Quick answer
Mix ultramarine blue + burnt umber (about 1:1) for a classic chromatic black, or phthalo green + alizarin crimson for an even deeper, transparent one. Tip the balance toward the umber for a warm black, or toward the blue for a cool one. Check the lean by mixing a little into white.
On this page
Why mix black at all?
A black mixed from two or three dark, complementary pigments is called a chromatic black. Compared with most tube blacks, it has a few practical advantages:
- Temperature control. Tip the balance and the black leans warm (brownish) or cool (bluish), to suit the light in your scene.
- Harmony. It's made from pigments already in the painting, so the darks relate to everything else.
- Livelier tints. Lightened with white, chromatic blacks become warm or cool greys rather than a flat, sometimes bluish grey.
Tube blacks aren't bad, though. Ivory (bone) black is fairly transparent and slow-drying in oil. Mars black is opaque and dense.
Carbon or lamp black is very strong. Use them knowingly, and remember that in mixtures, black tends to act like a very dark, dull blue.
Try it: Mix a chromatic black
Open full mixer →The classic chromatic blacks
Ultramarine blue + burnt umber
The most popular combination: two inexpensive, widely available paints. Roughly equal parts give a deep neutral. More umber makes it warm, more ultramarine makes it cool. It's an easy dark for shadows in portraits and landscapes.
Phthalo green + alizarin crimson
Two very strong, transparent complements that make an intense, deep black. That's ideal for glazing and for watercolor, where you need darks without chalkiness. A quinacridone red or magenta can replace the crimson.
Other useful pairs
Phthalo blue with burnt umber or burnt sienna, dioxazine purple with sap green, and phthalo blue with alizarin crimson (a cool, violet-leaning dark) all work. Add a third color to fine-tune, for example a touch of alizarin to warm an ultramarine-and-umber black.
Chromatic black chart
Swatches look lighter on screen than paint does at full strength. Very dark mixes are hard to show on a monitor.
| Mix | Character |
|---|---|
| Ultramarine + burnt umber | Neutral to cool. The everyday choice |
| Umber-heavy | Warm black, good in portraits |
| Phthalo green + alizarin crimson | Deepest, transparent. Great for glazes |
| Phthalo blue + burnt sienna | Cool, slightly green-leaning dark |
| Ultramarine + umber + alizarin | Violet-black, rich in shadows |
| Ivory black (tube) | Neutral-cool. Convenient, slow-drying in oil |
Check the bias of your black
Very dark mixtures are hard to read. To see which way your black leans, pull a small amount into white. If the grey that appears looks bluish, the black is cool.
If it looks brownish, it's warm. Adjust with whichever color brings it back toward neutral, or leave the lean on purpose.
About the swatches: on screen, the recipe swatches below read as very dark charcoal. At full strength in the tube, or on the palette, these mixtures look close to black, especially in oil and in thick acrylic.
Black in acrylic, oil and watercolor
- Acrylic: acrylic generally dries slightly darker, which helps with darks. Phthalo + crimson mixtures are extremely strong, so mix a small pile and add carefully. A little goes a long way.
- Oil: drying rates differ. Ivory black is known as a slow drier and burnt umber as a fast one, which matters if you paint in layers. Following the "fat over lean" principle, keep dark underlayers lean (less oil) if you'll paint over them.
- Watercolor: deep darks need a strong, creamy mix of pigment with little water. Staining pigments such as phthalo green and alizarin crimson make the most intense darks, but they're hard to lift once dry, so place them deliberately.
In all media, consider leaving a hint of color visible in your darks. A shadow that leans slightly blue or brown usually feels more natural than a perfectly neutral one.
Using darks with restraint
The deepest darks have the most impact when they're used sparingly: the accents in a shadow, the pupil of an eye, a crevice where two forms meet. If large areas are pitch black, the picture can look heavy and the darks lose their punch.
In watercolor, mix darks with plenty of pigment and little water, because washes dry noticeably lighter. Glazing a dark over a dry layer often gives a richer result than one heavy pass. For softer darks, see how to mix grey.
Recipes by medium
Proportions are starting points in parts by volume. Pigment strength varies by brand, so add strong colors gradually. The swatches are computed with Pigmento's pigment-mixing model and are approximations.
Classic chromatic black
1 Ultramarine Blue + 1 Burnt Umber (parts). Shift the balance to make it warmer or cooler.
Intense black
1 Phthalo Green (BS) + 1 Alizarin Crimson (parts). Very strong pigments, so mix small amounts. It looks near-black in masstone.
Green-leaning dark
1 Phthalo Blue (GS) + 2 Burnt Umber (parts). A deep, slightly cool dark for foliage and water shadows.
Warm black
2 Burnt Umber + 1 Ultramarine Blue (parts). A brownish black for interiors and warm portrait shadows.
Cool black
2 Ultramarine Blue + 1 Burnt Umber (parts). A bluish black for night scenes and cool daylight shadows.
Violet-black
2 Ultramarine Blue + 2 Burnt Umber + 1 Alizarin Crimson (parts). A third color adds depth. Crimson makes it richer and slightly purple.
Glazing dark
1 Alizarin Crimson + 1 Phthalo Green (BS) (parts). Transparent and intense. Use plenty of pigment, little water.
Soft olive dark
1 Dioxazine Purple + 1 Sap Green (parts). A natural dark for foliage and shadowed landscapes.
Earthy dark
1 Phthalo Blue (GS) + 2 Burnt Sienna (parts). More sienna warms it. It dries lighter, so mix it darker than you need.
Paints used in this lesson
Shop links coming soon- Ultramarine Blue
- Burnt Umber
- Phthalo Green (BS)
- Alizarin Crimson
- Phthalo Blue (GS)
- Dioxazine Purple
- Sap Green
- Burnt Sienna
Student-grade paints work for every recipe here. Single-pigment artist paints mix cleaner and stronger. We may add affiliate links to paint sets later, and they will be clearly marked.
Frequently asked questions
What colors make black paint?
Mix dark complementary pigments. Ultramarine blue + burnt umber and phthalo green + alizarin crimson are the classics. Phthalo blue + burnt umber and dioxazine purple + sap green also work.
Can you make black from red, yellow and blue?
In theory a balanced mix of three primaries makes a very dark neutral. In practice it's usually a dark brown or grey, because paint primaries aren't perfect. Dark complementary pairs such as ultramarine and burnt umber give a deeper result.
Is mixed black better than tube black?
Not better, just different. Mixed blacks can lean warm or cool and harmonize with your palette. Tube blacks are consistent and convenient. Many painters use both.
How do I know if my black is warm or cool?
Mix a little of it into white. A bluish grey means a cool black, and a brownish grey means a warm black.
Can you make black paint with primary colors?
You can get very close. Mixing a dark, transparent red, blue and yellow (for example alizarin crimson, phthalo blue and a deep yellow) gives a near-black. Opaque cadmiums give a dark brown instead. Dark earths like burnt umber make it much easier.
What is the difference between chromatic black and ivory black?
Ivory black is a single tube pigment, a neutral-cool black. A chromatic black is mixed from colors, so you can make it warm or cool, and it shares pigments with the rest of your painting. Both are valid. Many painters keep a tube black for convenience and mix chromatic blacks for shadows.