What two colors make deep skin tone?

Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses 3 tubes rather than two: 68% Yellow Ochre, 27% Cadmium Red and 5% Ivory Black. Yellow Ochre leads the mix. Chromilla's model predicts a 93% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Why does deep skin tone 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 #693D28 is predicted to dry to about #623722. Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.

What is the hex code for deep skin tone?

Chromilla uses #6B3F2A as the target for deep skin tone. The acrylic recipe is predicted to dry to about #623722.

How to mix

Deep Skin Tone paint in acrylic, oil and watercolor, compared

Real pigment ratios for deep skin tone (#6B3F2A) in acrylic, oil and watercolor. The recipes below come straight from Chromilla’s mixer, calibrated to real manufacturer paint data.

Quick answer

To mix deep skin tone (#6B3F2A) in acrylic (oil and watercolor are compared below), use 68% Yellow Ochre, 27% Cadmium Red and 5% Ivory Black. Chromilla's model predicts a 93% 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.

Deep Skin Tone 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	68% Yellow Ochre, 27% Cadmium Red and 5% Ivory Black	93%	Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.
Oil	68% Yellow Ochre, 27% Cadmium Red and 5% Ivory Black	98%	Dries true to color.
Watercolor	68% Yellow Ochre, 27% Cadmium Red and 5% Ivory Black	92%	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

Deep Skin Tone

#6B3F2A

Live mixer

Open this color in the mixer

The Chromilla mixer is pre-loaded with #6B3F2A. 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

93% when dry

Wet mix

#693D28

1. Yellow Ochre (PY43)68%
2. Cadmium Red (PR108)27%
3. Ivory Black (PBk9)5%

Dry-down

Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.

oil

Pigment recipe

98% when dry

Wet mix

#693D28

1. Yellow Ochre (PY43)68%
2. Cadmium Red (PR108)27%
3. Ivory Black (PBk9)5%

Dry-down

Dries true to color.

watercolour

Pigment recipe

92% when dry

Wet mix

#693D28

1. Yellow Ochre (PY43)68%
2. Cadmium Red (PR108)27%
3. Ivory Black (PBk9)5%

Dry-down

Dries slightly darker and a touch cooler.

Common mistakes when mixing deep skin tone

The most common mistake at deeper values is darkening with black, which flattens the warmth and richness that makes deep skin tones read as alive rather than muddy. A dark red-brown (burnt umber or Van Dyke brown) with a touch of a warm red keeps the color rich as it darkens. Adding white to create highlights should shift the whole mix warmer, not just lighter, or the highlight looks chalky and disconnected from the rest of the skin.

Exact single-medium recipes

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

Why the three mediums differ for deep skin tone

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 #623722.
oil dries true to color in Chromilla's model, so the oil mix is predicted to dry to #693D28.
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 #603827.
In watercolor the paper is the white, so lighter versions come from adding water rather than white paint.

Acrylic recipe in detail

Deep Skin Tone in acrylic: tube ratios, and ml for a 100 ml batch
Paint	Pigment	Share	100 ml batch
Yellow Ochre	PY43	68%	68 ml
Cadmium Red	PR108	27%	27 ml
Ivory Black	PBk9	5%	5 ml

Variations on Deep Skin Tone (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 Deep Skin Tone

#835540

4 parts Viridian Green, 2 parts Cadmium Red and 1 part Titanium White. Chromilla's model predicts a 92% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Darker Deep Skin Tone

#542A15

71% Raw Umber, 24% Alizarin Crimson and 5% Ivory Black. Chromilla's model predicts a 97% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Warmer Deep Skin Tone

#6D3D32

9 parts Cadmium Red, 4 parts Ultramarine Blue and 2 parts Titanium White. Chromilla's model predicts a 94% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Cooler Deep Skin Tone

#6D3D32

9 parts Cadmium Red, 4 parts Ultramarine Blue and 2 parts Titanium White. Chromilla's model predicts a 94% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Deep Skin Tone questions

What two colors make deep skin tone?: Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses 3 tubes rather than two: 68% Yellow Ochre, 27% Cadmium Red and 5% Ivory Black. Yellow Ochre leads the mix. Chromilla's model predicts a 93% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
How do you make deep skin tone paint lighter without losing the hue?: Re-balance the mix instead of only adding white. For a lighter deep skin tone (#835540) in acrylic, Chromilla mixes 4 parts Viridian Green, 2 parts Cadmium Red and 1 part Titanium White. Chromilla's model predicts a 92% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
Why does deep skin tone 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 #693D28 is predicted to dry to about #623722. Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.
What is the hex code for deep skin tone?: Chromilla uses #6B3F2A as the target for deep skin tone. The acrylic recipe is predicted to dry to about #623722.

Related colors

More colours to try once you have deep skin tone sorted.