Neutral Colors

Updated August 5, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

Neutral (NOO-trul) colors don't usually show up on the color wheel. Neutral colors include black, white, gray, and sometimes brown and beige. They are sometimes called “earth tones.”

Circus by Georges Seurat

In Circus, Georges Seurat uses many different neutral colors. You can see a few glimpses of red, blue, and yellow in this painting. But the overall effect is of natural brown and gray colors, like those you might see in rocks or in sand, dirt, and clay.

TRY IT! There are a few different ways to make neutral colors. You can blend black and white to make gray. You can create brown in two ways—by blending two complementary colors together, or by blending all three primary colors together.