horizon.