Blue Plus Yellow: The Magic of Mixing Colors
Grab blue paint and yellow paint and mix them together -- green appears, like magic! Painters have used this trick for hundreds of years. Today we learn why mixing colors works and which colors are the secret starting colors for all the others.
What You'll Learn
- What the three primary colors are - How to make green, orange, and purple - A new word: primary color - Why painters don't need a huge box of paints
The Three Starter Colors
Red, yellow, and blue are called primary colors. They are special because you cannot make them by mixing any other colors together -- they are the starting point for almost every other color a painter uses.
A primary color is a starting color that cannot be made by mixing other colors. Red, yellow, and blue are the three primary colors.
Making New Colors
When you mix two primary colors, you get a secondary color: - Blue + Yellow = Green - Red + Yellow = Orange - Red + Blue = Purple This is why an artist with just three tubes of paint (plus white and black) can actually paint almost anything -- a whole rainbow hides inside just three colors!
A Famous Color Mixer
The painter Piet Mondrian became famous in the 1920s for paintings made almost entirely of red, yellow, and blue squares next to black lines. He wanted to show that you don't need fancy colors to make interesting art -- just the three primary colors, arranged in a bold way.
Flashcards — click each card to reveal the answer
Which three colors are the primary colors?
What color do you get when you mix red and blue?
Rainbow From Three Colors
Using only red, yellow, and blue paint (or paint-mixing app), create green, orange, and purple by mixing pairs. Paint or display all six colors in a row and label which two primary colors made each secondary color.
Add a little white to any color to make it lighter, or a little black to make it darker -- painters call these tints and shades!
Want to keep learning?
Sign up for free to access the full curriculum — all subjects, all ages.
Start Learning Free