How to mix

How to mix Olive Green paint

Real pigment ratios for olive green (#5C6B2E) in acrylic, oil and watercolour. The recipes below come straight from Chromilla’s mixer, calibrated to real manufacturer paint data.

Target colour

Olive Green

#5C6B2E

Live mixer

Open this colour in the mixer

The Chromilla mixer is pre-loaded with #5C6B2E. 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

99% match

Mixed result

#5D6B2E

ΔE 0.3

1. Burnt Sienna (PBr7)73%
2. Titanium White (PW6)22%
3. Phthalo Blue (PB15)5%

Dry-down

Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.

oil

Pigment recipe

99% match

Mixed result

#5D6B2E

ΔE 0.3

1. Burnt Sienna (PBr7)73%
2. Titanium White (PW6)22%
3. Phthalo Blue (PB15)5%

Dry-down

Dries true to colour.

watercolour

Pigment recipe

99% match

Mixed result

#5D6B2E

ΔE 0.3

1. Burnt Sienna (PBr7)73%
2. Titanium White (PW6)22%
3. Phthalo Blue (PB15)5%

Dry-down

Dries slightly darker and a touch cooler.

Common mistakes when mixing olive green

Olive drifts to mud faster than almost any other green, because it already sits close to neutral. Overshoot the yellow and it turns baby-food; overshoot the blue and it turns khaki-grey. The fix usually isn't more pigment, it's less: build olive from a warm yellow and a small amount of a dark, rather than two greens fighting each other. If your olive keeps going flat, you're probably reaching for white to lighten it when more yellow ochre would do the job better.

Short recipes by medium

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

Related colours

More colours to try once you have olive green sorted.