The Easiest Ways to Make Hot Pink Acrylic Paint

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The best painting ratios to create a vibrant and bold pink

Co-authored by Jeanine Hattas Wilson and Aly Rusciano

Last Updated: October 3, 2024 Fact Checked

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• Mixing Hot Pink Paint
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• Mixing Different Shades of Pink
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• Acrylic Paint Mixing Techniques
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• Using Watercolors
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• Using Oil Paints
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• Tips

|Show more |Show less

Ready to get creative? Well, mixing paint is all about creativity! Whether you’re trying to make hot pink paint for a Barbie mural, gorgeous sunset, or beautiful flower, we’ve got your back. Keep on reading to learn the best ways to mix hot pink paint. Plus, we’ve even thrown in a few acrylic paint mixing tips to get you started (or, if you're a pro, jog your memory).

How to Make Hot Pink

1. Put a red paint like Alizarin Crimson on your palette.
2. Place a bit of white paint on your palette.
3. Incorporate small amounts of the white paint into the red.
4. Continue mixing and adding white paint until you reach your desired color.

Steps

Section 1 of 5:

Best Ways to Make Hot Pink Paint

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1. 1
   Mix red with a little bit of white. One of the easiest ways to make hot pink is to combine a basic red shade with a small amount of white. Think of it as a 3:1 ratio. Adding a smaller amount of white helps the red keep its vibrancy, allowing a hot pink shade to form.

   • Add more white to lighten the color of your paint to create a lighter pink shade.
   • Artist Jeanine Hattas Wilson recommends using the color Alizarin Crimson instead of a generic red to get a more “vibrant pink.” Alizarin Crimson is a deep, cool red shade with blue undertones, which can help make a more vibrant pink.
   • Alternatively, you could use a Burnt Sienna paint, which is a warm red shade with yellow undertones. Using this paint to make hot pink can give you a color with more of a warm hue that isn’t as bright.
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   Mix crimson, magenta, and yellow together. One way to make hot pink paint is to combine crimson, magenta, and yellow paints. Start by adding equal amounts of yellow and crimson until you get a coral-like orange color. Then, add in crimson in small amounts until you reach your desired pink color.

   • To brighten or add more vibrancy to the color, add a bit of white paint. Don’t be afraid to experiment!
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   Mix white, red, and orange together. Another simple way to create hot pink paint is to darken a salmon color. First, combine 3 parts white, 1 part red, and 1 part orange to make a salmon-colored paint. Then, add 1 more part red and mix until the color is a vibrant pink.
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Section 2 of 5:

Mixing Different Shades of Pink

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1. 
   Hot pink paint isn’t the only fun color you can create with paint! There are so many pink shades out there, and you can mix anything you imagine. Try making these popular shades of pink using these ratios next:

   • Pink = 3 white + 1 red
   • Light pink = 3 white + 1 pink
   • Peach pink = 1 light pink + 1 orange
   • Gray pink = 1 gray + 1 pink
   • Mauve = 1 brown + 1 pink
   • Lilac pink = 1 purple + 1 pink
   • Lavender pink = 3 white + 1 lilac pink
   • Rose pink = 1 lavender pink + 1 red
   • Tangerine pink = 1 pink + 1 yellow
   • Orange pink = 1 peach pink + 1 yellow + 1 orange

Section 3 of 5:

Acrylic Paint Mixing Tips & Tricks

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1. 1
   Know your color wheel. The color wheel is a diagram that shows all the colors on the visible spectrum and how they relate to one another. Most color wheels are divided into 12 colors and grouped into 3 categories: primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. Understanding these categories and how to read the wheel can help you mix paint.

   • Primary colors (red, yellow, and blue): These colors are the base of every color and sit opposite each other on the wheel in a triangular pattern. No mixture of colors can create these 3 colors.
   • Secondary colors (orange, green, and violet): These colors are made by mixing equal amounts of primary colors and sit opposite each other on the wheel in a triangle shape.
   • Tertiary colors (red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, and red-violet): These colors are created by mixing equal parts of a primary color and the secondary color next to it. These are also known as intermediate colors.
   • Complementary colors: Colors directly across from each other on the wheel, like yellow and violet. These colors have a strong contrast with one another.
   • Analogous colors: A group of 3 colors next to each other on the wheel, like violet, red-violet, and red. These colors look the best together.
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   Understand warm and cool colors. Colors have temperature, and knowing if they’re warm or cool can help you mix the best colors possible. Experimenting with mixing warm and cool tones can open up a new range of colors, and knowing what tone your desired end color is can help you find what colors to mix to achieve it.

   • For instance, if you mix a warm yellow with a warm blue, you’ll get a warm brownish-green olive.
   • Warm colors have a brighter, more comforting tone (think of colors that remind you of the sun).
   • Cool colors have a more muted, icy tone (think of colors that remind you of the earth).
   • Keep in mind that color temperatures don’t always line up neatly when mixing colors. Some colors in contrasting temperatures can be muddy when mixed, while others blend well—it’s all about experimenting!
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   Add white paint to make a color more opaque. While adding white to a color can make it lighter, it can also make it more opaque or solid. White gives color more depth and can help make a paint not as transparent.
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   Aim to use brown or dark blue instead of black paint. If you want to darken your paint, consider using brown or dark blue paint over black paint. Black paint has the most pigment and can easily make a paint too dark. Try using brown or dark blue instead because it’s more forgiving.
5. 5
   Mix paint that’s a few shades lighter in case it dries darker. Acrylic paint often dries darker. So, if you mix a paint color that’s absolutely perfect while wet, it may dry to a different shade than you originally pictured. To avoid this, try mixing your ideal color and lightening it slightly with white.

   • Alternatively, test your paint on a different canvas or surface so you can see what it’ll look like once dried.
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Section 4 of 5:

What if you’re using watercolors?

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1. The same color rules apply to mixing watercolors—just focus on adding water. If you want to mix hot pink paint with watercolors, you can follow the same color recipes listed above! The tips of the color wheel still apply. The only difference with watercolors is that you need water to activate the paint and adjust the tone. Here’s a quick guide:

   • To make a color lighter, add more water.
   • To make a color brighter or more saturated, add less water or use it straight from the tube.

Section 5 of 5:

What if you’re using oil paints?

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1. The same color rules apply to mixing oil paints, but pay attention to the opacity of paint. If you’re mixing hot pink paint with oil paints, you can use the same color recipes listed above but pay close attention to the transparency or opaqueness of the paints you’re using. Unlike acrylic paints, oil paints are defined by levels of opacity. Each paint tube is labeled as opaque, semitransparent, or transparent. This determines how saturated or bold the color is right out of the tube. Opaque paints cover a canvas completely, while semitransparent or transparent paints only cover the canvas partially.

   • Opaque oil paints are marked with a solid square on the tube.
   • Semitransparent oil paints are marked with a square half filled in.
   • Transparent oil paints are marked with an empty square.
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Tips

• Glazing an acrylic painting? You can use the same color-mixing guides to find the perfect hot pink shade! Simply create your hot pink paint, and then mix in your glaze in small increments until you get the transparency you’re looking for.
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