What color do green and brown make?
Green and brown make olive (dark olive green). Brown dulls and warms green into olive and moss.
Green + brown = olive (dark olive green)
Why green and brown make olive (dark olive green)
Brown is a dark, dull orange, so green and brown behave like green mixed with a darkened orange: the result is earthier and darker than either bright color alone.
Paint mixes subtractively: each pigment absorbs part of the light, and the mix reflects only what both let through. That is why paint mixes get darker and duller as you add colors, while light mixes get brighter.
Change the ratio
Equal parts are only the middle of a range. More green pulls the result toward green, more brown toward brown. Mix a small test batch, note the parts you used, and scale up once you like it.
All three are mixed with the same spectral paint model. Dark paints are strong, so a little of them changes a mix a lot; light paints such as white and yellow need more parts to show.
Green and brown on a screen
Tips for mixing green and brown
- Start with equal amounts on the palette, mix one small test patch, then adjust with the color you want more of.
- Mix thoroughly with a palette knife; streaks of unmixed green or brown change how the color reads from a distance.
- Let a test swatch dry before judging it. Acrylics usually dry a little darker, while watercolors dry lighter.
- Write down the ratio that works (for example 2 parts to 1) so you can mix the same color again.
- To match a color on screen, compare the paint swatch against the hex code here on a calibrated display, and remember print and paint cannot reach every screen color.
More green color mixes
| Mix | Result | Ratio | Hex |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green + red | brown | equal parts | #60463A |
| Green + orange | olive green | equal parts | #638431 |
| Green + yellow | yellow-green (chartreuse) | 1 green : 2 yellow | #9DC930 |
| Green + blue | blue-green (teal) | equal parts | #1B6C56 |
| Green + purple | slate gray (dark gray-brown) | equal parts | #4A4F54 |
| Green + pink | grayish taupe | 1 green : 2 pink | #949E8F |
| Green + black | dark green (hunter green) | 2 green : 1 black | #2A372C |
| Green + white | mint (pastel green) | 1 green : 2 white | #A4E0AE |
| Green + gray | sage (gray-green) | 1 green : 2 gray | #688C6E |
More brown color mixes
| Mix | Result | Ratio | Hex |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brown + red | reddish brown (rust) | 3 brown : 2 red | #8B3C29 |
| Brown + orange | burnt orange | equal parts | #A76427 |
| Brown + yellow | golden brown (ochre) | equal parts | #B8872F |
| Brown + blue | near black (dark slate) | equal parts | #38503D |
| Brown + purple | plum brown (aubergine) | 1 brown : 2 purple | #6F3856 |
| Brown + pink | rosy brown | equal parts | #AE734E |
| Brown + black | dark brown (espresso) | 2 brown : 1 black | #312C22 |
| Brown + white | light brown (beige, tan) | 2 brown : 3 white | #D3AF82 |
| Brown + gray | taupe | 1 brown : 2 gray | #89795D |
Frequently asked questions
What color do green and brown make?
Green and brown make olive (dark olive green) in paint (about #58582D, mixed 2 green : 3 brown). Brown dulls and warms green into olive and moss.
Is green and brown the same in paint and on a screen?
Not exactly. Paint gives olive (dark olive green) (about #58582D at 2 green : 3 brown), while a 50/50 digital blend in a design tool gives #646C32, because screens mix light rather than pigment.
How do I make the mix lighter or darker?
Add white to lighten it into a tint, black (a little at a time) to darken it into a shade, or gray to mute it. Changing the ratio of green to brown shifts the hue itself.
Mix any two colors
The color mixer blends up to five colors by weight in a spectral paint model, OKLab or linear light, and exports the steps.