How to Mix Vibrant Orange With Acrylic Paint
Color mixing with acrylic paint is my favorite way to achieve vibrant, unique colors. Today, we’re going to learn how to make orange paint by mixing acrylic paint! Mixing orange can be tricky because the color can often turn out looking muddy and dull. But with a few small tweaks, you can stop mixing muddy orange paint and start creating a vibrant masterpiece! In this post, you’ll learn how I mix vibrant oranges to use in my colorful signature abstract paintings.
Note: This post may contain affiliate links for my favorite products which means if you purchase something from a link in this post, I may make a small commission at not additional cost to you. I only recommend things I use and love :)
Mixing Orange Paint - The Basics
The foundation of color mixing is the three primary colors – red, yellow, and blue. By mixing these primary colors together in different combinations you can create all the colors of the rainbow. The colors that make orange are red + yellow. If you have primary red and primary yellow in your paint set, you’ll be able to mix orange! (But spoiler alert! Orange mixed from Primary Red and Primary Yellow can turn out muddy and dull. Read on for my recommendations on how to make a more vibrant orange!)
My favorite colors for mixing vibrant orange
The only problem with using primary colors for color mixing is that the colors they produce end up looking a little dark and dull. I personally use a different set of primary colors in my paint kit! After years of experimenting with different color combinations, I’ve finally come up with three that produce the most vibrant acrylic colors!
Turquoise Blue
We won’t use this for mixing orange, but I wanted to note it just in case! I use Turquoise Blue instead of Primary Blue. It’s dark enough to create beautiful deep shades for cooler colors, without them verging on looking muddy. I also like Prussian Blue, and Cobalt Blue for creating even more variation in your purple tones.
Primary Yellow
I stick with the basics when it comes to yellow. It is bright enough to create vibrant hues and mixed with the magenta and turquoise, it produces great results.
Quinacridone Magenta
This is my alternative to Primary Red. This Magenta can still produce beautiful and rich shades, but unlike Primary Red, it helps bring the colors more toward the “jewel tone” space. I use a lot of oranges, corals, and pinks in my work, and primary red just doesn’t produce the vibrant colors I like to work with. Magenta is a great alternative because it is already mixed with the warmth of the red but incorporates some of the cooler tones as well.
Fluorescent Pink
This isn’t technically one of my primary colors, but it is a staple in my art supply kit and it’s a key color for mixing vibrant orange paint. It is so bright and vibrant and it’s my secret weapon when it comes to taking orange tones from dull to fabulous! Fluorescent Pink instantly transforms any color with a red tone into a vibrant hue. If you take one thing away from this blog post, it’s to use Fluorescent Pink for vibrant paintings!
Titanium White
While also not a primary color, Titanium white is essential to have in your acrylic paint mixing toolkit! It is my go-to for lightening up my mixed colors. Plus, if you add the tiniest bit - even to a dark color - it can help bump up the opacity of the paint.
Squeeze out some of each of these colors onto a palette, and we’ll start mixing! I use a brush to mix my colors, but you can use a palette knife or whatever you’re comfortable with!
Now let’s dive into some specific color recipes for mixing orange!
How to make vibrant orange
Grab some of the Primary Yellow and add a tiny bit of Fluorescent Pink to create a vibrant orange. My general rule of thumb is to start my color mixing by pulling in the lightest color first and then adding the darker color slowly until I reach the color I’m looking for. This helps give you more control over your color mix and not darken it to quickly. Once you’ve gone too dark, it’s harder to lighten things back up. Mixing things slowly ensures you get the perfect color every time!
Primary Yellow + Fluorescent Pink
How to mix light orange
To create a light orange, take a little bit of that newly mixed orange, and add Titanium White. Start with a little white, and then add more to reach your desired tint!
Primary Yellow + Fluorescent Pink + Titanium White
How to make a dark, vibrant orange
For a darker orange, start with Primary Yellow and add the tiniest bit of Quinacridone Magenta to it. I find that when you don’t use Fluorescent Pink, the dark orange can take on more of a marigold color, so I like to add some Fluorescent Pink to brighten it up and bring it back into the vibrant space.
Primary Yellow + Quinacridone Magenta + Fluorescent Pink
If you’re wondering what to do with all these lovely oranges you’ve mixed, I’d love for you to join me in my Joyful Abstracts Class where you’ll learn how to paint a vibrant abstract painting inspired by the feeling of joy! The class is hosted on Skillshare and you can check it out for free when you sign up for a free month trial with this link!
And if you want to learn more about vibrant color mixing, check out this blog post where I dive into more detail about mixing an entire rainbow of vibrant colors!
xo, Jessi
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