Color mixing library
How to Mix 82 common paint colors.
Pigment ratios across acrylic, oil, and watercolor (246 recipes in total). Every one is generated by the same solver that powers the live Chromilla color mixer. Prefer long-form technique reads? Browse the guides.
Skin tones
Light Skin Tone
#E8B48AA soft, warm mid-value flesh tone. A starting point, never a final answer.
Deep Skin Tone
#6B3F2AA rich, warm dark flesh tone. Built from earth reds and umbers.
Skin Tone (Medium)
#C68A63A mid-warm skin tone. Fills the gap between light and deep.
Browns and neutrals
Burnt Sienna
#8A3B21A rich earthy red-brown. The workhorse warm earth for skin, wood, and shadow.
Burnt Umber
#5A3320A deep, cool-warm brown. Fast-drying in oil and endlessly mixable.
Raw Umber
#5C4A29A greenish earth brown. The best neutralizer for over-bright mixes.
Van Dyke Brown
#3E2A1CA very deep, warm brown. Historic favourite for shadow and hair.
Terracotta
#B25538A muted, earthy red-orange. Fired clay, weathered brick.
Brown
#6F4E37A neutral mid brown. The base every other brown starts from.
Greys and blacks
Neutral Grey
#8A8A8AA true mid grey (no bias to warm or cool). The reference value 5.
Warm Grey
#8F8578A grey with a soft brown-orange lean. Feels like weathered stone.
Greens
Sap Green
#4B6A2AA warm, transparent foliage green. Yellow-leaning, softer than viridian.
Viridian
#256C5AA cool, transparent blue-green. The classic mixer for greys and shadows.
Olive Green
#5C6B2EA muted yellow-green. The colour of dry foliage and worn uniforms.
Terre Verte
#6E7B58A soft, historic earth green. Muted, low-chroma, made for underpainting.
Chromium Oxide Green
#4B6A3BA dense, opaque, slightly grey green. Foliage without the buzz.
Emerald Green
#2FA36AA bright, clean mid-green. Sits between viridian and lemony greens.
Blues
Ultramarine Blue
#2A3A8CA deep violet-leaning blue. Warm, granulating, and endlessly useful.
Phthalo Blue
#0F3B6EA staining, intense green-shade blue. Tiny amounts go a very long way.
Cobalt Blue
#2E4C99A pure, mid-value blue. Neutral leaning (neither warm nor cool).
Prussian Blue
#0F3446A very dark, cool green-shade blue. Rich, staining, glass-like in oil.
Sky Blue
#8CB8DCA soft, light mid-blue. Zenith on a clear day, tinted with white.
Ocean Blue
#2C6A82A deep teal-blue. Slightly green-leaning, reads like open water.
Reds and pinks
Alizarin Crimson
#8A1B2EA deep, transparent cool red. Perfect for shadows and glazes.
Rose Madder
#B8455AA soft, transparent cool pink. Beautiful in glazes and skin tones.
Magenta
#C22A6AA vivid, cool violet-red. The strongest way to reach clean purples.
Indian Red
#8C3A34A dense, opaque cool earth red. Iron-oxide backbone of muted portraits.
Yellows and oranges
Yellow Ochre
#C8A24BA muted, earthy yellow. The backbone of skin tones and warm neutrals.
Cadmium Yellow
#F1C11CA dense, opaque mid yellow. Bright, covering, warm-leaning.
Lemon Yellow
#F4E44AA cool, greenish yellow. The cleanest way to mix vivid greens.
Naples Yellow
#E5C88AA soft, opaque creamy yellow. Historically loved for skin and stone.
Cadmium Orange
#EB7B1CA bright, opaque, warm orange. Sits between cad yellow and cad red.
Sunset Orange
#E86A2EA rich, warm orange with a hint of red. The last hour of daylight.
Purples
Dioxazine Purple
#3A1A4CA very deep, transparent violet. Devastating in tiny amounts.