How to Make Pink (Color Mixing Guide) What Colors Make Pink? (2024)

Articles » Painting » What Colors Make Pink & How to Make Shades of Pink Color

  • Last Updated:March 13, 2023
  • Written by:Elisabeth Larson Koehler
  • 12 Comments

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How to Make Pink (Color Mixing Guide) What Colors Make Pink? (1)

How to Make Pink (Color Mixing Guide) What Colors Make Pink? (2)

Fundamentals of Color Mixing [FREE] Guide >>

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You will undoubtedly stumble upon pink very often while painting. Therefore, it is extremely useful to not only know how to make pink in its simplest form but also what colors make pink different shades!

How to Make Pink (Color Mixing Guide) What Colors Make Pink? (3)

There are so many wonderful and interesting shades of pink you can create, once you know how. So let’s get started right off the bat with what two colors make pink!

What two colors make pink

Pink is a fascinating color because it is the ONLY color that gets its own name. For example, if blue is mixed with white it is called light blue, when green is mixed with white it is called light green and so on…

However, when red is mixed with white it is called pink.

The color chart below illustrates how to mix a basic pink color and what two colors make pink when mixed.

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You will notice in the chart above, there are two different types of red (Alizarin Crimson and Cadmium Red) being used to mix with white. Mixing different reds with white will create different versions of the color pink. So if you want to vary the shade of pink you will get, you can simply use a different type of red.

It can be fun to experiment with different types of reds to make pink! Next up you will see what colors make pink warmer in temperature. With steps for how you can make your own warm shades of pink.

Is pink a warm color?

It’s quite likely that you’ve asked yourself the question – is pink a warm color? Many of us may assume that the answer is simple – yes. But if we take a closer look at this seemingly straightforward question, it can in fact be more complicated than we thought. For example take a look at the image of a flower below.

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The power of color mixing

The true answer here is – it depends on the color we mix and that’s the power of understanding what different colors do when mixed together. So keep scrolling to the next section, where you’ll see in the color chart − how to make different shades of pink and what colors make pink warmer in temperature!

How to make different shades of pink

Once you have your base pink color mixed, you can begin to mix in different colors. For example if you want a warmer shade of pink, you can mix pink with yellow or orange. See how to make pink warmer in color temperature in the chart below.

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You can see above that mixing yellow with pink makes the Alizarin Crimson pink much more of a standard pink color than its normal cool bluish pink color. Then, when the same Alizarin Crimson pink is mixed with orange it makes it into a deeper standard pink color.

Mixing yellow with the Light Cadmium Red pink makes it into a dusty rose color – much more peachy than it was before. And mixing the same Cadmium Red pink with orange makes it into an even warmer peachier color.

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The shades of pink that are mixed with orange will be warmer than those mixed with yellow − since orange is warmer than yellow.

For more shades of pink, let’s next take a look at how to make pink darker…

What colors make dark pink

There are several ways to make dark pink. Along with so many hue and tonal variances possible depending on the types (and varying shades) of colors you use. Here are examples of four different dark shades of pink you can create. All four dark shades use the same dark color combinations but mixing them with different base pink hues.

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In the color chart above, you can see the two different base pink colors mixed with Burnt Umber. The results are much more muted dusty dark pink shades of color. You could add more Burnt Umber to the mixture to get an even darker pink.

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Another option (shown in the color chart above) is mixing pink with a Pthalo Green and Alizarin Crimson mixture. Alizarin Crimson and Pthalo Green mixed together create a very rich dark black color. So mixing this color mixture with pink, creates a wonderful rich dark pink color.

Again these are just a couple of options for creating dark pink colors. Compare the pink mixed with burnt umber, to the pink mixed with Alizarin Crimson/ Pthalo Green. The Burnt Umber pink mixture is much more muted in comparison. An example of how this is just the beginning of the wonder shades of dark pink you can mix!

How to mix light pink colors

You can lighten any shade of pink you create by adding more white. Or a light hue of color such as a lighter yellow − if you just add more yellow to lighten however it may make the shade of pink to warm/yellow. So adding a little white to the pink color mixture you want to lighten will do the trick!

