How do you make the color red for painting? It is by no means a trivial question as one might think, and it is not even a question that no one would ever ask. After all, the mere fact that you are here reading this article shows that it is not as apparent as you think to know how to make red and if it is possible to obtain this color starting from other shades, with oil colors. With tempera colors and so on.
Red is a color widely present in paintings: it is the color of love, passion, seduction, lust, the sin of fire and aggression, and, of course, blood, with all the related symbolism that this connection has had. In past centuries, it is starting with the blood of Christ. Thus, red is the perfect color if you want to attract attention: marketers know this well, and they often recommend it for company logos, shop signs, and so on.
How to make red with primary colors
At school, you were most likely taught that there are three primary colors, namely red, blue and yellow, by mixing which you can get the secondary colors, namely orange (mixing yellow and red), green (blending yellow and blue), and purple (mixing red and blue). Then, by combining the primary colors in different parts, the so-called tertiary colors can obtain. Just as likely, with your tempera, oil, or acrylic paints, you have already tried from time to time to get secondary and tertiary colors, sometimes for fun, sometimes out of necessity.
However, you have never tried to get the primary colors, or at least you have never asked yourself – until now – the question of how to make the color red. And this is because, at school, they explained to you precisely that starting from primary colors, it is possible to obtain any color, but primary colors cannot bring in anyway. In short, they must purchase. There is no other possibility. And indeed it is. But that’s not to say that red can’t achieve by mixing different colors and lotus drawing.
Primary and secondary colors
You must know that red is not, in fact, a primary color. Or rather, red is a primary color – together with green and blue – in additive synthesis, which refers to the primary colors produced by light. These three primary colors, added together, give white (to be more precise, they provide white light). However, there is not only additive synthesis. There is also the subtractive one, which considers the colors that characterize the material.
In this case, the sum of the three colors no longer gives white, but instead, on the contrary, black. For subtractive synthesis, the three primary colors are cyan, magenta, and yellow. Hence, from this point of view, red is no longer a primary color: the direct consequence is that this can achieve by mixing other colors.
Summarizing and translating what has been said on a practical side, since we have detached ourselves from the ancient versions of the chromatic center and given the foundations of colorimetry, it has been understood that among the primary colors, there is no red, but instead magenta, that is – for those who are not an ace in recognizing colors and who must therefore read the name on the tube every time – a sort of fuchsia. Therefore, as we told you, the question ‘how to make the color red’ is not as obvious as some might have thought. But, for now, you know that it is possible to create red starting from other colors by abandoning the old version of the color circle.
How to make the color red using magenta
You should already have understood that magenta must use to make the color red. Yes, because that is the actual primary color for the whole range of reds. So let’s assume that there are only the three primary colors in the box of your oil paint tubes, namely yellow, magenta, and cyan (plus the indispensable lines of white and black).
How should you go about getting a nice red?
Well, all you should do is take the magenta tube, pour some on your palette, and add a hint of yellow, and then mix it all up with your brush.
The result will undoubtedly be a red color: with a higher dose of yellow, however, you will get an orange color. To get a light red, to get closer to coral, you should add a tad of white, whereas, to have a darker red, you will need a little black. By adding both white and black, on the other hand, you will get a dull red.
What colors do we recommend to make a beautiful red
If you’ve made it this far, you’ve finally figured out how to make red using magenta. The next thing you will do is take the colors you have at home and try to see if you can achieve the same result. It won’t be challenging to get a beautiful red if you have quality colors, just like you imagined. But what if the result didn’t live up to your expectations? Well, maybe you are using low-quality colors that can’t mix properly, which is why the result is a bit disappointing. If you want to deepen this aspect, I will briefly explain which brands of colors we recommend if you get a nice red.