Mixing guide
How to make a color lighter or darker without changing the hue
By Marco, painter and founder of chromilla · Last checked August 2026
To lighten without shifting the hue, add Titanium White slowly; for watercolor, add water instead. To darken without going muddy, add a small amount of the color's complement before reaching for black: black can cool and dull most hues unpredictably. Already mixed it and the hue drifted? Mix Correction compares your mix with the target and names the one tube to add.
Step-by-step
Lighten with white or water
Acrylic and oil: Titanium White in 5% increments. Watercolor: dilute with clean water, since the paper itself does the lifting.
Darken with the complement first
Need to deepen orange? Add a touch of blue. Greens darken cleanly with red. This deepens value without flattening saturation.
Use black only as a last step
Ivory Black cools and dulls; Mars Black is more neutral. Add 1–2% maximum. Test before adding more.
Compare swatches side-by-side
Lay the original next to the adjusted mix and squint. If the hue shifts, you've added too much modifier: re-tint with the original base.
Try it on your tubes
Try a lighter or darker variant
Adjust the lightness slider on any Chromilla recipe and see the new ratios update in real time.
Open Chromilla →Frequently asked questions
- Why does adding white shift my color?
- Titanium White is opaque and slightly cool, so it desaturates and cools every hue. Reds turn pink, blues turn chalky. Counter with a tiny bump of the original base or a warmer white like Zinc.
- Is black ever okay for darkening?
- Yes, sparingly. Ivory Black works well for cool darks and shadows. For warm darks, mix Burnt Umber + Ultramarine Blue instead: it stays alive where black goes dead.