How to Mix Sepia in Acrylic

A soft, warm dark brown. Slightly cooler than Van Dyke. This guide gives you the pigment ratios that land on #4A3624 in acrylic, using the same solver that powers the Chromilla mixer.

Target

Sepia

#4A3624

Mixed result

100% match

From these pigments

#4A3624

Pigment recipe

Checked August 2026

Ratios calibrated for acrylic. Start with the dominant pigment, add the modifiers in the order below, and adjust in 5% steps to your target swatch.

1. Burnt Umber
PBr7
67%
2. Titanium White
PW6
23%
3. Ivory Black
PBk9
10%

What colors make Sepia?

Burnt Umber, Titanium White, and Ivory Black, in roughly a 67:23:10 ratio.

How to make Sepia in acrylic

Start with Burnt Umber at about 67% as your acrylic base, then work in Titanium White and Ivory Black in the order above. Adjust in 5% steps until the swatch reads #4A3624.

Why mix Sepia instead of buying it

Mixing Sepia yourself lets you approximate an expensive or hard to find tube from pigments you already own, match Sepia across paint brands whose factory tubes differ, and rebuild the exact color when you run out mid painting. The recipe above is the working starting point.

Common mistakes

Reaching for more black to deepen it kills the chroma, add the dark modifier already in the recipe instead. White cools and chalks a mix as you add it, so tint in small steps and stop before it goes pastel.

Get this recipe for your paint brand

Open the live mixer with Sepia + acrylic pre-loaded and calibrate to your tubes.

Open in mixer

Related mixing guides

Pigment mixing is subtractive, so small ratio changes matter. The mixer refines this recipe to your brand and updates on the fly.