What two colors make charcoal?

Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses 3 tubes rather than two: 67% Viridian Green, 28% Ultramarine Blue and 5% Cadmium Red. Viridian Green leads the mix. Chromilla's model predicts a 93% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Why does charcoal look different when acrylic dries?

Acrylic binder looks milky while wet and clears as it dries, so the dried film reads darker. Chromilla's model applies a 10% value shift for acrylic, so the wet mix #36454F is predicted to dry to about #343E45. Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.

What is the hex code for charcoal?

Chromilla uses #36454F as the target for charcoal. The acrylic recipe is predicted to dry to about #343E45.

Can I mix charcoal without black?

Yes. Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses no black: 67% Viridian Green, 28% Ultramarine Blue and 5% Cadmium Red.

How to mix

Charcoal paint in acrylic, oil and watercolor, compared

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

Quick answer

To mix charcoal (#36454F) in acrylic (oil and watercolor are compared below), use 67% Viridian Green, 28% Ultramarine Blue and 5% Cadmium Red. Chromilla's model predicts a 93% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out. Chromilla is a web-based paint color mixer that turns any color, from a photo, the camera or a hex code, into exact paint-tube ratios for acrylic, oil and watercolor, using Kubelka-Munk pigment mixing and aiming at the color after it dries.

Charcoal in acrylic, oil and watercolor, side by side (dry match by Chromilla's color model, not a measured paint-out)
Medium	Tubes and parts	Predicted dry match	Drying
Acrylic	67% Viridian Green, 28% Ultramarine Blue and 5% Cadmium Red	93%	Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.
Oil	67% Viridian Green, 28% Ultramarine Blue and 5% Cadmium Red	100%	Dries true to color.
Watercolor	67% Viridian Green, 28% Ultramarine Blue and 5% Cadmium Red	94%	Dries slightly darker and a touch cooler.

How we calculated this: Kubelka-Munk pigment mixing, then a per-medium dry shift, scored with CIEDE2000. Method and accuracy benchmark. Last checked August 2026.

Terms used here: Dry shift, Value, Kubelka-Munk, Delta E (dE2000), Transparency, Pigment code, Tint.

Target color

Charcoal

#36454F

Live mixer

Open this color 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

93% when dry

Wet mix

#36454F

1. Viridian Green (PG18)67%
2. Ultramarine Blue (PB29)28%
3. Cadmium Red (PR108)5%

Dry-down

Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.

oil

Pigment recipe

100% when dry

Wet mix

#36454F

1. Viridian Green (PG18)67%
2. Ultramarine Blue (PB29)28%
3. Cadmium Red (PR108)5%

Dry-down

Dries true to color.

watercolour

Pigment recipe

94% when dry

Wet mix

#36454F

1. Viridian Green (PG18)67%
2. Ultramarine Blue (PB29)28%
3. Cadmium Red (PR108)5%

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 color instead of it reading as flat and dead.

Exact single-medium recipes

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

Why the three mediums differ for charcoal

acrylic carries a 10% value shift on drying in Chromilla's model (dries slightly darker and a touch warmer), so the acrylic mix is predicted to dry to #343E45.
oil dries true to color in Chromilla's model, so the oil mix is predicted to dry to #36454F.
watercolor carries a 8% value shift on drying in Chromilla's model (dries slightly darker and a touch cooler), so the watercolor mix is predicted to dry to #313F4B.
In watercolor the paper is the white, so lighter versions come from adding water rather than white paint.

Acrylic recipe in detail

Charcoal in acrylic: tube ratios, and ml for a 100 ml batch
Paint	Pigment	Share	100 ml batch
Viridian Green	PG18	67%	67 ml
Ultramarine Blue	PB29	28%	28 ml
Cadmium Red	PR108	5%	5 ml

Variations on Charcoal (acrylic)

Each variation is its own target (lighter and darker move OKLCH lightness by 0.08; warmer and cooler turn the hue 12 degrees toward red or blue), solved fresh.

Lighter Charcoal

#4B5B65

96% Viridian Green and 4% Alizarin Crimson. Chromilla's model predicts an 89% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Darker Charcoal

#22303A

95% Ultramarine Blue and 5% Cadmium Yellow. Chromilla's model predicts a 92% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Warmer Charcoal

#384450

75% Ultramarine Blue, 16% Burnt Umber and 9% Titanium White. Chromilla's model predicts a 93% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Cooler Charcoal

#384450

75% Ultramarine Blue, 16% Burnt Umber and 9% Titanium White. Chromilla's model predicts a 93% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Charcoal questions

What two colors make charcoal?: Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses 3 tubes rather than two: 67% Viridian Green, 28% Ultramarine Blue and 5% Cadmium Red. Viridian Green leads the mix. Chromilla's model predicts a 93% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
How do you make charcoal paint lighter without losing the hue?: Re-balance the mix instead of only adding white. For a lighter charcoal (#4B5B65) in acrylic, Chromilla mixes 96% Viridian Green and 4% Alizarin Crimson. Chromilla's model predicts an 89% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
Why does charcoal look different when acrylic dries?: Acrylic binder looks milky while wet and clears as it dries, so the dried film reads darker. Chromilla's model applies a 10% value shift for acrylic, so the wet mix #36454F is predicted to dry to about #343E45. Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.
What is the hex code for charcoal?: Chromilla uses #36454F as the target for charcoal. The acrylic recipe is predicted to dry to about #343E45.
Can I mix charcoal without black?: Yes. Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses no black: 67% Viridian Green, 28% Ultramarine Blue and 5% Cadmium Red.

Related colors

More colours to try once you have charcoal sorted.