Through science, we know that black objects absorb light while white reflects light. In order to create black from mixing paints, we need to mix in all colors. The mixing process allows all light from paint colors to be absorbed within the paint, so what we see is the color we know as black.

Things You’ll Need

• Acrylic red paint
• Acrylic yellow paint
• Acrylic blue paint
• 7 small paper plates (saucer size)
• Paintbrush
• Cup of water
• Paper towels

Step 1

Squeeze a quarter-size amount of red, yellow, and blue paints onto three separate plates. Lightly dip your paintbrush into the red paint and brush the paint onto a fourth plate. You do not need to glob large amounts of paint to mix colors. Rinse your brush in water and wipe clean with a paper towel. Dip the brush into the yellow paint then brush it onto the fourth place. Mix the red and yellow paints together to create orange.

Step 2

Rinse your brush and dry if off. Dip your brush into the yellow paint and brush onto a fifth plate. Rinse your brush then dip it into the blue paint. Transfer the paint over to the same plate. Mix the colors together to create green.

Step 3

Rinse and dry your brush once again. Combine red and blue paint colors to create purple. You should now have six different colors, each on a separate plate: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.

Step 4

Rinse and dry off your brush one last time. Dip your brush into the red paint and add it to the seventh plate. Add a dab of the remaining five colors to the same plate. Mix together all six colors to create black.

It is important to rinse and dry your paintbrush prior to starting a new paint mixture. This ensures that you will not contaminate your original red, yellow and blue colors. Although the process of mixing colors to create the color black can be an informative lesson in art and science, this may not be the most efficient solution if you are an artist who needs to use black in creating your artful masterpieces. In these instances, you should use true black paint.