What Colors Make Pink? – How to Mix and Use Shades of Pink

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Pink is a well-known warm color that is known for its characteristic softness and associations with femininity. If you want to start using pink shades in your art, it will be beneficial to know how to mix different shades of pink paint. This article goes into detail about how pink is used and what it is commonly associated with before delving into the technical side of making different shades of pink for use in your art. If you are wondering what colors make pink then this article will have everything you need!

Associations With the Color Pink

Across the world and from person to person, you will find that the associations with pink can vary greatly. These associations are heavily correlated to individual experience and social or cultural influences. There is no objective way to view pink as a color and there are as many opinions about pink as there are shades!

For starters, pink is commonly associated with a wide variety of positive emotions. Pink is a joyful and creative color that inspires positivity and hope in many people. In this way, it is similar to yellow but much gentler in its warmth. Pink is, however, also a very comforting and calming color. Some people consider pink to be motherly and nurturing while others associate it with purity and childlike innocence which makes them find it quite nostalgic.

Pink is also a color commonly used around Valentine’s Day as it can represent a fresh new love, a friendly love, and even a long-lasting and respectful love. Pink used in association with love can be softer and gentler than red in the same context. It often connotes a pure and innocent love that is softer than one symbolized with shades of red. Pink is also commonly associated with beauty and attraction.

Sweetness is also a common association people have with the color pink. Lots of candy and confectionery companies use pink to try to influence a better reaction to their products. You will find that lots of sweets or donut boxes may use pink in their packaging for this reason.

In saying all of this, it is important to remember that there is a whole range of pinks, and many shades are not soft shades at all! There are very deep shades of pink, as well as pinks that are vibrant and bold. Pink is a versatile color that doesn’t only have to resemble soft and sensitive things. It is also capable of being an outspoken color that can allude to a bold sensuality or feminine strength. Pink is commonly used symbolically by women’s rights advocates all around the world and is also used as the official color of Breast Cancer Awareness.

As we said earlier, there are many interpretations of pink, and it can’t be possible that they are all positive. Many people see the feelings that pink invokes in a negative light. Lots of people find that pink represents naivete, inexperience, and immaturity. Some people feel as if pink is a childish color and connotes a tendency to be over-emotional. Pink can imply matters are not being taken seriously enough and are treated nonchalantly. Many people also associate pink with weakness, timidity, and passivity, while others say that it represents indulgence, gluttony, or laziness.

How to Make Pink Paint

When working with any color, you will want a selection of different hues at your disposal. This is because even if you find the perfect pink for your artwork, you will likely need variations of that pink to add depth and dimension to the painting. You will need to create pink hues for the shadows and highlights of your artwork. The most realistic paintings have colors with different tints, muted hues as well as shadows and highlights. But what colors make pink? Below, we discuss some different ways you can make various shades of pink with ease. The best way to learn how to mix paint shades well is to understand some basic color theory and then give it a try for yourself.

How to Make Pink With White Paint

The easiest way to make pink paint is to mix red and white hues of paint together in varying ratios. When mixing paint to create pink, it is important to pay attention to the relative temperature of the colors you are using. You will use red to create pink and both red and pink are primarily warm colors. However, you do get shades of red and pink that are actually either warmer or cooler. Whether a red is considered a warm or cool red depends on where it sits in relation to the other colors on the color wheel.

Warm reds are quite orange because they tend towards yellow on the color wheel. Examples of warm shades of red include cadmium red, scarlet red, and Venetian. When you use these shades of red to create pink, you will end up with a warm pink such as coral or peach. On the other hand, cool reds tend to resemble more of a purplish hue because they are moving towards blue on the color wheel. If you want to use a cooler shade of blue, you can try something like alizarin crimson, vermilion, or carnelian red. Using one of these cooler reds will result in a hot pink or magenta shade of pink.

The shade of red that you choose isn’t the only thing that contributes to the kind of pink that will result. Ultimately there are two different whites available for you to use when mixing pink paint. These whites are zinc white and titanium white. The main difference between these two whites is that zinc white is more translucent while titanium white is opaquer. This means that zinc white will create a more translucent pink when mixed with your red of choice.

Test out the different shades of pink you can make using various reds mixed with both of these two whites. You can use a sheet of paper to make a reference sheet for these pinks. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it will help you get familiar with how to make pink with white paint. You will find that the colors might be similar regardless of the white paint used but there is a clear difference in opacity. Even with the difference in opacity white will dull and mute your pink colors to some degree. Opacity does not necessarily mean vibrant and bright. Using red and white will create a pastel pink, baby pink, or blush pink when mixed – this is because white lightens colors but does not brighten them.

How to Make Pink Without White Paint

You may find that sometimes you do not want to mix paint using white. This could be because the look is not suitable or because you just don’t have white paint on hand. It is possible to mix pink paint without using any white paint but the result will be quite a different pink from the previous method.

You can use a light-yellow shade of yellow such as cadmium light yellow to mix with your red of choice. Mixing a light yellow with red paint will create pink paint without the need to use any white paint. The pink you achieve using this method will be closer to a peach or coral pink color. You can even use yellow and white together to create an even peachier pink with little extra effort. If you want to experiment with different mixing methods when making pink, this is a great combination to consider!

How to Make Dark Pink Paint

To create a dark shade of pink, you can add a touch of red, purple, or black to the pink that you already have. Be careful when adding these colors to your pink, however, because they can very quickly overpower or over-darken your mixture. As a general rule of thumb, always mix small amounts of darker paints into lighter paints and not the other way around. Adding red to pink to darken it will create a deep, warm pink such as fandango pink. Adding purple to your pink can create a plum pink and adding small amounts to your pink will darken the shade of whatever pink you began with by slightly desaturating it.

