What color do brown and grey make?
Brown and Grey make brown.
Brown and Grey make brown, #75512c. That is the result in equal parts, mixing pigment rather than light - paint, ink and dye all behave this way.
Equal parts brown and grey · #75512c
Change the ratio
Very little of a mix is ever half and half. Shifting the balance moves the result along the range between the two colours.
3 parts brown, 1 part grey · #7d4a18
Equal parts · #75512c
1 part brown, 3 parts grey · #6e563d
Lighter and darker
With white added - a tint · #a38f7a
With black added - a shade · #3d260f
Why it works
Pigment mixes subtractively: brown paint absorbs the wavelengths it is not reflecting, grey absorbs its own set, and brown is what neither of them absorbed. This is why paint behaves differently from a screen, where light adds together instead.
Frequently asked questions
What color do brown and grey make?
Brown and Grey make brown, #75512c. Mixed in equal parts that is the result you get with paint, ink or any other pigment.
How do I make the result lighter or darker?
Add white for a tint - here that gives sage. Add black for a shade, which gives maroon. Add white a little at a time, because it takes far less than people expect to shift a mix.
What happens if I use more brown than grey?
Three parts brown to one part grey gives brown. Reversing it to one part brown and three parts grey gives brown instead.
Does this work the same way on a screen?
No. Screens mix light additively, so red and green light make yellow there. These results are subtractive - paint, ink, dye and pigment - which is what people mean when they ask what two colours make.