What color does red and brown make when mixed as paint?

A red close to Piment Piquant (#C52C0A). Pigments subtract light, so the mix is darker and duller than either parent; exact results vary by brand and binder.

What do red and brown make as light?

A color near Rocket Science (#FF2F0D). 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 red than brown?

The result slides toward Red 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 red and brown make?

In paint, red and brown make a red close to Piment Piquant (#C52C0A). Mixed as light, the same pair gives a result near Rocket Science, because light adds while pigment subtracts.

50% Red · 50% Brown

As paint

#C52C0A

As light

#FF2F0D

Theory

Why paint and light disagree

Pigments work by absorbing light: each paint removes part of the spectrum, so combining red and brown 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: #C52C0A
RGB: rgb(197, 44, 10)
HSL: hsl(11, 90%, 41%)
CMYK: cmyk(0%, 78%, 95%, 23%)

Closest named color: Minestrone. 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 red and brown make when mixed as paint?: A red close to Piment Piquant (#C52C0A). Pigments subtract light, so the mix is darker and duller than either parent; exact results vary by brand and binder.
What do red and brown make as light?: A color near Rocket Science (#FF2F0D). 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 red than brown?: The result slides toward Red 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.