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How to Create Yellow Colour for Your Walls?

Published: 30 May 2024 | Modified: 11 Sep 2025

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Choosing the right wall colour can bring a room to life, and yellow is a hue that evokes happiness and sunshine. But finding the ideal shade of yellow paint can be tricky. Store-bought yellows often look flat or too bright. Fortunately, you can easily mix a custom yellow paint to create the perfect sunny tone for your space.

Read on to learn the various techniques for mixing yellow paint from other colours. With some basic colour theory, a few simple supplies, and a dash of experimentation.

Unlock the secret how to make a yellow colour for your next paint project

Introduction: Why choose yellow for your walls?

Yellow walls can brighten up your living space, making it more vibrant and inviting. Yellow reflects light beautifully, making smaller rooms appear larger and more welcoming.

With a range of shades to choose from, yellow colour can set a distinct mood and atmosphere. It pairs wonderfully with various decor styles and colours, providing versatility while enhancing natural light. Choose yellow walls to revitalize your home and uplift your spirits.

Understanding the Colour Wheel: Basic Principles of Colour Mixing

Before starting to mix paint, it helps to understand some basic colour theories surrounding the colour wheel. The colour wheel displays sets of colours in specific relationships to each other. Using the wheel as a guide makes it easier to predict how combining certain pigments will affect the outcome.

There are primary colours, secondary colours, and tertiary colours. Primary colours are red, blue and yellow—these can't be created by mixing other paints. The secondary colours are formed by combining two primary colours, giving us orange, green, and purple. Further combinations result in shades like red-orange and blue-green, known as tertiary colours.

The colour wheel displays these colours in a circular format to showcase the relationships and patterns between them. It's an indispensable tool when learning how to mix custom colours.

Primary vs. Secondary Colours

When mixing yellow, you have to decide whether to use primary or secondary colours as your starting point. Both approaches work well but yield slightly different results.

Primary colours offer more true-to-tone shades:

Red and yellow make orange

Blue and yellow make green

Secondary colours mix well but may lean slightly towards their parent pigments:

Orange (red and yellow) and green (blue and yellow) make yellow with a subtle warmth

Orange (red and yellow) and purple (blue and red) make yellow with a subtle coolness

The choice impacts the undertone and aesthetic of the final yellow more than the actual shade. Keep reading to learn techniques for mixing yellow both ways.

Also Read: Beautiful Colour Combinations with Yellow Colour for Home

How to Make Yellow Colour by Mixing Two Colours (Red and Green)

Combining the primary colours red and green makes a pure, clean yellow. With a limitless number of red and green varieties available, you can tweak this basic formula to create the perfect sunny or buttery yellow.

Here is a simple step-by-step method:

Supplies Needed

Red paint

Green paint

Containers for mixing

Stir sticks

Instructions

Add a few teaspoons of red paint to your mixing container
Stir in a small amount of green paint
Use a stir stick to blend the two colours completely
Check the hue – does it match your desired shade of yellow?
Add more red or green paint in small increments until you achieve the perfect tone
Repeat the last 2 steps until the colour matches your vision

Tips

Start with a brighter red rather than burgundy

Lemon or lime greens make sunny yellows; darker greens make mustard yellows

Add white paint to lighten the shade

Start with less green paint - it's easier to intensify than reverse

Mixing Yellow Using Secondary Colours (Orange and Green)

By combining the secondary colours orange and green, you can also mix a lovely yellow paint. This technique creates rich, vibrant yellow tones.

Follow these steps:

Supplies Needed

Orange paint

Green paint

Containers for mixing

Stir sticks

Instructions

Pour a few teaspoons of orange colour into a mixing container
Add a pea-sized amount of green paint
Thoroughly blend the two colours
Check the tone – is the shade yellow as desired?
Gradually add more orange or green paint to achieve your perfect yellow
Repeat the above step 4 and step 5 until the colour is ideal

Tips

Lighter tangerine oranges make lemony yellows

Lime or chartreuse greens create bright hues

Avocado or hunter greens make deeper golden tones

Add white paint to lighten up the shade

Tips for Achieving Different Shades of Yellow

Once you understand the basics of mixing yellow from primary versus secondary colours, try applying these tips:

To make a bright, vibrant yellow, lean towards more orange/red tones

For muted, mustard-type shades, incorporate more subtle green hues

Use brighter, more saturated pigments in all components for maximum vibrancy

Incorporate white paint to raise the lightness

Mix in tiny amounts of blue or purple paint to give a greenish or greyish overtone

Add a touch of black or brown paint for an earthy, retro goldenrod-type shade

With the endless combinations possible, you can mix basically any yellow your heart desires!

Experimenting with Different Paint Types and Finishes

Taking your custom colour even further, consider experimenting with paint finishes and types:

Paint Types:

Play with mixing yellow tones in acrylics, oils, poster paints, chalk paint finishes, milk paints and tempera paints. Every medium will affect the final look.

Test on heavy paper or cardstock before committing to a large project.

Paint Finishes:

Mix a custom yellow in flat, eggshell, semi-gloss or high gloss paints.

Shinier finishes allow colours to pop and appear brighter.

More matte finishes offer a soothing, muted effect.

Get creative with metallic, glitter or even blacklight reactive paints for wildly different effects. Feel free to experiment with combining media like acrylic and tempera or mixing chalk paint and oils to make exactly the shade and texture you envision.

Also Read: Discover Unique Yellow Colour Trends: Unusual Picks for This Year

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Creating Yellow Paint

While mixing yellow paint is fairly straightforward, beginners make some common mistakes:

Not fully incorporating pigments – blended paint should be completely uniform with no streaks

Over or under mixing secondary colours first – pure, properly blended secondaries mix best

Going overboard, adding too much green or orange at once

Not testing enough before applying to a final surface

Thinning properly mixed paint by adding excess liquid medium or white

Using very small amounts of additional pigment for adjusting and patience in mixing, testing and honing in on your perfect yellow will help avoid failure. Don't be discouraged if your first few attempts are "muddy" or off. Creating that sunshine moment when you nail down the ideal pigment ratio makes practice rounds completely worthwhile.

Additional Tips and Tricks for a Flawless Finish

Finally, as you become comfortable mixing yellow paint tones, here are some extra pointers for gorgeous results:

Always mix enough to finish your whole project to prevent slight variances in colour

Stir thoroughly each time before use, as pigments may settle

Apply plenty of primer/base coating so the true shade comes through optimally

Work in layers, allowing proper dry time between paint application

Carefully strain custom-mixed paint before pouring it into the final paint container

Label each blended paint with the formula/ratios used for easy touch-ups

Store mixed paint properly sealed in an airtight container

Have fun with it! Part of the joy is unlocking that ideal tone only you could envision through colour blending.

Create your own custom yellow paint colour by using primary colours and a little bit of colour theory knowledge. With your paint brushes and palettes, you can easily brighten up any space in your home.

Nerolac Paints, a leading paint company in India offers a wide range of wall paint colours & painting services & solutions for homes & offices.

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