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

A red close to Beet Red (#802040). Pigments subtract light, so the mix is darker and duller than either parent; exact results vary by brand and binder.

What do red and teal make as light?

A color near Bretzel Brown (#AC5656). 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 teal?

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 teal make?

In paint, red and teal make a red close to Beet Red (#802040). Mixed as light, the same pair gives a result near Bretzel Brown, because light adds while pigment subtracts.

50% Red · 50% Teal

As paint

#802040

As light

#AC5656

Theory

Why paint and light disagree

Pigments work by absorbing light: each paint removes part of the spectrum, so combining red 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: #802040
RGB: rgb(128, 32, 64)
HSL: hsl(340, 60%, 31%)
CMYK: cmyk(0%, 75%, 50%, 50%)

Closest named color: Beet Red. 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 teal make when mixed as paint?: A red close to Beet Red (#802040). Pigments subtract light, so the mix is darker and duller than either parent; exact results vary by brand and binder.
What do red and teal make as light?: A color near Bretzel Brown (#AC5656). 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 teal?: 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.