Paint Mixing Guide — principles to practical ratios

How to make any color with acrylic, watercolor or gouache, on one page.

1. Paint mixing is subtractive

A paint's color is the light its pigments don't absorb. Mixing adds absorption, so results get darker and duller as you combine more colors.

Red + Yellow = Orange
Yellow + Blue = Green
Red + Blue = Purple (or a muddy plum, depending on pigments)
Three or more colors turn muddy fast — stay within two for vivid results

The Paint Color Calculator simulates this with a light-absorption model, giving you numeric ratios instead of guesswork.

2. Using white and black

For pastels, start from a white base and add color in small touches — the other direction takes far more white than you expect. Black is extremely strong: a rice-grain at a time, under a tenth of the total. For richer darks, try a complementary color instead of black.

3. When colors turn muddy

Complementary colors cancel into gray or brown — mix neighbors on the color wheel.
Rescue muddy paint with white for a pastel, or lean into brown and khaki tones.
Neon and high-chroma colors can't be mixed from basics; buy them ready-made.

4. Tips by medium

Acrylic: dries slightly darker — aim half a shade lighter and work before it skins over.
Watercolor: control value with water, not white paint. Treat the calculator's ratios as full-strength mixes.
Gouache / poster paint: opaque, so ratios translate most directly. Measure with same-sized dabs for repeatability.

5. Detailed swatch chart

Approximate ratios using the five basics — adjust for your brand.

Peach White 6 : Yellow 1 : Red 1

Yellow green Yellow 3 : White 2 : Blue 1

Purple Blue 2 : Red 1 : White 1

Wine Red 4 : Blue 1 : Black 1

Skin tone White 10 : Yellow 1 : Red 1

Mint green White 6 : Blue 1 : Yellow 1

Terracotta Red 3 : Yellow 2 : Black 1

Peacock blue Blue 4 : Yellow 1 : White 1

Don't see your color? Pick it directly in the Paint Color Calculator for a custom recipe.