Artist Paint Mixing Guide

Paint color mixing ratios for artists follow both pigment theory and the specific medium being used (oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache). The goal is to predict and reproduce exact hues, values, and saturations by specifying precise proportions.

Ratio notation: Mixing ratios are expressed as parts by volume (not weight, unless using professional pigment concentrations).

Color = Part A : Part B : Part C (e.g. 2:1:0.5)

Where the total parts sum to give your batch size: Volume of each pigment = (Part Share ÷ Total Parts) × Total Volume Needed

Subtractive color mixing, which is what paint does:

• Primary pigments: Red, Yellow, Blue (traditional) or Cyan, Magenta, Yellow (modern process colors)
• Secondaries: Red + Yellow = Orange | Yellow + Blue = Green | Red + Blue = Purple/Violet
• Tertiaries: Mix a primary with an adjacent secondary

Value (lightness) adjustment:

• Tinting (lighter): Add white, titanium white is opaque; zinc white is more transparent
• Shading (darker): Add black sparingly, it quickly deadens color. Better: mix the complement color to darken naturally
• Toning: Add a neutral gray

Saturation (chroma) adjustment:

• Reduce saturation: Add the color’s complement (opposite on the color wheel)
• Red’s complement: Green | Blue’s complement: Orange | Yellow’s complement: Violet

Hue temperature:

• Warm: Reds, oranges, yellows, advance in paintings (appear closer)
• Cool: Blues, violets, blue-greens, recede (appear farther)
• Mix warm and cool versions of the same color family to control temperature

Acrylic vs. oil mixing notes:

• Acrylics dry 10–30% darker: mix slightly lighter than target
• Oils dry negligibly different: WYSIWYG when wet
• Never mix oil into acrylics: they are chemically incompatible

Worked example, using the brown recipe from the dropdown:

Brown is 2 parts red : 2 parts yellow : 1 part blue, which is 5 parts in total. Ask for a 10-part batch and the split comes out as:

• Red: (2 ÷ 5) × 10 = 4 parts (40%)
• Yellow: (2 ÷ 5) × 10 = 4 parts (40%)
• Blue: (1 ÷ 5) × 10 = 2 parts (20%)

A “part” is whatever you are measuring with. Ten parts might be ten teaspoons on a palette or ten 10ml squirts into a jar. Only the proportions matter, which is why the calculator asks for a batch size rather than milliliters.

Beyond the eleven presets

The dropdown covers the color wheel, and the color wheel does not cover skin. A warm mid-tone flesh is closer to 4 parts titanium white : 1 part cadmium orange : 0.5 parts raw sienna : 0.1 parts cadmium red, which is 5.6 parts. For 100ml that gives 71.4ml white, 17.9ml orange, 8.9ml sienna, and 1.8ml red. Note how small the red is. Most beginners put ten times that in and end up with something that looks sunburnt.

Record your exact ratios every time. It is the only reliable way to reproduce a custom color in a future painting session, and it takes ten seconds against the hour you will spend guessing.