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

A brown close to Goldenrod Tea (#9F7940). Pigments subtract light, so the mix is darker and duller than either parent; exact results vary by brand and binder.

What do orange and teal make as light?

A color near Spinach Banana Smoothie (#ACAC56). 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 teal?

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 teal make?

In paint, orange and teal make a brown close to Goldenrod Tea (#9F7940). Mixed as light, the same pair gives a result near Spinach Banana Smoothie, because light adds while pigment subtracts.

50% Orange · 50% Teal

As paint

#9F7940

As light

#ACAC56

Theory

Why paint and light disagree

Pigments work by absorbing light: each paint removes part of the spectrum, so combining orange and teal 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: #9F7940
RGB: rgb(159, 121, 64)
HSL: hsl(36, 43%, 44%)
CMYK: cmyk(0%, 24%, 60%, 38%)

Closest named color: Driftwood. 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 teal make when mixed as paint?: A brown close to Goldenrod Tea (#9F7940). Pigments subtract light, so the mix is darker and duller than either parent; exact results vary by brand and binder.
What do orange and teal make as light?: A color near Spinach Banana Smoothie (#ACAC56). 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 teal?: 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.