Creating a complex color from scratch may seem daunting, but some hues can be easily achieved. For instance, beige paint can be made without going through any intricate steps.
What colors do you need to learn how to make beige paint?
To make beige, you should use a bit of white to brown color. The white will lighten the shade of brown and allow you to get a beige shade. You can further enhance the shade by adding red and yellow to the mixture.
But how do you make the color from scratch without brown? Well, you will need to go through a few additional steps. Below, you will find all about the process and other ways to get beige.
How to Make Beige from Scratch?
So, when you don’t have brown, you must go through a few additional steps to get to beige. Let’s go through them to better understand the process.
Create Brown If You Don’t Have It
To make brown, you need to use complementary colors in equal amounts. These two can be green and red or yellow and purple. Likewise, they can be orange and blue. Each combination will make you end up with a different shade of brown.
However, among them, red and green work the best. It gives you a standard brown paint, which you can scale up to get other colors. But choose different colors if you don’t have red and green. They will work great too.
Prepare a White Base
As you know, beige is a bit on the lighter side. Therefore, working with white as a base is better than brown. Yes, you can choose brown to be the base. But in that case, you must be precise with how much you add white.
Add Brown to the White Base
Little by little, add brown to the white base. You will notice the color change as you add brown to the mixture. And you have to notice the shade with every addition. Do not add too much of it if you don’t want to start again.
Remember, you can always mix a secondary color into the mixture. But you cannot take the paint out.
Mix a Bit of Yellow and Red to Shift the Shade
Undertones of beige include yellow, pink, green, peach, or orange. Some of the colors may also come with red undertones. So, if you want to perfect the beige shade, adding a little yellow and red would be a good idea.
Again, you do not want to add too much yellow or red. The more you add, the more the mixture will lean toward that specific color.
Instead, add a stroke amount each time and see where the shade is leaning towards. Stop when you have the desired shade of beige.
Other Ways to Make Beige With Brown Color
There are two more ways of making beige with brown color. So, if you have many colors lying around, try these –
With Brown and Light Pink
The combination of brown and light pink is one of the popular ways to get to beige. As you can guess, the light pink paint will work a bit like white. Its lighter tone gives the brown color the shade it requires to convert to beige.
For this case, you must keep brown as a base and then add small amounts of light pink to see whether the shade is shifting. In general, you don’t need to mix too much light pink. A little amount of it should do the trick.
Sienna, Umber, and Brown
Have complex colors in your arsenal? Want to get to beige with them? Well, you will need two shades of sienna, one shade of umber, and standard brown.
To be specific, you will need raw sienna, raw umber, burnt sienna, and brown. Mix all of these colors together to make beige. Again, you have to add little by little. And the best way to approach this mixture would be to keep brown as the base.
How to Make Beige Paint Without Using Brown?
You really do not have to make brown to get to beige. Yes, you can do it without the brown. Take a look at these simple steps –
Get Orange, Blue, and White
You will need three colors to get to beige without brown. Specifically, you must select cadmium orange, titanium white, and cerulean blue hue. These colors will allow you to get to a perfect beige that will not require any modification afterward.
Add Small Amounts of Cadmium Orange and Cerulean Blue
Again, you cannot add too high amounts of colors to get beige. Instead, you should work with small quantities.
And in this case, the first mixture should contain cadmium orange and cerulean blue. Mix the two colors properly and move to the next step.
Mix Some Titanium White into the Mix
Once done with cerulean blue and cadmium orange, you have to add titanium white. To be exact, the previous mixture will already look beige. The white will add a lighter tone to the mix, making the whole thing look beige.
How to Make Light Beige?
Depending on the clarity, beige can feature two different primary tones. And almost all the painting works that require beige will need both. Now for the light beige, you need to go through these specific steps –
Mix Brown and White to Get Standard Beige
As you are shooting for light beige, you cannot keep brown as the base. Instead, you should start with white as the base. With that in place, add small amounts of brown to get beige.
Here, you have to ensure that the lighter nature of white overpowers the overall mixture. That means you should not add too much brown to the mix.
Add Basic Yellow
Light beige will require yellow. So, once you finish the primary light mixture, you should work with yellow. Again, you should add too much of the yellow color into the mix. Instead, add little by little and notice the shade.
Mix White Again to Adjust the Tone
To ensure that the mixture adheres to the light nature of beige, you should put a little bit of white into the mix. This will enable you to get a creaminess trait on the blend.
On that note, if you use light yellow color instead of regular yellow, you do not have to add to the combination again.
How to Make Dark Beige?
Dark beige can create a contrasting look in any art project. And to get to the dark beige color, you first need to make a beige color and then work on its shade. Here are the steps in detail –
Create Beige
As mentioned above, you first need to make beige. To do so, you can follow any of the methods discussed earlier. But the best way to get to beige would be to add white and brown.
Add Deep Brown into the Mix
The easiest way to get beige darker is to incorporate dark brown into the mixture. This color will add depth to the combination and give it a contrasting look. But make sure that the color is not leaning too much on brown.
Mix a Bit of Orange to Give the Color More Depth
Dark beige without an undertone will not look good on paintings. So, once you have a standard dark beige, you should incorporate orange. Be light on the amount of orange. Do not mix more than you have to.
How to Make Creamy Beige?
To get to the creamy beige color, you just need to go through three simple steps. Want to know what those steps are? Take a look –
Make Beige With the Right Amount of White and Brown
For creamy beige, you should first make beige with brown and white. However, the colors should not be in equal amounts. Instead, there should be more white than brown color.
Add a Bit of Yellow to the Mixture
Standard yellow should work like a charm for this combination. However, if you have Naples yellow or yellow ocher, the resulting shade will be much creamier and visually appealing.
Mix a Bit of Red
To add final touches to the blend, incorporate a little amount of red into the mixture. Make sure that you are not mixing too much of it. In fact, a few drops of red should be perfect for getting to creamy beige.
What Is the Best Color Combination for Beige?
Beige goes with a lot of colors. You can work with accentual colors, neutral colors, and warm colors. And if you want some combination ideas, take a look at the list below.
- Gold and Beige: Gold is the right choice if you want to make your décor pop out a bit more from the beige background.
- Teal and Beige: Teal will add fun with its natural vibe. And with the right shade of beige, you can make the color combo look very eye-catching.
- Lime Green and Beige: Lime green will properly add a playful vibe to a beige background.
- Dusty Pink and Beige: Dusty pink with soft beige color will complement every space. This color combination will not fail to pop out in the right way.
- Forest Green and Beige: You will find green and beige together in nature. In other words, it is a foolproof combination.
- Beige and White: White with beige is one of the most dynamic duos you will ever find. Together, these two can make any space aesthetic.
- Blue and Beige: Striking blue will complement beige exceptionally well. And if you want, you can even opt for other tones of blue.
- Purple and Beige: Purple is one of the colors that does not disappoint when combined with beige. And the case is the same for multiple shades of purple.
- Orange and Beige: Orange, when paired with beige, perfectly enhances the welcoming nature of any room or art piece. You can’t go wrong with this combo.
Final Words
All in all, you can follow different methods to learn how to make beige paint. But if you do not want to go through any intricacies and want beige in the simplest way, just add white to brown.
However, to get the best results, it is recommended to work with the undertones. Without them, the color will not have the depth you might be looking for.
