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

A orange close to Flash of Orange (#FEA900). Pigments subtract light, so the mix is darker and duller than either parent; exact results vary by brand and binder.

What do orange and yellow make as light?

A color near Yellow (#FFFF00). 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 yellow?

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 yellow make?

In paint, orange and yellow make a orange close to Flash of Orange (#FEA900). Mixed as light, the same pair gives a result near Yellow, because light adds while pigment subtracts.

50% Orange · 50% Yellow

As paint

#FEA900

As light

#FFFF00

Theory

Why paint and light disagree

Pigments work by absorbing light: each paint removes part of the spectrum, so combining orange and yellow 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: #FEA900
RGB: rgb(254, 169, 0)
HSL: hsl(40, 100%, 50%)
CMYK: cmyk(0%, 33%, 100%, 0%)

Closest named color: Beer. 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 yellow make when mixed as paint?: A orange close to Flash of Orange (#FEA900). Pigments subtract light, so the mix is darker and duller than either parent; exact results vary by brand and binder.
What do orange and yellow make as light?: A color near Yellow (#FFFF00). 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 yellow?: 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.