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

Lighten in small steps and compare against the target each time. Chromilla's palette struggles with a lighter salmon (#FEB4A1) 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 salmon 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 #F7937B is predicted to dry to about #E1846D. Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.

What is the hex code for salmon?

Chromilla uses #F0937D as the target for salmon. The acrylic recipe is predicted to dry to about #E1846D.

Can I mix salmon without black?

Yes. Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses no black: 4 parts Titanium White to 1 part Cadmium Red.

How to mix

Salmon paint in acrylic, oil and watercolor, compared

Real pigment ratios for salmon (#F0937D) in acrylic, oil and watercolor. The recipes below come straight from Chromilla’s mixer, calibrated to real manufacturer paint data.

Quick answer

To mix salmon (#F0937D) in acrylic (oil and watercolor are compared below), use 4 parts Titanium White to 1 part Cadmium Red. Chromilla's model predicts an 89% 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.

Salmon 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	4 parts Titanium White to 1 part Cadmium Red	89%	Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.
Oil	4 parts Titanium White to 1 part Cadmium Red	97%	Dries true to color.
Watercolor	4 parts Titanium White to 1 part Cadmium Red	91%	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

Salmon

#F0937D

Live mixer

Open this color in the mixer

The Chromilla mixer is pre-loaded with #F0937D. 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

89% when dry

Wet mix

#F7937B

1. Titanium White (PW6)80%
2. Cadmium Red (PR108)20%

Dry-down

Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.

oil

Pigment recipe

97% when dry

Wet mix

#F7937B

1. Titanium White (PW6)80%
2. Cadmium Red (PR108)20%

Dry-down

Dries true to color.

watercolour

Pigment recipe

91% when dry

Wet mix

#F7937B

1. Titanium White (PW6)80%
2. Cadmium Red (PR108)20%

Dry-down

Dries slightly darker and a touch cooler.

Common mistakes when mixing salmon

Salmon sits between pink and coral, warmer than pink but softer than coral, and small shifts in red-to-yellow ratio move it firmly into either neighbor. A red with a touch of yellow, lightened with white last, tends to hold the balance better than starting from orange and adding red. If your salmon reads as pink, add a touch more yellow before adding more red.

Exact single-medium recipes

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

Why the three mediums differ for salmon

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 #E1846D.
oil dries true to color in Chromilla's model, so the oil mix is predicted to dry to #F7937B.
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 #E28773.
In watercolor the paper is the white, so lighter versions come from adding water rather than white paint.

Acrylic recipe in detail

Salmon in acrylic: tube ratios, and ml for a 100 ml batch
Paint	Pigment	Parts	Share	100 ml batch
Titanium White	PW6	4	80%	80 ml
Cadmium Red	PR108	1	20%	20 ml

Variations on Salmon (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 Salmon

#FEB4A1

Not a confident recipe: the closest mix is 10 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 Salmon

#D57A65

61% Titanium White, 30% Cadmium Red and 9% Viridian Green. Chromilla's model predicts an 88% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Warmer Salmon

#F19284

82% Titanium White, 14% Cadmium Red and 4% Alizarin Crimson. Chromilla's model predicts an 88% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Cooler Salmon

#F1908D

7 parts Titanium White, 3 parts Yellow Ochre and 1 part Alizarin Crimson. Chromilla's model predicts an 85% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Salmon questions

What two colors make salmon?: In acrylic, Titanium White and Cadmium Red: 4 parts Titanium White to 1 part Cadmium Red. Chromilla's model predicts an 89% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
How do you make salmon paint lighter without losing the hue?: Lighten in small steps and compare against the target each time. Chromilla's palette struggles with a lighter salmon (#FEB4A1) 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 salmon 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 #F7937B is predicted to dry to about #E1846D. Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.
What is the hex code for salmon?: Chromilla uses #F0937D as the target for salmon. The acrylic recipe is predicted to dry to about #E1846D.
Can I mix salmon without black?: Yes. Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses no black: 4 parts Titanium White to 1 part Cadmium Red.

Related colors

More colours to try once you have salmon sorted.