What two colors make brown?

Chromilla's watercolor recipe uses 3 tubes rather than two: 74% Burnt Umber, 21% Titanium White and 5% Ivory Black. Burnt Umber leads the mix. Chromilla's model predicts a 93% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

What is the hex code for brown?

Chromilla uses #6F4E37 as the target for brown. The watercolor recipe is predicted to dry to about #654832.

How to Mix Brown in Watercolor

Quick answer

To mix brown (#6F4E37) in watercolor, use 74% Burnt Umber, 21% Titanium White and 5% Ivory Black. Chromilla's model predicts a 93% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out. Chromilla is a web-based paint color mixer that turns any color, from a photo, the camera or a hex code, into exact paint-tube ratios for acrylic, oil and watercolor, using Kubelka-Munk pigment mixing and aiming at the color after it dries.

Adjust for my paints

Target

Brown

#6F4E37

Predicted dry result

93% match when dry

Mix to #6F4E34 while wet. It dries to about #654832.

Brown in watercolor: tube ratios, and ml for a 100 ml batch
Paint	Pigment	Share	100 ml batch
Burnt Umber	PBr7	74%	74 ml
Titanium White	PW6	21%	21 ml
Ivory Black	PBk9	5%	5 ml

How we calculated this: Kubelka-Munk pigment mixing, then a per-medium dry shift, scored with CIEDE2000. Method and accuracy benchmark. Last checked August 2026.

Terms used here: Tinting strength, Dry shift, Kubelka-Munk, Delta E (dE2000), Pigment code, Gamut.

A neutral mid brown. The base every other brown starts from. This guide gives you the pigment ratios that land on #6F4E37 in watercolor, using the same solver that powers the Chromilla mixer.

Pigment recipe

Checked August 2026

Ratios calibrated for watercolor. 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
74%
2. Titanium White
PW6
21%
3. Ivory Black
PBk9
5%

What colors make Brown?

Burnt Umber, Titanium White, and Ivory Black, in roughly a 74:21:5 ratio.

How to make Brown in watercolor

Start with Burnt Umber at about 74% as your watercolor base, then work in Titanium White and Ivory Black in the order above. Adjust in 5% steps until the swatch reads #6F4E37.

Why mix Brown instead of buying it

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

Variations on Brown

Each variation is its own target (lighter and darker move OKLCH lightness by 0.08; warmer and cooler turn the hue 12 degrees toward red or blue), solved fresh.

Lighter Brown

#87644D

3 parts Viridian Green, 1 part Cadmium Red and 1 part Titanium White. Chromilla's model predicts a 90% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Darker Brown

#583822

5 parts Burnt Umber to 2 parts Viridian Green. Chromilla's model predicts a 96% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Warmer Brown

#714C3C

8 parts Yellow Ochre, 1 part Alizarin Crimson and 1 part Ultramarine Blue. Chromilla's model predicts a 92% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Cooler Brown

#714C3C

8 parts Yellow Ochre, 1 part Alizarin Crimson and 1 part Ultramarine Blue. Chromilla's model predicts a 92% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Brown questions

What two colors make brown?: Chromilla's watercolor recipe uses 3 tubes rather than two: 74% Burnt Umber, 21% Titanium White and 5% Ivory Black. Burnt Umber leads the mix. Chromilla's model predicts a 93% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
How do you make brown paint lighter without losing the hue?: Re-balance the mix instead of only adding white. For a lighter brown (#87644D) in watercolor, Chromilla mixes 3 parts Viridian Green, 1 part Cadmium Red and 1 part Titanium White. Chromilla's model predicts a 90% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
What is the hex code for brown?: Chromilla uses #6F4E37 as the target for brown. The watercolor recipe is predicted to dry to about #654832.

Brown in other mediums

Brown in Acrylic: 74% Burnt Umber, 21% Titanium White and 5% Ivory Black, predicted 93% dry match by Chromilla's color model.
Brown in Oil: 74% Burnt Umber, 21% Titanium White and 5% Ivory Black, predicted 97% dry match by Chromilla's color model.

Compare acrylic, oil and watercolor for brown

Get this recipe for your paint brand

Open the live mixer with Brown + watercolor pre-loaded and calibrate to your tubes.

Open in mixer

Deep-dive guide

How to mix Brown, the long version

Common mistakes, per-brand recipes, and the honest limits when the target sits outside what real paint can reach.

Read the guide

New to browns? See what colors make brown, in plain terms.

Technique guides for this color

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.