What two colors make emerald?

Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses 3 tubes rather than two: 10 parts Titanium White, 1 part Phthalo Blue and 1 part Cadmium Yellow. Titanium White leads the mix. Chromilla's model predicts a 79% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

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

Lighten in small steps and compare against the target each time. Chromilla's palette struggles with a lighter emerald (#6CE291) in acrylic: Chromilla's model predicts a 75% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Why does emerald 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 #71BF79 is predicted to dry to about #69AC6B. Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.

What is the hex code for emerald?

Chromilla uses #50C878 as the target for emerald. The acrylic recipe is predicted to dry to about #69AC6B.

Can I mix emerald without black?

Yes. Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses no black: 10 parts Titanium White, 1 part Phthalo Blue and 1 part Cadmium Yellow.

How to mix

Emerald paint in acrylic, oil and watercolor, compared

Real pigment ratios for emerald (#50C878) in acrylic, oil and watercolor. The recipes below come straight from Chromilla’s mixer, calibrated to real manufacturer paint data.

Quick answer

To mix emerald (#50C878) in acrylic (oil and watercolor are compared below), use 10 parts Titanium White, 1 part Phthalo Blue and 1 part Cadmium Yellow. That falls short: Chromilla's model predicts a 79% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out. Try the mixer with your own tubes. 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.

Emerald 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	10 parts Titanium White, 1 part Phthalo Blue and 1 part Cadmium Yellow	79%	Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.
Oil	10 parts Titanium White, 1 part Phthalo Blue and 1 part Cadmium Yellow	89%	Dries true to color.
Watercolor	10 parts Titanium White, 1 part Phthalo Blue and 1 part Cadmium Yellow	82%	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

Emerald

#50C878

Live mixer

Open this color in the mixer

The Chromilla mixer is pre-loaded with #50C878. 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

79% when dry

Wet mix

#71BF79

1. Titanium White (PW6)83%
2. Phthalo Blue (PB15)9%
3. Cadmium Yellow (PY35)8%

Dry-down

Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.

oil

Pigment recipe

89% when dry

Wet mix

#71BF79

1. Titanium White (PW6)83%
2. Phthalo Blue (PB15)9%
3. Cadmium Yellow (PY35)8%

Dry-down

Dries true to color.

watercolour

Pigment recipe

82% when dry

Wet mix

#71BF79

1. Titanium White (PW6)83%
2. Phthalo Blue (PB15)9%
3. Cadmium Yellow (PY35)8%

Dry-down

Dries slightly darker and a touch cooler.

Common mistakes when mixing emerald

Emerald is a saturated, slightly blue-leaning green, and painters often reach for a yellow-shade green and end up with something closer to grass than gemstone. Starting from a blue-shade phthalo green and adjusting the yellow in small amounts keeps the jewel-like quality intact. Emerald also tends to be one of the strongest tinting pigments in the box, so a little goes further than it looks like it should on the palette.

Why the three mediums differ for emerald

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 #69AC6B. It is the weakest fit here: chromilla's model predicts a 79% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
oil dries true to color in Chromilla's model, so the oil mix is predicted to dry to #71BF79.
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 #67B071. It is the weakest fit here: chromilla's model predicts an 82% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
In watercolor the paper is the white, so lighter versions come from adding water rather than white paint.

Acrylic recipe in detail

Emerald in acrylic: tube ratios, and ml for a 100 ml batch
Paint	Pigment	Parts	Share	100 ml batch
Titanium White	PW6	10	83%	83 ml
Phthalo Blue	PB15	1	9%	9 ml
Cadmium Yellow	PY35	1	8%	8 ml

Variations on Emerald (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 Emerald

#6CE291

Not a confident recipe: the closest mix is 91% Titanium White, 5% Cadmium Yellow and 4% Phthalo Blue, and chromilla's model predicts a 75% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Darker Emerald

#30AE60

Not a confident recipe: the closest mix is 5 parts Titanium White, 1 part Phthalo Blue and 1 part Cadmium Yellow, and chromilla's model predicts an 82% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Warmer Emerald

#73C45F

73% Titanium White, 15% Cadmium Yellow, 7% Phthalo Blue and 5% Viridian Green. Chromilla's model predicts an 86% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Cooler Emerald

#10CB90

Not a confident recipe: the closest mix is 85% Titanium White, 10% Phthalo Blue and 5% Cadmium Yellow, and chromilla's model predicts a 72% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Emerald questions

What two colors make emerald?: Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses 3 tubes rather than two: 10 parts Titanium White, 1 part Phthalo Blue and 1 part Cadmium Yellow. Titanium White leads the mix. Chromilla's model predicts a 79% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
How do you make emerald paint lighter without losing the hue?: Lighten in small steps and compare against the target each time. Chromilla's palette struggles with a lighter emerald (#6CE291) in acrylic: Chromilla's model predicts a 75% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
Why does emerald 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 #71BF79 is predicted to dry to about #69AC6B. Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.
What is the hex code for emerald?: Chromilla uses #50C878 as the target for emerald. The acrylic recipe is predicted to dry to about #69AC6B.
Can I mix emerald without black?: Yes. Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses no black: 10 parts Titanium White, 1 part Phthalo Blue and 1 part Cadmium Yellow.

Related colors

More colours to try once you have emerald sorted.