What two colors make medium skin tone?

Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses 3 tubes rather than two: 9 parts Titanium White, 4 parts Burnt Umber and 1 part Cadmium Red. Titanium White leads the mix. Chromilla's model predicts an 87% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Why does medium 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 #C48A66 is predicted to dry to about #B37C5A. Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.

What is the hex code for medium skin tone?

Chromilla uses #C68A63 as the target for medium skin tone. The acrylic recipe is predicted to dry to about #B37C5A.

Can I mix medium skin tone without black?

Yes. Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses no black: 9 parts Titanium White, 4 parts Burnt Umber and 1 part Cadmium Red.

How to mix

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

Real pigment ratios for medium skin tone (#C68A63) in acrylic, oil and watercolor. The recipes below come straight from Chromilla’s mixer, calibrated to real manufacturer paint data.

Quick answer

To mix medium skin tone (#C68A63) in acrylic (oil and watercolor are compared below), use 9 parts Titanium White, 4 parts Burnt Umber and 1 part Cadmium Red. Chromilla's model predicts an 87% 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.

Medium 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	9 parts Titanium White, 4 parts Burnt Umber and 1 part Cadmium Red	87%	Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.
Oil	9 parts Titanium White, 4 parts Burnt Umber and 1 part Cadmium Red	98%	Dries true to color.
Watercolor	9 parts Titanium White, 4 parts Burnt Umber and 1 part Cadmium Red	88%	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

Medium Skin Tone

#C68A63

Live mixer

Open this color in the mixer

The Chromilla mixer is pre-loaded with #C68A63. 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

87% when dry

Wet mix

#C48A66

1. Titanium White (PW6)65%
2. Burnt Umber (PBr7)28%
3. Cadmium Red (PR108)7%

Dry-down

Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.

oil

Pigment recipe

98% when dry

Wet mix

#C48A66

1. Titanium White (PW6)65%
2. Burnt Umber (PBr7)28%
3. Cadmium Red (PR108)7%

Dry-down

Dries true to color.

watercolour

Pigment recipe

88% when dry

Wet mix

#C48A66

1. Titanium White (PW6)65%
2. Burnt Umber (PBr7)28%
3. Cadmium Red (PR108)7%

Dry-down

Dries slightly darker and a touch cooler.

Common mistakes when mixing medium skin tone

The mistake at this depth is reaching for a single 'flesh tone' tube and stopping there, which ignores how much a real face varies within itself. Build from a burnt sienna or similar earth base, then push warmer or cooler in small steps to match what you're actually seeing rather than the swatch. Overworking the mix with too many pigments is the other common trap, since skin usually reads more convincingly from three or four colors than from seven.

Exact single-medium recipes

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

Why the three mediums differ for medium 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 #B37C5A.
oil dries true to color in Chromilla's model, so the oil mix is predicted to dry to #C48A66.
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 #B37F60.
In watercolor the paper is the white, so lighter versions come from adding water rather than white paint.

Acrylic recipe in detail

Medium Skin Tone in acrylic: tube ratios, and ml for a 100 ml batch
Paint	Pigment	Parts	Share	100 ml batch
Titanium White	PW6	9	65%	65 ml
Burnt Umber	PBr7	4	28%	28 ml
Cadmium Red	PR108	1	7%	7 ml

Variations on Medium 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 Medium Skin Tone

#E1A37B

81% Titanium White, 13% Raw Umber and 6% Alizarin Crimson. Chromilla's model predicts an 87% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Darker Medium Skin Tone

#AC724B

5 parts Burnt Umber to 4 parts Titanium White. Chromilla's model predicts an 87% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Warmer Medium Skin Tone

#CA876D

8 parts Titanium White, 3 parts Cadmium Red and 2 parts Viridian Green. Chromilla's model predicts an 89% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Cooler Medium Skin Tone

#CA876D

8 parts Titanium White, 3 parts Cadmium Red and 2 parts Viridian Green. Chromilla's model predicts an 89% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Medium Skin Tone questions

What two colors make medium skin tone?: Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses 3 tubes rather than two: 9 parts Titanium White, 4 parts Burnt Umber and 1 part Cadmium Red. Titanium White leads the mix. Chromilla's model predicts an 87% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
How do you make medium skin tone paint lighter without losing the hue?: Re-balance the mix instead of only adding white. For a lighter medium skin tone (#E1A37B) in acrylic, Chromilla mixes 81% Titanium White, 13% Raw Umber and 6% Alizarin Crimson. Chromilla's model predicts an 87% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
Why does medium 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 #C48A66 is predicted to dry to about #B37C5A. Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.
What is the hex code for medium skin tone?: Chromilla uses #C68A63 as the target for medium skin tone. The acrylic recipe is predicted to dry to about #B37C5A.
Can I mix medium skin tone without black?: Yes. Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses no black: 9 parts Titanium White, 4 parts Burnt Umber and 1 part Cadmium Red.

Related colors

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