How to Make Maroon

Co-authored by Kelly Medford

Last Updated: April 24, 2022 Approved

Maroon is a deep, burgundy colour many people enjoy for paints or dyes. Maroon is made, like many other colours, with a combination of red, blue, and yellow. There is no exact ratio to make maroon, as the final product is often determined by the exact shades of red, blue, and yellow you're using. With a little experimentation, however, you should be able to create maroon.

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Making Your Maroon Base

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Get primary red, blue, and yellow paint or dye. Maroon is primarily made up of red and blue. Yellow is generally then used to add brownish undertones as necessary. Using pure, primary colours generally works best to create new colours. If you're using non-primary colours, do an internet-research or read your paint or dye's container carefully to determine any undertones and see if they are suitable for creating maroon.^{[1]
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- For example, cadmium red already has yellow undertones. If you mix it with blue, and then add yellow, your paint may come out too light.
- Rose madder, on the other hand, is a cool red with a blue bias. You will get a violet colour when mixing it with blue, which needs to be adjusted with yellow paint. ^{[2]
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Kelly Medford
Professional Painter
Kelly Medford is an American painter based in Rome, Italy. She studied classical painting, drawing and printmaking both in the U.S. and in Italy. She works primarily en plein air on the streets of Rome, and also travels for private international collectors on commission. She founded Sketching Rome Tours in 2012 where she teaches sketchbook journaling to visitors of Rome. Kelly is a graduate of the Florence Academy of Art.

Kelly Medford
Professional Painter

Use a darker red that mixes better. Kelly Medford, a plein air painter, says: “If you’re using primary colors, choose a darker red, like alizarin along with blue and yellow. Once you mix the red and blue, you’ll have purple, which is why you need to mix in yellow to bring the color back to red. If you use a light red, you might not be able to get the mixture of the three colors right.”
2
Mix a 5:1 ratio of red to blue. Blue is a darker color. It can therefore easily overpower the red, creating a more blueish shade than the blood red shade of maroon. You will need a lot more red to begin, so start mixing colors by adding five parts red for every one part blue.^{[3]
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- Add small quantities at a time to avoid wasting paint. Once you've figured out which ratios work, you can mix a great deal of your maroon paint.^{[4]
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3
Add yellow until you get maroon. Blue and red should get you a shade that runs from violet to deep brown depending on the precise colors of your paint. A tiny bit of yellow can usually push the initial mixture of red and blue towards the maroon territory.^{[5]
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- Add just a drop or two of yellow to start and mix it in. Continue adding yellow in small drops until your mixture comes out maroon.
4
Determine a paint's hue with white paint. Maroon should ideally have a dark red hue. As it's a darker color, it may be hard to determine the hue you've produced. Add a small bit of white to some of your maroon paint. The color you see when you add white is your paint's hue. Pull a small amount of paint aside to test the hue instead of adding white to the whole batch, which could ruin your paint.^{[6]
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- If your maroon has more of a violet colour than red hue, add some more yellow paint to adjust.
5
Store the maroon using any method that you like. Use an empty paint or dye container to store your maroon as soon as you have it where you want. As it takes time to develop a specific colour, having this maroon on hand in the future allows you to start painting quicker.^{[7]
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- Also, write down the rough ratios used and adjustments you made to create maroon so you can create a similar colour of maroon using the formula later on.

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Avoiding Mistakes

1
Do some test swabs. Don't apply your maroon paint or dye right away. Check how your paint or dye will look when it dries to make sure it's the colour you want. Apply a small dab of your paint or dye to a piece of scrap paper. Wait for it to dry and then check to see if it's the color you want.
2
Stick to single pigments. When mixing paint, it's best to stick to single pigment paints. Too many pigments can dull a color, so make sure your red, yellow, and blue are all single pigment varieties.^{[8]
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Opt to add dark colours to light ones. Lightening a darker colour requires a great deal of paint, time, and effort. On the other hand, only a small splash of a darker paint will change a colour from light to dark. Try your best to start off with a lighter maroon. It will be easier to darken the colour than lighten it.^{[9]
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Community Q&A

Question

Can I make a maroon with white, yellow and purple?

Sydney2017

Community Answer

No, to get the best results you should mix red, blue and yellow, then of course you can customize it to your liking.
Question

What does it look like?

Community Answer

It is a dark, reddish color. It has purple-ish tones, too.
Question

How do I change beige to maroon?

Community Answer

Add mostly red, also some blue. If it doesn't look right, determine whether it's too warm or too cold and gradually add a little more blue or red, respectively.