How to Mix Dark Brown in Watercolor

Pigment recipe

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

1. 1. Cadmium Red

   PR108

   62%
2. 2. Ivory Black

   PBk9

   29%
3. 3. Cadmium Yellow

   PY35

   9%

What colours make Dark Brown?

Cadmium Red, Ivory Black, and Cadmium Yellow, in roughly a 62:29:9 ratio.

How to make Dark Brown in watercolour

Start with Cadmium Red at about 62% as your watercolour base, then work in Ivory Black and Cadmium Yellow in the order above. Adjust in 5% steps until the swatch reads #3B2417.

Why mix Dark Brown instead of buying it

Mixing Dark Brown yourself lets you approximate an expensive or hard to find tube from pigments you already own, match Dark Brown across paint brands whose factory tubes differ, and rebuild the exact colour 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.

Related mixing guides

• Dark Brown in acrylic
• Dark Brown in oil
• Sage Green in watercolour
• Navy Blue in watercolour
• Coral in watercolour
• Mauve in watercolour