How to Mix Slate Grey in Watercolor

A cool blue-grey slate. This guide gives you the pigment ratios that land on #5A6470 in watercolour, using the same solver that powers the Chromilla mixer.

Target

Slate Grey

#5A6470

Mixed result

95% match

From these pigments

#5C6574

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. Viridian Green
PG18
89%
2. Titanium White
PW6
6%
3. Alizarin Crimson
PR83
5%

What colours make Slate Grey?

Viridian Green, Titanium White, and Alizarin Crimson, in roughly a 89:6:5 ratio.

How to make Slate Grey in watercolour

Start with Viridian Green at about 89% as your watercolour base, then work in Titanium White and Alizarin Crimson in the order above. Adjust in 5% steps until the swatch reads #5A6470.

Why mix Slate Grey instead of buying it

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

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 Slate Grey + watercolour 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.