Caroline
Brown and blue are two colors that are not necessarily as eye catching as some brighter, more vibrant colors.
They are colors that we see often in various contexts, so they are certainly useful colors to have in your collection!
While we may be familiar with these colors, we may not know the answer to what color does brown and blue make when mixed. If you are wondering what it could be, then this is the right place to be!
In this guide, we will look at some of the combinations you can make with brown and blue as well as some other ways you can use these versatile colors.
How you can mix brown and blue?
As we mentioned in the opening of this guide, brown and blue are two colors that we see a lot in our everyday lives.
But while these colors aren’t as flashy, they can both come in some pretty varied forms.
When it comes to mixing brown and blue, you will need to consider the tones that you use. It will depend on the kinds of colors you’re trying to make for whatever it is you are working on.
You can also consider the mediums you are using to create your colors. If you have a sketchbook to mess around in, you can try out different color combinations with your chosen medium.
Throughout this guide, we will be using color hex codes to help show you some color examples. Each of these codes can be searched online so that you can easily see what we’re talking about.
You can use the colors from these codes and try to match them with the medium you are using.
The steps of this guide will help you to anticipate what colors you can create, but some experimentation will take you a long way.
Brown and blue can be used together in many ways whether they are mixed or just used in the same picture. It’s important to pick shades of these colors that will complement the other.
It can take some practice and a bit of trial and error, but once you know what you’re doing you will find it much easier!
This is something we will cover in greater detail as we move through the guide. Next, we will look at whether the combination of brown and blue is even one that is advisable for you to use.
Are brown and blue a good combination to mix together?
So now, the question is whether brown and blue are good colors to mix together. The answer to that could be either yes or no depending on what you need.
You can land up with a wide array of colors when you mix brown and blue, but you will typically get a darker blue color when you mix them.
Before we dive deeper, let’s look a bit closer at each color. First, we have blue. Blue is what is known as a primary color, as it is a base color.
It can be dark and navy, bright and neon or anything in between. Then we have brown, and this is where things get more complicated.
Brown is what is known as a composite color, and is typically made by mixing yellow, red and blue. There are other ways that you can arrive at a brown color, though.
You’ll notice that we mentioned that our other color, blue, is usually a part of the mix. That is why when you mix brown and blue, you will often get a darker shade of blue.
In the next few steps we will demonstrate this along with a few examples where you get different results.
There are loads of images that you could use brown, blue and the many combinations you can make with them.
You’re only limited by your creativity when it comes to mixing the colors. There are definitely some combinations of brown and blue that may not work as well, however.
These are a bit rarer, and you will probably find that more often than not these colors will go nicely together. This is especially true when the brown you’re using has blue undertones.
Now that we know that brown and blue can be a good combination, let’s look at a few of the ways that you can anticipate the results you may get from mixing them together.
What results you can expect?
In this step, we will look not only at some of the results you can expect but also provide some examples.
This is where you will want to have a search engine open so you can follow along and look up the hex codes we provide.
First, we will make a dark mix of brown and blue. For brown, we will use #533f23 and for blue we will go with #002080. This combination will give you the color #2a3052.
If you look up that result, you will see it is a really dark blue with brown undertones. This is a result that would be pretty safe to assume, as we used some really dark base colors.
Next, let’s try a much lighter combination. For brown, this time we will use #aa8046 and for blue we have #7a9cff. Together, these give us the color of #928ea3.
This is quite a different result from the first combination! You will see that this time we have a muted blue color that is close to being grey.
For the final example, we’ll have a mixture of light and dark. We will use the same light brown of #aa8046 and then use a beautiful dark blue with #1600bd.
This combination gives us the color of #604082, which is a rich purple color. As you can see from these examples, there are quite a few results that we can get from these two colors.
Also remember that these examples assume you used equal amounts of each color. When you start changing up the quantities, these colors could change drastically.
The mediums you use will also dictate the colors feeling. Just remember that mixing dark colors will result in dark colors and the same with light.
It can become a bit less certain when you start mixing light with dark colors, so that’s where you may need to experiment a bit to see what happens.
Now that we know how versatile the combination of brown and blue can be, it’s time for us to look at some of the ways that you can use these colors together in your art.
Best uses for brown and blue mixes
Now we know how versatile and useful a combination of brown and blue can be. So with this knowledge, what can you use them for?
Individually, brown and blue are colors that are seen a lot all around us. If you had to pick one thing to represent each color, you may think of water for blue and rocks for brown.
Just with these examples, you could create some interesting pictures. For instance, maybe you could have a bright blue ocean with dark brown rocks jutting out of it.
This would create a great contrast between these colors that would look really interesting. There are many ways that you could use the kinds of dark blues that mixing brown and blue can create.
When thinking of how you can use these colors, you shouldn’t feel limited to using them in traditional pictures. Some of the dark blues we have looked at in this guide provide a really calming feeling.
For this reason, the colors could be great for the walls of a room someone wants to relax in. If you are working on something involving graphic design, then the dark blues you can achieve would be a great addition.
While these are a few examples of how you can use brown and blue mixes, they are far from the only ones. When considering the colors you would like to use, try to look at the examples we have provided.
These will give you an idea of the range of colors you can possibly get, and then you can take it from there.
It can be helpful to know what some of the possibilities are before you plan out your project.
For example, if you are creating something with lots of warm colors then brown and blue may not be the best color choices. That doesn’t mean that you can’t use them, as they could also be used to contrast brighter colors.
For example, the complementary color of blue is orange, so if you create a dark blue then you could pair it with some rich oranges to bring out the best in both colors.
For the final tip of the guide, we will look at how you can use different colors to customize your mixes to be as you want them!
Lighter and darker brown and blue mixes
Earlier in this guide, we tried out a few combinations of light and dark colors. This was to show you what different tones can create when mixed.
Colors come in so many different shades that these examples should be considered a few of many! When it comes to the subtler tones of the colors, it depends on what you need to create.
Earlier, we used the example of an ocean with rocks. If you’re working from a photo and want the colors of your painting to match it, then you will need to play around with the colors.
The water and rocks may have different tones of brown and blue, but for argument’s sake let’s say you’re trying to create #426695 for the water.
This is a color we arrived at by mixing a dark brown of #5f492b with a lighter blue of #2483ff.
You could mix your colors while trying your best to arrive at the water color you need, but it might not be quite right. If it’s too light, then a few drops of black could fix it.
Adding some dark blue could be an even better idea if you want to keep the rich blue undertones. If it’s too dark, you can add some white or some light blues instead.
Once you have the color as close as you can get it, you can similarly experiment with the other shades of blue and brown that you need for the rest of the water and rocks.
When you are working with your colors, the trick is to look closely at the colors you need to recreate. If you look closely, there may be undertones of colors like purple or red, for example.
If that is the case, then variations of these colors could be used to make the base color darker or lighter. It’s easy to learn these tricks if you think of it logically!
With some observation and a bit of experimentation, you will be able to recreate any colors you could possibly need for your artwork.
In summary
Now we have answered the question of what color does brown and blue make when mixed.
As we have seen in this guide, there is a surprisingly wide range to the shades that you can get from mixing these colors.
Now that you know what can be done, it’s up to you to figure out what to do with it!
Whether you need dark blues or even some purple shades, brown and blue could be the combination you’ve been waiting for.
Remember to keep having fun experimenting as you try to create all the amazing colors you wish to use for anything you may be working on.
