Mahogany paint in acrylic, oil and watercolor, compared

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.

Common mistakes when mixing mahogany

Mahogany is a very dark, warm reddish-brown, closer to a deep red than to a neutral brown, and painters often darken it with black, which pulls it cold and flattens the red out of it. A burnt umber or Van Dyke brown deepened with a touch of a dark red keeps the warmth intact. This is a color where the dry-down shift matters more than most, since a dark warm color drying darker or lighter changes its character more than a mid-tone would.

Why the three mediums differ for mahogany

• 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 #462824.
• oil dries true to color in Chromilla's model, so the oil mix is predicted to dry to #4A2C2A.
• 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 #432829.
• In watercolor the paper is the white, so lighter versions come from adding water rather than white paint.

Acrylic recipe in detail

Variations on Mahogany (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.

Mahogany questions

What two colors make mahogany?

Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses 3 tubes rather than two: 67% Yellow Ochre, 23% Alizarin Crimson and 10% Ivory Black. Yellow Ochre leads the mix. Chromilla's model predicts a 96% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

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

Re-balance the mix instead of only adding white. For a lighter mahogany (#61413E) in acrylic, Chromilla mixes 9 parts Yellow Ochre, 2 parts Ultramarine Blue and 2 parts Alizarin Crimson. Chromilla's model predicts a 90% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Why does mahogany 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 #4A2C2A is predicted to dry to about #462824. Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.

What is the hex code for mahogany?

Chromilla uses #4A2C2A as the target for mahogany. The acrylic recipe is predicted to dry to about #462824.

Related colors

More colours to try once you have mahogany sorted.

• How to make Chestnut paint/guides/how-to-mix-chestnut
• How to make Brown paint/guides/how-to-mix-brown
• How to make Burgundy paint/guides/how-to-mix-burgundy
• How to make Charcoal paint/guides/how-to-mix-charcoal
• How to make Rust paint/guides/how-to-mix-rust