What two colors make warm gray?

Chromilla's watercolor recipe uses 3 tubes rather than two: 9 parts Titanium White, 1 part Ivory Black and 1 part Burnt Umber. Titanium White leads the mix. Chromilla's model predicts an 89% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

What is the hex code for warm gray?

Chromilla uses #8F8578 as the target for warm gray. The watercolor recipe is predicted to dry to about #837A70.

How to Mix Warm Gray in Watercolor

Quick answer

To mix warm gray (#8F8578) in watercolor, use 9 parts Titanium White, 1 part Ivory Black and 1 part Burnt Umber. Chromilla's model predicts an 89% 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

Warm Grey

#8F8578

Predicted dry result

89% match when dry

Mix to #8F8578 while wet. It dries to about #837A70.

Warm Gray in watercolor: tube ratios, and ml for a 100 ml batch
Paint	Pigment	Parts	Share	100 ml batch
Titanium White	PW6	9	81%	81 ml
Ivory Black	PBk9	1	10%	10 ml
Burnt Umber	PBr7	1	9%	9 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 gray with a soft brown-orange lean. Feels like weathered stone. This guide gives you the pigment ratios that land on #8F8578 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
81%
2. Ivory Black
PBk9
10%
3. Burnt Umber
PBr7
9%

What colors make Warm Gray?

Titanium White, Ivory Black, and Burnt Umber, in roughly a 81:10:9 ratio.

How to make Warm Gray in watercolor

Start with Titanium White at about 81% as your watercolor base, then work in Ivory Black and Burnt Umber in the order above. Adjust in 5% steps until the swatch reads #8F8578.

Why mix Warm Gray instead of buying it

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

#A89D90

88% Titanium White, 7% Burnt Umber and 5% Ivory Black. Chromilla's model predicts a 90% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Darker Warm Gray

#776E61

5 parts Titanium White, 1 part Ivory Black and 1 part Burnt Umber. Chromilla's model predicts a 91% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Warmer Warm Gray

#918479

84% Titanium White, 10% Ivory Black and 6% Cadmium Red. Chromilla's model predicts an 89% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Cooler Warm Gray

#918479

84% Titanium White, 10% Ivory Black and 6% Cadmium Red. Chromilla's model predicts an 89% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Warm Gray questions

What two colors make warm gray?: Chromilla's watercolor recipe uses 3 tubes rather than two: 9 parts Titanium White, 1 part Ivory Black and 1 part Burnt Umber. Titanium White leads the mix. Chromilla's model predicts an 89% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
How do you make warm gray paint lighter without losing the hue?: Re-balance the mix instead of only adding white. For a lighter warm gray (#A89D90) in watercolor, Chromilla mixes 88% Titanium White, 7% Burnt Umber and 5% Ivory Black. 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 warm gray?: Chromilla uses #8F8578 as the target for warm gray. The watercolor recipe is predicted to dry to about #837A70.

Warm Gray in other mediums

Warm Gray in Acrylic: 9 parts Titanium White, 1 part Ivory Black and 1 part Burnt Umber, predicted 88% dry match by Chromilla's color model.
Warm Gray in Oil: 9 parts Titanium White, 1 part Ivory Black and 1 part Burnt Umber, predicted 100% dry match by Chromilla's color model.

Compare acrylic, oil and watercolor for warm gray

Get this recipe for your paint brand

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

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Deep-dive guide

How to mix Warm Gray, 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

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.