What two colors make slate gray?

Chromilla's watercolor recipe uses 3 tubes rather than two: 4 parts Titanium White, 4 parts Ultramarine Blue and 1 part Ivory Black. Titanium White 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 slate gray?

Chromilla uses #5A6470 as the target for slate gray. The watercolor recipe is predicted to dry to about #535C69.

How to Mix Slate Gray in Watercolor

Quick answer

To mix slate gray (#5A6470) in watercolor, use 4 parts Titanium White, 4 parts Ultramarine Blue and 1 part 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.

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Target

Slate Grey

#5A6470

Predicted dry result

93% match when dry

Mix to #5B6470 while wet. It dries to about #535C69.

Slate Gray in watercolor: tube ratios, and ml for a 100 ml batch
Paint	Pigment	Parts	Share	100 ml batch
Titanium White	PW6	4	46%	46 ml
Ultramarine Blue	PB29	4	43%	43 ml
Ivory Black	PBk9	1	11%	11 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 cool blue-gray slate. This guide gives you the pigment ratios that land on #5A6470 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. Titanium White
PW6
46%
2. Ultramarine Blue
PB29
43%
3. Ivory Black
PBk9
11%

What colors make Slate Gray?

Titanium White, Ultramarine Blue, and Ivory Black, in roughly a 46:43:11 ratio.

How to make Slate Gray in watercolor

Start with Titanium White at about 46% as your watercolor base, then work in Ultramarine Blue and Ivory Black in the order above. Adjust in 5% steps until the swatch reads #5A6470.

Why mix Slate Gray 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 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 Slate Gray

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 Slate Gray

#717B88

48% Titanium White, 43% Ultramarine Blue, 6% Cadmium Red and 3% Burnt Umber. Chromilla's model predicts a 90% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Darker Slate Gray

#444E59

95% Viridian Green and 5% Alizarin Crimson. Chromilla's model predicts a 95% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Warmer Slate Gray

#5D6370

48% Titanium White, 41% Ultramarine Blue and 11% Ivory Black. Chromilla's model predicts a 94% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Cooler Slate Gray

#5C6370

48% Titanium White, 41% Ultramarine Blue and 11% Ivory Black. Chromilla's model predicts a 94% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Slate Gray questions

What two colors make slate gray?: Chromilla's watercolor recipe uses 3 tubes rather than two: 4 parts Titanium White, 4 parts Ultramarine Blue and 1 part Ivory Black. Titanium White 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 slate gray paint lighter without losing the hue?: Re-balance the mix instead of only adding white. For a lighter slate gray (#717B88) in watercolor, Chromilla mixes 48% Titanium White, 43% Ultramarine Blue, 6% Cadmium Red and 3% Burnt Umber. 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 slate gray?: Chromilla uses #5A6470 as the target for slate gray. The watercolor recipe is predicted to dry to about #535C69.

Slate Gray in other mediums

Slate Gray in Acrylic: 4 parts Titanium White, 4 parts Ultramarine Blue and 1 part Ivory Black, predicted 90% dry match by Chromilla's color model.
Slate Gray in Oil: 4 parts Titanium White, 4 parts Ultramarine Blue and 1 part Ivory Black, predicted 99% dry match by Chromilla's color model.

Get this recipe for your paint brand

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

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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.