How to mix

How to mix Charcoal paint

Real pigment ratios for charcoal (#36454F) in acrylic, oil and watercolour. The recipes below come straight from Chromilla’s mixer, calibrated to real manufacturer paint data.

Target colour

Charcoal

#36454F

Live mixer

Open this colour in the mixer

The Chromilla mixer is pre-loaded with #36454F. Change your brand, medium or palette and the recipe updates instantly.

Open in mixer

Recipes by medium

Checked August 2026

Generic pigment ratios, the same ones the Chromilla mixer solves for. Open the mixer to swap in your own brand and tubes.

acrylic

Pigment recipe

96% match

Mixed result

#30404A

ΔE 1.7

1. Ultramarine Blue (PB29)87%
2. Yellow Ochre (PY43)13%

Dry-down

Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.

oil

Pigment recipe

96% match

Mixed result

#30404A

ΔE 1.7

1. Ultramarine Blue (PB29)87%
2. Yellow Ochre (PY43)13%

Dry-down

Dries true to colour.

watercolour

Pigment recipe

96% match

Mixed result

#30404A

ΔE 1.7

1. Ultramarine Blue (PB29)87%
2. Yellow Ochre (PY43)13%

Dry-down

Dries slightly darker and a touch cooler.

Common mistakes when mixing charcoal

Charcoal is a near-black with a cool undertone, and pure black paint gets you closer to soot than to charcoal, which has more life in it than a flat black does. Mixing black with a small amount of blue, or building the dark from a blue and a brown rather than from tube black, keeps some depth in the colour instead of it reading as flat and dead.

Short recipes by medium

Straight-to-the-ratio versions of charcoal in each medium, from the Chromilla mix library.

Related colours

More colours to try once you have charcoal sorted.