How to Mix Warm Grey Oil Paint
To mix warm grey with oil paint, combine 4 parts Viridian, 3 parts Cadmium Red and 3 parts Titanium White. A warm grey leans slightly toward brown or yellow. Mixing complements, like red and green, with white lets you tune the temperature by changing the ratio.
Opens the free browser simulator with these colors on the palette. Squeeze them out and blend with the palette knife.
Step by step
- Put down 4 parts of Viridian. It is the largest amount, so it is your base.
- Add 3 parts of Cadmium Red.
- Add 3 parts of Titanium White. White lightens the mix but also cools and softens it, so add it gradually.
- Blend with a palette knife, folding the paint over itself until no streaks of the separate colors remain.
- Pull a thin smear out to the side. Thin paint shows the true color better than a thick pile.
Lighter versions of warm grey
The same recipe with more and more titanium white mixed in, by volume:
#978C7B
#ABA092
#B8AEA2
#C7BFB5
#DED9D2
Another way to mix warm grey
With Raw Umber, Titanium White and Viridian: 4 parts Raw Umber, 2 parts Titanium White and 1 part Viridian.
Tips for mixing greys and blacks
Greys look different next to other colors. A neutral grey can look bluish next to orange and warm next to blue, so judge it in place.
Questions
What colors make warm grey?
To mix warm grey with oil paint, combine 4 parts Viridian, 3 parts Cadmium Red and 3 parts Titanium White. You can also mix it from 4 parts Raw Umber, 2 parts Titanium White and 1 part Viridian.
How do you make warm grey lighter?
Add titanium white a little at a time. Adding the same amount of white as the whole mix gives about #C7BFB5. White also cools and softens a color, so you may need a touch more of the warm color in the recipe to keep the same character.
How do you make warm grey darker?
Add more of the darkest color in the recipe. For a grey mixed from complements, add more of both colors and less white.