What Colors Make Pink? – A Guide on the Various Shades of Pink

Pink! What would you use to describe “pink” if you were asked to explain the color in just one word? We would use the word delicious! It is a warm fuzzy color that makes you want to hold it next to your skin. No matter what shades of pink you are thinking about, be it pastel pink, baby pink or even blush pink, the color reminds us of days of comfort and warmth. This article will examine what colors make pink, what colors make light pink, and how to make pink without white. Join us in this beautiful journey of the pink color. How many shades of pink are there? Keep reading to find out!

All About the Pink Color

No matter what shades of pink you are drawn to, the color makes you want to cuddle, and feelings of warmth and security usually are the emotions that cross our minds. It is a color first introduced to us from infancy and stays with us throughout our lives.

Pink is a very light hue that stems directly from the red color on the color wheel. It is associated with love and romance and with the gender of girls from birth to adulthood.

Pink was first introduced to the world as an actual color in 1733, and it was named after jagged-edged flowers called Dianthus plumarius. The common name of this flower is carnation. These jagged-edged flowers were named after the pinking shear scissors called pinking. Once you cut fabric with pinking shears, the fabric edge becomes ruffled, which resembles the flower.

How to Make Pink Paint

If you are a budding artist with a low budget, no matter what your paint medium is, such as acrylic paint, watercolor, or oil paint, the question of how to make pink paint is the same for all three mediums. You may have asked yourself what colors make pink, and the answer is relatively easy. With acrylic, watercolors, and oil paints, you mix red with white, giving you the pink color hue straight away.

Adding a bit more white paint to the mix will result in softer baby pink shades, and by adding a bit more red tint, you will have a bright pink color, such as blush pink.

The Different Shades of Pink

The color pink is so vast, and the question that is often asked is, how many shades of pink are there? In total, and at our last count, there are around 150 available shades of pink, and we will look at the more popular pink colors further in the article.

Baby Pink

Baby pink is the beautiful pink in which we wrap newborn girl babies when leaving the hospital. The baby pink is soft and wants to make you want to cuddle. The color falls between the pastel pink color and the light pink color. Baby pink is a color that is traditionally suited for little girls, but today the color is becoming very popular.

Men at the workplace can even be seen wearing formal pink-colored shirts paired with blue jeans or black pants.

Blush Pink

Blush pink is a medium pink that looks almost like a dusty pink that you will find in pressed powder makeup and is used in the makeup world as blush or lipstick. Because of its warm tones, the pink color can be used by people throughout the year for all seasons.

Bright Pink

Bright pink is a cooler color than the neon pink color now available in the market. It is much warmer than the dark pink color and has a vibrant hue.

Bubblegum Pink

Is it fitting that there is a bubblegum pink color? Children are fascinated with bubblegum, and then adding that name to pink; you know it will be a best seller. The color resembles the pink you would find on the pink gumball and is a little darker than the baby pink color.

Cherry Blossom Pink

A color that is so hugely popular is cherry blossom pink. It is a light shade of pink that directly resembles the blossoms on a cherry tree.

The cherry blossom pink is similar to both baby pink and pastel pink.

Coral Pink

The coral pink color strongly resembles the color of coral that you find in the sea. It is a very mid-dusty shade of pink. This pink color was named in the 1500s and is probably one of the oldest pink colors.

Dark Pink

Dark pink is undoubtedly a popular color in the marketplace today, and often you will hear the question of how to make dark pink paint. It is a color brought into a child’s room as an accent color where the walls have been painted either baby pink or blush pink.

This hue of pink complements all other pinks. It is a warm color, and it is relatively easy to make this particular shade of pink.

Flamingo Pink

The pink flamingo color can be regarded as a bright baby pink color. It has a light undertone to the hue, almost a salmon color, but the name flamingo is directly related to the pink color you see on the flamingo bird.

Light Pink

Light pink is a color that reminds us of all things girly and feminine, but this does not mean that pink is just for girls! Children’s bedrooms are often painted in this warm light pink color.

This is actually a darker hue than pastel pink.

Neon Pink

This color has taken the world by storm in the past few years, and young children are especially drawn to the bright color. It is a dark color with an almost red tone, and you can see this color at the end of the day when watching the sunset, as these pink colors will fill the sky just before the sun says goodbye for the night.

Pastel Pink

The pastel pink color would be defined as an Easter color. Most of our white chocolate Easter bunnies will have this color added to the white chocolate as an accessory, such as shoes or handbags. This is the quintessential color for a young child, and because of its warm hues, it is one of the more attractive pink colors.

