How to Mix Sepia in Oil
A soft, warm dark brown. Slightly cooler than Van Dyke. This guide gives you the pigment ratios that land on #4A3624 in oil, using the same solver that powers the Chromilla mixer.
Target
Sepia
#4A3624
Mixed result
100% matchFrom these pigments
#4A3624
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. 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 oil
Start with Burnt Umber at about 67% as your oil 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 + oil pre-loaded and calibrate to your tubes.
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.