Pigment pair · PBr7 + PB15:3
Mixing Raw Umber and Phthalo Blue
Nine steps from one to the other, worked out with a spectral model rather than by averaging screen colors. Half and half gives #294548. Click any step to open it in the mixer.
The full range, Raw Umber to Phthalo Blue
Ratios are parts by volume, the way you would put them out on a palette.
These two knock each other back a long way without quite cancelling. The middle of the range is a muted, slightly colored gray — often more useful than a dead neutral, because it still belongs to the painting around it.
The quietest point: #39453D
At 3:1 this pair is at its most neutral. That is the mixture to reach for when you need a shadow or a gray that still belongs to the rest of the painting.
The same range with white added
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.
The same range as a watercolor wash
Roughly one part paint to two parts water, over white paper. Remember that watercolor dries up to about thirty per cent lighter than it looks while wet.
Phthalo Blue is much the stronger of the two. The ratios above are by volume, so the first step away from pure Phthalo Blue already changes a lot less than the last step towards it. Put out less than looks right and work towards the color; going back costs far more paint.
What you are working with
| Pigment | Index | Strength | Opacity | Lightfast | In |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raw Umber | PBr7 | 5/10 | semi-transparent, granulating | excellent | Oil, Watercolor |
| Phthalo Blue | PB15:3 | 10/10 | transparent | excellent | Oil, Watercolor |
A cool brown. The classic choice for the first lay-in in oils because it dries fast.
Extremely strong. Always start with a fraction of what looks right; it takes over any mixture.
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.