This is the simplest way to make minor adjustments to your red. Stick to the same category of paint when mixing. If your base paint is acrylic, mix it with other acrylics. If your base paint is a semi-gloss oil-based paint, mix it with other semi-gloss oil-based paints. If you mix different types of paint, they may blend into an inconsistent texture or color. If you’re working in low-light conditions, it can be hard to see a difference in a red paint when you mix it with another red.
Darker colors will radically change a lighter paint rapidly. Err on the side of caution by starting with a conservative amount of green before you go further. You can identify a color’s complimentary color by referring to a color wheel and looking for the color that is on the opposite side of your red. If you add black to a color, it will naturally absorb more light. Adding a little green is a good way to keep a red vibrant and vivid without making a room feel smaller or a painting appear flatter.
Analogous colors refer to colors that are next to one another on the color wheel, like light green and bright yellow or dark orange and light red. If you use too much blue, your red will end up looking purple.
Many painters don’t like mixing primary colors with black because it muddies the color and might not look dynamic
If you’re worried about making a room feel smaller when you paint a wall red and gray, use a lighter shade of gray. It will mute the red without making it feel dark. You can mix gray by combining white and black.
You can add black or yellow to your brown-red mixture to make it burgundy.
If you’re painting a lighter shade of red, adding a second coat will make it more vibrant, which could actually make it look lighter.
Watercolor paints don’t often come in different shades. If you’re painting with watercolors, use less water to make a color darker. You can use color swatches to identify the color of your wall. Hold up shades of red against the wall until you find a swatch that blends with your wall perfectly. Color swatches are normally organized with the lightest tone of a color on top of a slide and the darkest tone of color on the bottom. Move down 2-3 boxes on a slide to choose a tone that will mix well with your first coat.
Oil-based paint tends to be more reflective than latex paints. If you’re painting interior walls, this is easily done by taking your can of gloss paint to the store that you purchased it from and asking for a flat latex version of the same color. Oil-based glossy paints may require multiple layers to cover.
