What two colors make magenta?

Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses 3 tubes rather than two: 6 parts Alizarin Crimson, 5 parts Titanium White and 2 parts Viridian Green. Alizarin Crimson leads the mix. Chromilla's model predicts an 83% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

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

Lighten in small steps and compare against the target each time. Chromilla's palette struggles with a lighter magenta (#DE4781) in acrylic: Chromilla's model predicts an 83% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Why does magenta 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 #B34564 is predicted to dry to about #A43E58. Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.

What is the hex code for magenta?

Chromilla uses #C22A6A as the target for magenta. The acrylic recipe is predicted to dry to about #A43E58.

Can I mix magenta without black?

Yes. Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses no black: 6 parts Alizarin Crimson, 5 parts Titanium White and 2 parts Viridian Green.

How to mix

Magenta paint in acrylic, oil and watercolor, compared

Real pigment ratios for magenta (#C22A6A) in acrylic, oil and watercolor. The recipes below come straight from Chromilla’s mixer, calibrated to real manufacturer paint data.

Quick answer

To mix magenta (#C22A6A) in acrylic (oil and watercolor are compared below), use 6 parts Alizarin Crimson, 5 parts Titanium White and 2 parts Viridian Green. That falls short: Chromilla's model predicts an 83% 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.

Magenta 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	6 parts Alizarin Crimson, 5 parts Titanium White and 2 parts Viridian Green	83%	Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.
Oil	6 parts Alizarin Crimson, 5 parts Titanium White and 2 parts Viridian Green	87%	Dries true to color.
Watercolor	6 parts Alizarin Crimson, 5 parts Titanium White and 2 parts Viridian Green	85%	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

Magenta

#C22A6A

Live mixer

Open this color in the mixer

The Chromilla mixer is pre-loaded with #C22A6A. 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

83% when dry

Wet mix

#B34564

1. Alizarin Crimson (PR83)48%
2. Titanium White (PW6)37%
3. Viridian Green (PG18)15%

Dry-down

Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.

oil

Pigment recipe

87% when dry

Wet mix

#B34564

1. Alizarin Crimson (PR83)48%
2. Titanium White (PW6)37%
3. Viridian Green (PG18)15%

Dry-down

Dries true to color.

watercolour

Pigment recipe

85% when dry

Wet mix

#B34564

1. Alizarin Crimson (PR83)48%
2. Titanium White (PW6)37%
3. Viridian Green (PG18)15%

Dry-down

Dries slightly darker and a touch cooler.

Common mistakes when mixing magenta

The magenta you see on a screen is more saturated than any pigment combination can reach, since screens mix light additively and paint doesn't work that way. A quinacridone magenta or rose pigment gets the closest real-paint version, but if your target hex is a fully saturated screen magenta, expect an honestly lower match score rather than a mix that's quietly wrong. This is one of the clearest cases where the gap is in the target, not the recipe.

Exact single-medium recipes

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

Why the three mediums differ for magenta

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 #A43E58. It is the weakest fit here: chromilla's model predicts an 83% 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 #B34564.
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 #A43F5E.
In watercolor the paper is the white, so lighter versions come from adding water rather than white paint.

Acrylic recipe in detail

Magenta in acrylic: tube ratios, and ml for a 100 ml batch
Paint	Pigment	Parts	Share	100 ml batch
Alizarin Crimson	PR83	6	48%	48 ml
Titanium White	PW6	5	37%	37 ml
Viridian Green	PG18	2	15%	15 ml

Variations on Magenta (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 Magenta

#DE4781

Not a confident recipe: the closest mix is 3 parts Titanium White to 2 parts Alizarin Crimson, and chromilla's model predicts an 83% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Darker Magenta

#A11454

Not a confident recipe: the closest mix is 8 parts Alizarin Crimson, 4 parts Viridian Green and 3 parts Titanium White, and chromilla's model predicts an 83% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Warmer Magenta

#C72950

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

Cooler Magenta

#BB2F82

Not a confident recipe: the closest mix is 6 parts Titanium White, 6 parts Alizarin Crimson and 1 part Ultramarine Blue, and chromilla's model predicts a 75% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Magenta questions

What two colors make magenta?: Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses 3 tubes rather than two: 6 parts Alizarin Crimson, 5 parts Titanium White and 2 parts Viridian Green. Alizarin Crimson leads the mix. Chromilla's model predicts an 83% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
How do you make magenta paint lighter without losing the hue?: Lighten in small steps and compare against the target each time. Chromilla's palette struggles with a lighter magenta (#DE4781) in acrylic: Chromilla's model predicts an 83% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
Why does magenta 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 #B34564 is predicted to dry to about #A43E58. Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.
What is the hex code for magenta?: Chromilla uses #C22A6A as the target for magenta. The acrylic recipe is predicted to dry to about #A43E58.
Can I mix magenta without black?: Yes. Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses no black: 6 parts Alizarin Crimson, 5 parts Titanium White and 2 parts Viridian Green.

Related colors

More colours to try once you have magenta sorted.