What Colors Make Gray?

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In paint

Gray comes from mixing complementary colors together (like red and green, or blue and orange), which cancel out each other's saturation, or more simply by mixing black and white paint directly.

In light (RGB)

In light (RGB), gray happens whenever red, green, and blue are equal but not at full intensity, the same logic as black and white, just dimmed evenly instead of maxed out.

Mixing complements rarely produces a perfectly neutral gray in practice, there's almost always a slight warm or cool cast left over, which is actually useful for shading.

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Gray FAQ

What colors make gray in paint?

Gray comes from mixing complementary colors together (like red and green, or blue and orange), which cancel out each other's saturation, or more simply by mixing black and white paint directly.

What colors make gray in light (RGB)?

In light (RGB), gray happens whenever red, green, and blue are equal but not at full intensity, the same logic as black and white, just dimmed evenly instead of maxed out.