Caroline
Red and pink are two expressive colors that are often associated with love and passion. On romantic cards and gifts, you are very likely to find shades of these colors adorning these objects.
While they can be used separately to great effect, you might catch yourself wondering what color does red and pink make when mixed?
Taking it even further, what are some of the ways these two beautiful colors can be used together? These are the questions we will be answering as we go through this guide we have prepared for you.
Get out your favorite art mediums and let’s see what we can come up with when using red and pink!
How you can mix red and pink?
Before we look at some of the color possibilities that red and pink present, we will first examine some of the practical ways you can mix these colors.
The way you mix them will depend heavily on the medium you are using.
This could vary from different kinds of paints or crayons to colored construction paper and glitter. These are just a few of the examples of mediums you can use to great effect.
For the purposes of this guide, we will assume you are using paint when mixing, as this is one of the best mediums for mixing colors. We will also be using hex color codes to provide examples.
These codes will look like this: #FF0000. You can enter that code or any others we use into your favorite search engine and you will see a swatch of that color.
That way, you can follow along with us as we try out different combinations! Red and pink are both neighbors on the color wheel, so that means they are very similar in tone.
That means that the results we will end up with will tend to be subtle variations on either color. It doesn’t mean that you can’t land up with some amazing results, though!
You will soon see that there is a wide range of warm and expressive colors you can land up with when using red and pink, and these colors can have many practical uses.
Before we look at some of the combinations we can come up with when using red and pink, the next point in our guide will examine whether they are a good combination of colors to use together.
Are red and pink a good combination to mix together?
Now, we will look at whether red and pink are even good colors to use together. As we touched on in the previous step, these colors are direct neighbors on the color wheel.
You can easily find color wheel examples online to look at to see what we mean, but basically a color wheel shows us how colors relate to one another on the color spectrum.
It can also help us with identifying complementary colors as well. When colors are directly next to one another on the color wheel, that usually means that one of them was used to make the other.
In this case, if you wish to make your own shade of pink, you will need to use red and white. Because they are so similar, that means that they can go really well together.
This also means that mixing them can result in some fairly subtle changes. If you mix colors like blue and yellow, you will get green, a totally new color.
The result of a red and pink mixture is far more subtle, and you will most likely get a lighter or darker version of one of the two colors.
Which one will depend on the color shades you decide to mix, but we will go over that in more detail in the following step. However, to briefly circle back to the question of whether red and pink are a good combination, we would have to say yes!
When chosen properly, these colors can be really gorgeous when used in conjunction with one another. But you don’t have to take our word for it, as in the next step we will go over some examples of different color combinations you may land up with.
What results you can expect
In the previous steps, we briefly spoke about a few of the results you can land up with when using red and pink.
Now, we will show you some results you might get by using those hex color codes we mentioned earlier.
Before we do that, we can recap what we said earlier by saying you will likely either get a pinkish red or reddish pink. Let’s start things off with a mixture of pink and red that are similar in tone.
For red, we will use #FF0000. For pink, we will be using #FF00D6. As you can see, these are both bright and vibrant variations of these colors.
Mixed together, you will get the color #FF006B. If you enter that into a search, you will see that it is a gorgeous warm pink color.
But what if one of the colors is darker than the other? To test this out, we will use the same pink, #FF00D6, but for red we will go with a darker shade with #780F0F.
This gives us a darker pink with #bc0873. This pink is so dark that it may even be considered to be purple by some. If you were to mix a dark pink and a light red, you may get a color like #d70049 which is another darker pink.
These are a few examples, but remember that your own results may vary depending on the mediums you use as well as how thick they are. If you were to use the same shades with watercolor and also acrylic paints, your results may be different.
Using a lot more red than pink, for example, will likely ensure that the color will be dominated by red color. These are a few of the factors that can be considered, but basically you can expect a variation of one of these colors.
We looked at just a few of these examples, but you can play around with your own colors and see all of the possibilities. Remember to try out different mediums and techniques for even more results!
Later on in the guide, we will look at some light and dark shades of these colors, but next we will go over some of the uses you could have for red and pink mixes.
Best uses for red and pink mixes
Red and pink are what we call warm or hot colors. That means that they will typically be best used in situations where you need inviting and eye-catching colors.
Earlier in this guide, we touched on how red and pink are often used in romantic contexts. That means that they would be perfect colors to use in situations such as creating a Valentine’s Day card.
This is far from the only context in which you can use these two colors in, however. You will see many flowers that either have red and pink or that have these colors individually.
In the second case, having red flowers next to pink ones will create a really warm and inviting image. In general design, they would be great colors to use in contexts like interior decorating.
When you mix red and pink, the beautiful warm pinks and purples you will land up with would also be amazing for makeup colors.
Red, pink and the colors they can make when mixed probably wouldn’t be a great choice for more subdued images, however. For example, this color combination would be a bit much for a business presentation or other serious contexts.
However, if you need to make a display with lots of hearts and other shapes associated with love, then reds and pinks would be perfect! Certain foods like raspberries would also benefit from a red and pink mix.
They’re also colors that would work perfectly for cake decorating and other culinary endeavors. Red and pink may not be the most versatile combination in the color spectrum, but they can be really stunning when used in the right contexts.
Now you can show off what other uses you can think of for red and pink!
Lighter and darker red and pink mixes
Once you know what you would like to color with red and pink, you may find that you need to customize the shade of the colors.
For example, let’s say that you’re looking to make a nice warm pink for a heart you’re drawing.
Let’s use the color #ff3679 as an example. We used a vibrant red and darker pink to make this color, but in your paint set you may have a red that is too light. This could result in a color like #ff5c9f.
That color looks nice, but it’s not quite what we are after. There are a few ways that you could make it look more like the first color we showed off.
You could start by adding a very small amount of black paint. This will make the color darker, but it might make the tone a bit flatter than you want it.
To offset this, you could also mix in a really dark orange like #FF6B00 to make the color darker while keeping the warm red tone.
Don’t worry if you don’t get the color straight away, as sometimes it can take a good deal of experimentation.
On the other side of the coin, if the color is looking a bit too dark then you can use some colors to offset it. As you may imagine, small amounts of white paint would be a good place to start.
White will be less likely to change the tone of the color like black would, but it should still be used sparingly. Instead of white, you could also go for some lighter pinks, purples and reds instead.
As we said when making the colors darker, these colors will help to keep the tones more consistent. It can take a lot of practice in order to figure out the colors you need to mix in order to get your desired results.
We would suggest having a sketchbook or a spare piece of canvas to practice different mixtures on. That way, you don’t have to worry about getting it right.
Then, when you have the tones you were looking for you will be able to make as much as you want for your image. When mixing the colors, just make sure to pay attention to which colors you’re using along with how much of each color you use.
Also, remember to add these colors sparingly, as you don’t want to overdo it and make the color way too dark or light. When you experiment enough, you will get the hang of how colors interact with one another.
IN SUMMARY
We set out to answer the question of what color does red and pink make when mixed, and now it’s up to you to show off what you can do with this color combination!
These are two warm and passionate colors, and they can look absolutely stunning in so many different contexts. Whether you use them with one another or mix them, we are sure you will find many uses for them.
If you love these colors, then you should also try out these combinations in different mediums and contexts to truly see what is possible when using them
