How to Mix Colors: A Guide Table for Mixing

This chart is included in the set with the 23 cm diameter color wheel, as an additional printed (paper) material. It is not sold separately!

Paint Mixing Guide

This chart was created to help beginner artists achieve the desired colors and shades by mixing the basic oil paints at their disposal.

Which colors will we mix

The list of colors whose mixing results can be seen in this chart:

Permanent Ruby Red
Red Ochre
Burnt Sienna
Medium Cadmium Yellow
Dark Mars Brown
Yellow Ochre
Grass Green
Emerald
Ultramarine
6 pure colors from Itten's color wheel: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet.
Achromatic colors: black, white (Titanium White), gray.

The result of the mixing is presented for a one-to-one ratio at the intersection of the X and Y axes of the chart.

The color names in the chart are provided in English.

How to use the chart

The artist's task is not usually to see what happens when mixing one color with another, but rather to obtain the desired shade — in other words, to find out which colors and in what proportion need to be mixed to achieve that shade. Therefore, we first look in the chart for the color (shade) most similar to the one we need (hopefully, the exact or a very close one is there!), and then we look at the intersection of the lines to find out which colors create it. Then we mix those colors in approximately a 50/50 ratio. Naturally, we gradually add one color to the other so as not to lose the desired shade.

There are many colors in the chart, but in reality, there is an almost infinite number of them, so more often the found shade will be more or less similar to the desired one, but not 100%. In these cases, experimentation is essential — at least the chart will show where to start.