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One thing to remember when mixing colors for your painting specifically. Is that how light or dark your color translates as, will be relative to the color it is next too. In other words a darker shade of pink still can look light if placed next to color even darker hue. So it’s more important when mixing colors for a painting, to focus more on the tonal structure of the painting. Rather than focusing on just trying to “create a light pink”.

Mixing even more shades of pink

As mentioned throughout this article, there are many additional shades of pink you can create. Some we haven’t even touched upon being; mixing muted shades of pink and how to create pinks that are cool in temperature. As well as light shades of red you can mix, that may work as a pink depending on what you are placing it next too.

Additional Color Mixing Resource

If you want to go even deeper into mixing shades of pink, as well as red, blue, yellow, orange, green and many others… You can get the color mixing help you need with my Color Mixing Master Guide.

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Hello! I'm Elisabeth Larson Koehler

Art Studio Life exists for you to be able to stay inspired, learn, and improve your skills.

How to Make Pink (Color Mixing Guide) What Colors Make Pink? (14)
How to Make Pink (Color Mixing Guide) What Colors Make Pink? (15)

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12 thoughts on “What Colors Make Pink & How to Make Shades of Pink Color”

  1. How to Make Pink (Color Mixing Guide) What Colors Make Pink? (16)

    andreina nocera

    November 25, 2023 at 9:52 am

    Hi there. Can you please tell me whether your book deals with oil or acrylic paint or whether the mixing technique is the same for both. Can the colour mixes also be applied to coloured pencils?

    Reply

    1. How to Make Pink (Color Mixing Guide) What Colors Make Pink? (17)

      November 27, 2023 at 9:14 am

      Hello Andreina, The wonderful thing about color is that it reacts the same no matter the medium – as they say color is color. My book – color mixing master guide – can be applied universally to all different mediums. Let me know if you have any other questions! You can also e-mail me at [emailprotected]

      Reply

  2. How to Make Pink (Color Mixing Guide) What Colors Make Pink? (18)

    María Eugenia Wegmann

    November 12, 2022 at 2:19 pm

    Preciosas tonos de rosados logrados con tus tops Elizabeth, muchas gracias

    Reply

  3. How to Make Pink (Color Mixing Guide) What Colors Make Pink? (20)

    Sharon Rose

    August 1, 2022 at 2:27 pm

    Do you have one of these posts for green?

    Reply

    1. How to Make Pink (Color Mixing Guide) What Colors Make Pink? (21)

      August 4, 2022 at 11:09 am

      Hello Sharon, Yes you can find a post like this one for the color green 🙂 You can find it HERE.

      Reply

  4. How to Make Pink (Color Mixing Guide) What Colors Make Pink? (22)

    Mary Stack

    July 26, 2022 at 10:30 am

    Thank you so much for sending these wonderful charts on color mixing! You’re very generous with your information and it’s sincerely appreciated!

    Reply

    1. How to Make Pink (Color Mixing Guide) What Colors Make Pink? (23)

      August 3, 2022 at 11:27 am

      Hi Mary, You are welcome welcome! It is my pleasure to share the information 🙂

      Reply

  5. How to Make Pink (Color Mixing Guide) What Colors Make Pink? (24)

    Christy Myers

    April 21, 2022 at 12:15 pm

    Your charts are so helpful. Thank-you for making this information available to everyone. I know it took some time to create these wonderful informational charts. I really appreciate it.

    Reply

    1. How to Make Pink (Color Mixing Guide) What Colors Make Pink? (25)

      April 22, 2022 at 9:47 am

      Am so glad to hear that these charts are helpful! You are so welcome 🙂

      Reply

  6. How to Make Pink (Color Mixing Guide) What Colors Make Pink? (26)

    Sandy J. Schmidt

    April 20, 2022 at 5:37 am

    Very interesting, Elizabeth!
    Adding yellow definitely warms the pink color. Thank you.

    Reply

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