The pastel pink color is lighter than the light pink and baby pink colors.

Rouge Pink

The rouge pink color is very dark pink, and sometimes it is confused as being a shade of purple instead of pink. Sometimes it can also be classified as being red. It is a trendy color found in makeup for blush and lipstick.

Salmon

The salmon pink color is a very light pink that is also somewhat confused with baby pink. The name salmon pink gets its name from the beautiful pinkish hue that you see in the salmon fish.

It is a shade a bit warmer than the pink flamingo color but much cooler than the coral pink color.

Watermelon Pink

This pink color is a warm pick and resembles the bright color you will see inside a watermelon. It’s almost a blush pink hue, and many people consider it a red color.

Interesting Facts About the Different Shades of Pink

Pink is a happy color that evokes feelings of wanting to cuddle and be loved. Here are a few interesting facts about the pink color that you may not have known about.

• You may have asked how many shades of pink there are, and the answer is that there are around 150 different shades, scientifically speaking. Every shade of pink can have a different shade if mixing red, white, yellow, and sometimes even purple hues.
• The pink color gets its name directly from a flower. In the USA, a survey was carried out with the general public on what color means for certain people, and the consensus is that it denotes charm and sensitivity. It is a sweet color that brings back childhood memories, such as eating pink lollipops or pink ice-creams. It is a feminine color and, after red, is the most popular color to express love and sometimes even lust.

More intense pink colors, such as dark pink and bright pink, can add a feeling of urgency if used in branding, making you want to buy a product more quickly than if you were looking at dull colors. The best winter color to wear is shocking pink, which pairs well with blue, gray, and yellow colors.

• The pink color is synonymous with breast cancer awareness in many countries worldwide. Wearing pink ribbons is a way we honor those who have passed or are still battling the debilitating disease. It’s just a small token of how ladies stick with each other in times of need.

• If you look at nature for all things pink, the following will stand out in the fauna and flora world: Radish, plums, and turnips are all pink, and we can also add raspberries and lychees to the equation. Guava is another fruit that, when cut open, reflects a beautiful soft pink color, and then, of course, the humble carnation is the flower from where pink got its name.
• The jury is still out on whether pink is a warm color or a cool color. Because the pink color is derived from red, it should be considered a warm color. Determining whether pink is warm is not is put down the simple test of what you pair the pink color with. If you pair pink with magenta, the pink will appear cool, but on the other hand, if you pair pink with blue, it will appear warm.

Pink is a much more versatile color than you may think, and it pairs up beautifully with other colors, such as black and navy. Contrary to popular belief, a hot Cherise pink matches beautifully with hot orange.

• For a more sedate and elegant outfit, match a pink color with gray, and if you combine beige and tans with pink, you will have a perfect look for work. Mixing any shade of pink with green will make you stand out on a gray day, but not in a loud way.

Pink in Color Psychology

What do you think of when you think of this bright happy color? Pink is a color that will not make you feel neglected or abandoned. It is quite the opposite. All shades of pink color, no matter how dark or how light they are, will denote feminism. It is a color regarded as vibrant and attracts any personality to it, men and women alike.

Bright Pink

Bright pink colors can make a person feel flirty, and because it often takes us back to our childhood, it is usually associated with being safe and protected. It is a color that brings out the romance in everyone and feelings of kindness. While some people are naturally drawn to the pink color, some have less favorable views, especially if an entire bedroom is decorated in pink hues.

Being surrounded by one color can sometimes cause feelings of anxiety.

Pastel and Baby Pinks

Pastel pinks and baby pinks can remind you of springtime and rebirth. It is an inspiring color and denotes feelings of renewal and starting over because of its refreshing hue. While brighter pink colors will denote joy and happiness, softer pink colors, such as pastel pink and baby pink, will denote feelings of calm.

The pink you choose to decorate a child’s bedroom will have to be selected carefully, as different moods will correlate directly with the pink shades you use.

More Pink Symbolism

In sports, it is widely believed that players become lazy and passive if lockers are painted out in pink colors. For this reason, the Iowa Hawkeye Sporting Club painted their visitors’ changing rooms pink at their Kinnick Stadium after a new coach named Hayden Fry joined the team. Mr. Fry majored in psychology at Baylor University and believed that painting out the changing rooms would make the visitors less energetic on the field.

To sum up pink in psychology, this color symbolizes feelings of innocence, peace, romance, sweetness, warmth, and tranquility, to mention a few.

