What Mix Gives Me a Lilac Color?

Primary Colors

• There are three primary colors: red, blue and yellow. These are the colors from which all other colors are created.

Secondary Colors

• There are also three secondary colors: purple, green and orange. These colors are created by mixing two primary colors. Purple, the shade at the base of lilac, is a secondary color. Green is produced by mixing blue and yellow and orange results from a mixture of red and yellow.

Tertiary Colors

• Tertiary colors can be made one of two ways. The first is by mixing all three primary colors. When blue, red and yellow are mixed brown is created, meaning that brown is a tertiary shade. The other way to produce a tertiary color is by mixing a primary and secondary color together. For example, mixing blue and green produces a blue-green shade. Blending yellow and orange creates yellow-orange.

Mixing Primary and Neutrals

• The widest array of colors are created by mixing some combination of primary colors with a neutral shade. Just as lilac is the result of the primary colors of red and blue being blended with the neutral shade of white, most other colors are born the same way. For example, a mixture of blue and yellow creates green. When black is added to that color it becomes olive green. Red and yellow produce orange, but when brown is added to it, a rust color is created.

The Formula

• By understanding that all colors have one or more of the three primary colors at their base, you can make an educated guess as to how a color was created. Once a color is mixed, it is often the addition of a lighter or darker neutral color such as white, gray, brown or black that determines its hue and intensity.