What color do red and orange make?
Red and Orange make red.
Red and Orange make red, #ff4000. That is the result in equal parts, mixing pigment rather than light - paint, ink and dye all behave this way.
Equal parts red and orange · #ff4000
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 red, 1 part orange · #ff2000
Equal parts · #ff4000
1 part red, 3 parts orange · #ff6000
Lighter and darker
With white added - a tint · #ffa080
With black added - a shade · #992600
Why it works
Pigment mixes subtractively: red paint absorbs the wavelengths it is not reflecting, orange absorbs its own set, and red 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 red and orange make?
Red and Orange make red, #ff4000. 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 salmon. Add black for a shade, which gives brown. 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 red than orange?
Three parts red to one part orange gives red. Reversing it to one part red and three parts orange gives orange 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.