Those drawn to the pink color always tend to have pleasant memories from early childhood. It is understood that those who view the pink color with disdain usually because of an unpleasant experience they may have had.

Still, it is generally a widely popular color.

Famous Pink Paintings

You may think of the color pink as a modern color, but pink has been used throughout the centuries in various artworks. Some of the most renowned artists used the color pink in their paintings. Here are a few notable artworks utilizing the pink color.

The Springtime (1872) by Claude Monet

Claude Monet, a famous pink impressionist artist, used pink colors in one of his more renowned paintings, The Springtime, which was completed in 1872. This picture reflects Monet’s first wife, Camille Doncieux, seen to be seated beneath a canopy of lilacs.

The painting can be seen at the Walters Art Museum.

The Springtime (1872) by Claude Monet, located in the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, United States; Claude Monet, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Wheat Field (1890) by Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh was known to use different shades of pink, and in one of his more famous paintings, Wheat Field, he incorporated pink with blue and white to paint the sky. The pink color is seen as the color of love, and because it is a charming color, Van Gogh used it effectively to depict scenes of nature and the changing light.

Van Gogh was in touch with all things natural and always tried to paint what he saw. The pink color featured quite nicely in his paintings. 

Landscape with wheat sheaves and rising moon (1889) by Vincent van Gogh, located in the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, Netherlands; Vincent van Gogh, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

However, the pink colors were always subtle. The masterpiece titled Wheat Field is one of many paintings in a series where van Gogh depicted different scenes of wheat fields where he lived. This particular painting was finished in the year 1890.

The Artist’s Studio (1911) by Henri Matisse

In the next century, an artist named Henri Matisse started painting in pink. The painting titled The Artist’s Studio, painted in 1911 was painted at Issy-Les- Moulineaux in Paris, which was also his hometown for a long time. Matisse used predominantly blue, green, purple, and pink colors in his masterpieces.

As a contrasting color, he used brown, yellow, and red.

Different shades of pink color can be seen in the fauna and flora world, and we are confident when we say it is a color that will never go out of fashion. From the day we are born, pink features in our lives, and it will continue to feature as we grow older. The color nourishes the soul and makes the world’s harsh realities just a little softer. We hope you have enjoyed this journey of learning about all shades of pink.

Take a look at our how-to-make pink webstory here!

Frequently Asked Questions

What Colors Make Pink?

Questions such as what colors make pink or how to make pink paint are quickly answered. Only two colors are needed to make the pink color: red and white. Decide on the shade of pink that you are specifically looking for, then start with your red paint and add white to the red in small portions. The more white color you add, the lighter the pink tone. If you want to know what specific colors make light pink, that is also easy to explain; add more white when mixing the two colors.

How to Make Dark Pink?

How to make dark pink is a rapid process. Take a bit of red color and start adding white to the red. If you are looking specifically for a dark pink color, a lot of red will be added to the mix. To get a rich dark pink color, it is not necessary to add any other colors to the red and white; it is just a case of not using too much white at the offset of the mixing process.

What Colors Make Light Pink?

The light pink color can be made by simply adding white to red. As you increase the white with the red color, your pink will become lighter. If you are looking for soft baby pink, you will have to add quite a bit of white to the red, and the same process should be followed for a beautiful pastel pink as well. Because red is almost a pulverizing color, it may take quite a bit of mixing before you are pleased with the pink color you seek.

How to Make Pink Without White?

You may not want to make pink by mixing white and red, and the question of how to make pink without white is then looked at in more detail. If you want to experiment with other colors, you can try mixing a light-yellow color with your bright red. If you are not that worried about the specific pink color you are ultimately looking for and are looking for something more unusual, light yellow and red will give you a nice peach-pink color if mixed correctly. If you combine red and yellow in equal portions, you will get an orange color. To get to a more pinkish-peachy color, you should experiment more to ensure you don’t end up with a bright orange color.

Megan van Schoor( Content Writer and Social Scientist )

Megan is a writer and researcher who holds a degree in Social Sciences, with a specialization in Psychology and Environmental Science, from the University of Cape Town. Her dedication to acquiring knowledge and making a positive impact has driven her current work in promoting conscious and sustainable growth in Southern Africa. Megan’s interests encompass exploring the physical and psychological impacts of color in our environment on our mood and well-being. She is also passionate about the role of art and creativity, which has been an integral part of society since the beginning of human history. Since 2022, Megan has been contributing blog posts on painting and color theory at artfilemagazine.

Learn more about Megan van Schoor and about us.