Pigment pair · PBr24 + PB28

Mixing Naples Yellow and Cobalt Blue

Nine steps from one to the other, worked out with a spectral model rather than by averaging screen colors. Half and half gives #2F6EA9. Click any step to open it in the mixer.

The full range, Naples Yellow to Cobalt Blue

pure#F0D9A0 6:1#6899A9 3:1#4D87A9 2:1#3F7DA9 1:1#2F6EA9 1:2#2562A8 1:3#225EA8 1:6#1F58A8 pure#1D52A8

Ratios are parts by volume, the way you would put them out on a palette.

This pair stays colored all the way across. You get a range of muted mixtures rather than a gray, which is what you want when a passage has to stay quiet without going lifeless.

The same range with white added

pure#F7F1DB 6:1#C1D7DF 3:1#B0CDDF 2:1#A6C7E0 1:1#96BDE0 1:2#8AB5E0 1:3#85B2E1 1:6#7FAEE1 pure#79A9E1

Two parts titanium white to one part of the mixture above. White lifts the value but also takes the chroma down, which is why a tint is never simply a lighter version of the same color.

What you are working with

Pigment	Index	Strength	Opacity	Lightfast	In
Naples Yellow	PBr24	3/10	opaque	excellent	Oil
Cobalt Blue	PB28	4/10	semi-opaque, granulating	excellent	Oil, Watercolor

Comes with white already in it. A quick route to soft light tints without reaching for titanium.

A neutral blue, low in tinting strength. Ideal for skies that should not go harsh.

Now do it with your own paints

This page assumes two tubes. The mixer works from everything on your palette at once, and from a color you pick out of your own photo.

Open in the mixer Start from a photo

Other pairs worth knowing

Naples Yellow and Burnt Sienna Naples Yellow and Raw Umber Naples Yellow and Indian Red Naples Yellow and Mars Black Naples Yellow and Lemon Yellow Naples Yellow and Prussian Blue Cobalt Blue and Alizarin Crimson (permanent) Cobalt Blue and Quinacridone Rose Cobalt Blue and Ivory Black Cobalt Blue and Yellow Ochre Cobalt Blue and Ultramarine Cobalt Blue and Payne’s Gray

All 378 pigment pairs