How do you make coral paint lighter without losing the hue?

Lighten in small steps and compare against the target each time. Chromilla's palette struggles with a lighter coral (#FDA390) in acrylic: Chromilla's model predicts an 84% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Why does coral 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 #F67E66 is predicted to dry to about #E0715A. Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.

What is the hex code for coral?

Chromilla uses #F0806A as the target for coral. The acrylic recipe is predicted to dry to about #E0715A.

Can I mix coral without black?

Yes. Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses no black: 7 parts Titanium White to 3 parts Cadmium Red.

How to mix

Coral paint in acrylic, oil and watercolor, compared

Real pigment ratios for coral (#F0806A) in acrylic, oil and watercolor. The recipes below come straight from Chromilla’s mixer, calibrated to real manufacturer paint data.

Quick answer

To mix coral (#F0806A) in acrylic (oil and watercolor are compared below), use 7 parts Titanium White to 3 parts Cadmium Red. Chromilla's model predicts an 88% 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.

Coral 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	7 parts Titanium White to 3 parts Cadmium Red	88%	Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.
Oil	7 parts Titanium White to 3 parts Cadmium Red	97%	Dries true to color.
Watercolor	7 parts Titanium White to 3 parts Cadmium Red	90%	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

Coral

#F0806A

Live mixer

Open this color in the mixer

The Chromilla mixer is pre-loaded with #F0806A. 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

88% when dry

Wet mix

#F67E66

1. Titanium White (PW6)69%
2. Cadmium Red (PR108)31%

Dry-down

Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.

oil

Pigment recipe

97% when dry

Wet mix

#F67E66

1. Titanium White (PW6)69%
2. Cadmium Red (PR108)31%

Dry-down

Dries true to color.

watercolour

Pigment recipe

90% when dry

Wet mix

#F67E66

1. Titanium White (PW6)69%
2. Cadmium Red (PR108)31%

Dry-down

Dries slightly darker and a touch cooler.

Common mistakes when mixing coral

Coral sits in the narrow band between pink and orange, so a small shift in your red-to-yellow ratio decides whether you land on salmon, coral, or plain orange. Adding white too early to lighten the mix is the most common misstep, since it flattens the color before the hue is settled; get the hue right at full strength first, then lighten last. Watercolorists should mix stronger than they think they need, since coral dries noticeably lighter once the water lifts.

Exact single-medium recipes

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

Why the three mediums differ for coral

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 #E0715A.
oil dries true to color in Chromilla's model, so the oil mix is predicted to dry to #F67E66.
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 #E17460.
In watercolor the paper is the white, so lighter versions come from adding water rather than white paint.

Acrylic recipe in detail

Coral in acrylic: tube ratios, and ml for a 100 ml batch
Paint	Pigment	Parts	Share	100 ml batch
Titanium White	PW6	7	69%	69 ml
Cadmium Red	PR108	3	31%	31 ml

Variations on Coral (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 Coral

#FDA390

Not a confident recipe: the closest mix is 6 parts Titanium White to 1 part Cadmium Red, and chromilla's model predicts an 84% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Darker Coral

#D46752

5 parts Titanium White, 3 parts Burnt Sienna and 2 parts Alizarin Crimson. Chromilla's model predicts an 89% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Warmer Coral

#F07F70

72% Titanium White, 23% Cadmium Red and 5% Alizarin Crimson. Chromilla's model predicts an 87% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Cooler Coral

#F07D7F

6 parts Titanium White, 1 part Cadmium Red and 1 part Alizarin Crimson. Chromilla's model predicts an 86% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Coral questions

What two colors make coral?: In acrylic, Titanium White and Cadmium Red: 7 parts Titanium White to 3 parts Cadmium Red. Chromilla's model predicts an 88% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
How do you make coral paint lighter without losing the hue?: Lighten in small steps and compare against the target each time. Chromilla's palette struggles with a lighter coral (#FDA390) in acrylic: Chromilla's model predicts an 84% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
Why does coral 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 #F67E66 is predicted to dry to about #E0715A. Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.
What is the hex code for coral?: Chromilla uses #F0806A as the target for coral. The acrylic recipe is predicted to dry to about #E0715A.
Can I mix coral without black?: Yes. Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses no black: 7 parts Titanium White to 3 parts Cadmium Red.

Related colors

More colours to try once you have coral sorted.