black · Oil and Watercolor

Payne’s Gray

A bluish gray. Convenience over control; mixing your own gives livelier shadows.

Indexmengsel

Color#2E3A45

Tinting strength7/10

Opacitysemi-transparent

Lightfastnessgood

Dryingaverage

In watergranulates

It carries a good deal of weight in a mixture, so add it in small steps.

With white, step by step

pure #2E3A45 6:1 #3B4955 3:1 #455461 2:1 #4D5C6A 1:1 #5E6F7D 1:2 #748593 1:3 #8293A0 1:6 #9BAAB5 pure #F8F7F3

From pure Payne’s Gray on the left to titanium white on the right. Watch how much chroma you lose on the way — that is the cost of lightening with white, and the reason a tint often needs a trace of something warm putting back.

What to mix it with

These are the partners that take Payne’s Gray furthest towards neutral, which makes them the ones you reach for when you need a shadow or a gray rather than a color.

with Ivory Black quietest point #272727 with Mars Black quietest point #222222 with Burnt Sienna quietest point #38393A with Zinc White quietest point #FBFAF7 with Burnt Umber quietest point #333533 with Titanium White quietest point #F8F7F3

Every pair

Titanium White Zinc White Lemon Yellow Cadmium Yellow Light Cadmium Yellow Deep Yellow Ochre Raw Sienna Naples Yellow Cadmium Red Light Cadmium Red Deep Alizarin Crimson (permanent) Quinacridone Rose Indian Red Burnt Sienna Raw Umber Burnt Umber Ultramarine Cobalt Blue Cerulean Blue Phthalo Blue Prussian Blue Phthalo Green Viridian Chromium Oxide Green Dioxazine Purple Ivory Black Mars Black

Is it on your palette?

Tick off what you own and every recipe is worked out for that set, from a color you pick out of your own photo.

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