How do you make brown paint?

To make brown paint, mix red and green, or combine the three primary colours (red, yellow and blue) in roughly equal amounts. Start with small quantities and adjust as you go, since the exact shade depends on the proportions you use. Mix red and green, or red, yellow and blue in similar amounts to create a basic brown. Add a little yellow for a warmer, more golden brown. Add a little blue for a cooler, greyer brown. Add white to lighten the brown, or more of the darker colours to deepen it. Keep your mixes small and test them on scrap paper or canvas before applying them to your main work. Acrylic paint dries fairly quickly, so mix only what you need for the area you are painting. In a paint by numbers kit, you do not need to mix brown at all. Every brown in the picture is already supplied in its numbered pot, ready to use.

How do you make purple paint?

To make purple paint, mix red and blue, adjusting the ratio and the type of red to control the result. A red that leans towards pink (magenta) with a cool blue gives a bright, clean purple, while an orangey red turns the mix dull and muddy. Add white for a lilac, or a little black or blue for a deep purple. Put a small amount of red on your palette. Add blue gradually, a little at a time, mixing as you go until you reach the purple you want. Adjust the tone: more red for a warmer purple, more blue for a cooler one. Lighten with white or deepen with a touch of black or blue. If you are using our kits, there is no need to mix at all: every colour is already prepared in a numbered pot, matched to the pre-printed numbered linen canvas. You can choose a rolled canvas in a tube or a wooden stretcher frame to assemble.

How do you make green paint?

To make green paint, mix yellow and blue. More yellow gives a soft, light green, while more blue gives a deeper fir green. A small touch of red will make the green look more natural for foliage, and adding white lightens it. Put a little yellow on your palette. Add blue gradually, mixing as you go, until you reach the shade you want. Add a tiny amount of red if the green looks too bright or artificial. Add white to lighten the tone. It is easier to add colour than to take it away, so start with yellow and add blue in small amounts. Keep your brush clean between colours so the mix stays true. In our kits, every colour is already ready in a numbered pot, so no mixing is needed. Each kit includes a pre-printed numbered linen canvas, numbered pots of acrylic paint, three brushes (fine, medium and wide) and a paper colour guide.

How do you make beige paint?

To make beige paint, start with white and add a very small amount of brown, or a little yellow with a touch of red. Add the colour drop by drop, because it is easy to darken a beige but much harder to lighten it again. Put a generous amount of white paint on your palette. Mix in a tiny amount of brown, or a little yellow plus a touch of red. Stir thoroughly and check the colour on a scrap of paper or canvas, as wet paint can look different once dry. Add more colour in very small amounts until you reach the tone you want. If it goes too dark, add more white. Beige covers a wide range, from a warm sandy tone to a cooler grey-beige, so adjust the balance of yellow and red to suit the light in your room and the colours around it. Keep notes of your mix if you need to match it later. In our kits, every colour is already ready in a numbered pot, so there is no mixing needed. You can choose a rolled canvas in a tube or a wooden stretcher frame to assemble.

Paint by Numbers Techniques and Tips

To make brown paint, mix red and green, or combine the three primary colours (red, yellow and blue) in roughly equal amounts. Start with small quantities and adjust as you go, since the exact shade depends on the proportions you use.

Mix red and green, or red, yellow and blue in similar amounts to create a basic brown.
Add a little yellow for a warmer, more golden brown.
Add a little blue for a cooler, greyer brown.
Add white to lighten the brown, or more of the darker colours to deepen it.

Keep your mixes small and test them on scrap paper or canvas before applying them to your main work. Acrylic paint dries fairly quickly, so mix only what you need for the area you are painting.

In a paint by numbers kit, you do not need to mix brown at all. Every brown in the picture is already supplied in its numbered pot, ready to use.

To make purple paint, mix red and blue, adjusting the ratio and the type of red to control the result. A red that leans towards pink (magenta) with a cool blue gives a bright, clean purple, while an orangey red turns the mix dull and muddy. Add white for a lilac, or a little black or blue for a deep purple.

Put a small amount of red on your palette.
Add blue gradually, a little at a time, mixing as you go until you reach the purple you want.
Adjust the tone: more red for a warmer purple, more blue for a cooler one.
Lighten with white or deepen with a touch of black or blue.

If you are using our kits, there is no need to mix at all: every colour is already prepared in a numbered pot, matched to the pre-printed numbered linen canvas. You can choose a rolled canvas in a tube or a wooden stretcher frame to assemble.

To make green paint, mix yellow and blue. More yellow gives a soft, light green, while more blue gives a deeper fir green. A small touch of red will make the green look more natural for foliage, and adding white lightens it.

Put a little yellow on your palette.
Add blue gradually, mixing as you go, until you reach the shade you want.
Add a tiny amount of red if the green looks too bright or artificial.
Add white to lighten the tone.

It is easier to add colour than to take it away, so start with yellow and add blue in small amounts. Keep your brush clean between colours so the mix stays true.

In our kits, every colour is already ready in a numbered pot, so no mixing is needed. Each kit includes a pre-printed numbered linen canvas, numbered pots of acrylic paint, three brushes (fine, medium and wide) and a paper colour guide.

To make beige paint, start with white and add a very small amount of brown, or a little yellow with a touch of red. Add the colour drop by drop, because it is easy to darken a beige but much harder to lighten it again.

Put a generous amount of white paint on your palette.
Mix in a tiny amount of brown, or a little yellow plus a touch of red.
Stir thoroughly and check the colour on a scrap of paper or canvas, as wet paint can look different once dry.
Add more colour in very small amounts until you reach the tone you want. If it goes too dark, add more white.

Beige covers a wide range, from a warm sandy tone to a cooler grey-beige, so adjust the balance of yellow and red to suit the light in your room and the colours around it. Keep notes of your mix if you need to match it later.

In our kits, every colour is already ready in a numbered pot, so there is no mixing needed. You can choose a rolled canvas in a tube or a wooden stretcher frame to assemble.

Mix white paint with a small amount of black to make grey. Add the black gradually, as it can quickly overpower the white, and stir well before adding more.

For a warmer or cooler grey, mix two complementary colours, such as blue and orange, then add white to lighten the result. Adjust the balance of the colours to change the tone.

Paint by numbers kits need no colour mixing. Each numbered acrylic paint pot matches the pre-printed linen canvas and paper chart. Choose a canvas with a wooden frame, or a rolled canvas supplied in a tube without a frame.

Work on a palette or a plate with a clean brush. Always start with the lighter colour and add the darker one in small amounts. Mix enough paint for the whole area: matching exactly the same shade later is difficult.

The primary colours make the secondary ones: yellow + blue = green, red + yellow = orange, red + blue = purple.

Paint dilution chart

Painting techniques and tips for a better finish