How to Mix Cadmium Red in Oil

A dense, opaque, slightly warm red, bright and covering. This guide gives you the pigment ratios that land on #D5301A in oil, using the same solver that powers the Chromilla mixer.

Target

Cadmium Red

#D5301A

Mixed result

98% match

From these pigments

#D52C1C

Pigment recipe

Checked August 2026

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

1. Cadmium Red
PR108
52%
2. Burnt Sienna
PBr7
48%

What colors make Cadmium Red?

Cadmium Red and Burnt Sienna, in roughly a 52:48 ratio.

How to make Cadmium Red in oil

Start with Cadmium Red at about 52% as your oil base, then work in Burnt Sienna in the order above. Adjust in 5% steps until the swatch reads #D5301A.

Why mix Cadmium Red instead of buying it

Mixing Cadmium Red yourself lets you approximate an expensive or hard to find tube from pigments you already own, match Cadmium Red 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

Overshooting on Cadmium Red is the usual failure, add it in 5% steps and compare against the target between each pass.

Get this recipe for your paint brand

Open the live mixer with Cadmium Red + oil 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.