What Colors Make Light Pink Paint?

As mentioned earlier in the article, the two ways to lighten pink are using white or yellow. It is also an option to use both white and yellow when lightening pink paint. The best whites to use when lightening pinks are titanium white or zinc white. Titanium white is opaquer while zinc white is less opaque. You will want to keep this in mind when using white to lighten pink paint.

Yellows are another option when lightening pink paint. Any light shade of yellow will be suitable but we recommend using cadmium light yellow. The colors that come from lightening or mixing pinks using yellow are vibrant and saturated. Learning to use other colors to lighten your paints is a great way to hone in on your paint mixing skills.

How to Mute Pink Paint

To create a dull pink hue, you will be using red and a bit of a greenish-yellow such as nickel titanate yellow, copper azomethine green, or benzimidazole yellow. Muted pink hues can help you add depth to your artwork. The best way to create a muted hue of any color is to combine the color with a bit of its complement. The complement for pink is a green-yellow color, which is why adding a small bit of this color to your already mixed pink is the way to effectively mute your pink.]

The exact shade of green-yellow that you need to best mute your pink will depend on the shade of pink you have. To find the complement of your specific pink, find it on the color wheel and look for its exact opposite color. If you do not want to search for the complement of your pink shade, you will have to experiment until you find what works.

Different Shades of Pink

There are thousands of different pink hues that exist. Below, we have compiled a table of varying popular shades of pink along with their names, hex codes, and RGB values. While the table below contains the more technical aspects of pink relating to color theory and may prove more valuable to digital artists than traditional artists, it is still worthwhile for traditional artists to look over the information in the table since the colors may spark inspiration for a new artwork!

Colors That Go With Pink

Colors are readily enhanced by certain other colors when placed near each other. As an artist, it is important to be aware of what colors compliment the colors you plan on working with to enhance your art. When working with pink, you will want to be familiar with what the colors listed below can contribute to your artwork.

Pink With Yellow, Red, or Orange

Yellow is the complementary color of pink which means it is the first color you should consider when looking for colors that go with pink. Yellow and pink bring out the best aspects of one another when used in tandem and can create a vibrant painting with ease. When the colors are placed together, they are bright and have playful and energetic connotations.

Red and orange are analogous to pink, which means that using the colors together is very similar to using a complementary color but you will not run the risk of creating a color palette that is too overpowering or stimulating. For example, you could use a bright pink and a bright red to create an eye-catching color combination without having to worry about it being as overpowering as if you used a bright yellow! Try pairing different shades of pink with some of the colors below.

Pink With Black and Other Neutral Shades

Pink is a naturally brighter shade than most other colors, so pairing it with a darker shade quickly creates an interesting and bold combination. A fun trick to work with when pairing any color is to remember that dark colors create depth and shadow while lighter shades create highlights. This means that darker borders around pink will carry the pink forward, while a lighter shade may push your pink backward on your canvas.

If you would prefer a simpler or more modest and elegant palette to accompany your pink, you could opt for gray or brown colors. These lighter neutral options can help to create calmer, subtler color combinations. The softness of combinations made using pinks with grays and browns can be used to create a vintage look in your artworks. If you choose to use lighter neutrals, you will want to make sure you are working with a lighter pink too. Using a bright, vibrant pink with gray or browns is likely to clash and look very strange. Try pairing different shades of pink with some of the colors below.

If you are mixing pinks for your next artwork, don’t be afraid to create many different shades of pink and experiment with them. Take note of how your colors mix and what you can create by altering your pink with various other hues. Working with this soft color is a great way to broaden your color usage and range as an artist. But how many shades of pink are there and what shades of pink can you use? There are thousands of shades of pink that exist and many different ways they could be used in your art! The best way to understand how to mix and alter colors is to experiment and learn as much as possible once you have been pointed in the right direction.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Make Pink Paint?

All you need when creating a basic pink is some red and white paint. Using an equal ratio of red and white will create a pure shade of basic pink. Once you have a basic pink, you can alter it further using other colors such as yellow, red, purple, black, or orange. Remember that the pink you start with can also be altered depending on the shades of red and white that you use originally.

How to Make Pink Without White?

While it is not a common method to make pink without using white paint, it is definitely possible. You can mix red paint with a tiny amount of light yellow to create varying shades of pink. The shade you create will depend on the red and yellow shade you use.

How Many Shades of Pink Are There?

There are hundreds of different shades of pink that can be created by using different ratios or shades of red and white. If you alter the simple shades of pink further using different purple, yellow, red, black, or white hues, you will have thousands of different shades of pink at your disposal!

Is Pink a True Color?

Pink is not a true color because it is actually a combination of two other colors. Whether you are working with additive or subtractive color mixing or talking about visible color and light, pink is always made using at least two other colors. In subtractive color mixing, which is the kind of color mixing used when mixing paint, the common colors used to make a basic pink are red and white.

What Colors Make Light Pink?

To make a light shade of pink, you will first want to create a simple base pink using red and white paint in equal parts. Once you have your basic pink, you can lighten it further using either white or light-yellow paint. A basic pink tinted with yellow will create a more vibrant and warm pink hue, such as coral or peach pink, while a basic pink paint with extra white added will result in more of a pastel pink hue.

How to Make Dark Pink Paint?

Dark pink paint can be made by starting with a darker red and mixing a tiny amount of white into it or by creating a basic pink and darkening it using black, dark blue, purple, gray, or brown. Try to experiment with many different colors when trying to make dark pink paint.