What color does orange and blue make when mixed as paint?

A gray close to Pound Sterling (#807F80). Pigments subtract light, so the mix is darker and duller than either parent; exact results vary by brand and binder.

What do orange and blue make as light?

A color near Orchid Dottyback (#AC56AC). Light mixes additively, so overlapping sources brighten instead of darkening, which is why screens and paint disagree about the same pair.

What happens with more orange than blue?

The result slides toward Orange along the mixing curve; the live slider on this page computes the paint and light result at any ratio, with the hex code of every step.

What does orange and blue make?

In paint, orange and blue make a gray close to Pound Sterling (#807F80). Mixed as light, the same pair gives a result near Orchid Dottyback, because light adds while pigment subtracts.

50% Orange · 50% Blue

As paint

#807F80

As light

#AC56AC

Theory

Why paint and light disagree

Pigments work by absorbing light: each paint removes part of the spectrum, so combining orange and blue removes more light than either alone and the result darkens. Screens and stage lights work the other way. Each light adds energy, so overlapping them moves the result toward white. The slider above computes both models at any ratio: the paint result uses red-yellow-blue pigment interpolation, the light result uses additive blending.

Reference

The 50/50 paint result, specified

HEX: #807F80
RGB: rgb(128, 127, 128)
HSL: hsl(300, 0%, 50%)
CMYK: cmyk(0%, 1%, 0%, 50%)

Closest named color: Grey. Real pigments vary by brand and binder, so treat these values as the screen approximation of a physical mix.

FAQ

Quick answers

What color does orange and blue make when mixed as paint?: A gray close to Pound Sterling (#807F80). Pigments subtract light, so the mix is darker and duller than either parent; exact results vary by brand and binder.
What do orange and blue make as light?: A color near Orchid Dottyback (#AC56AC). Light mixes additively, so overlapping sources brighten instead of darkening, which is why screens and paint disagree about the same pair.
What happens with more orange than blue?: The result slides toward Orange along the mixing curve; the live slider on this page computes the paint and light result at any ratio, with the hex code of every step.