Mixing recipe
How to mix chocolate brown
Target
#5E3C2E
Recipe mixes to #614035
Chocolate brown is Burnt Umber warmed with Cadmium Red, three to one. The umber on its own is cool and slightly grey; the red is what makes it chocolate. Two tubes, both in a common box.
The recipe
Step by step
Build the pile from the biggest, lightest component and work toward the strongest tinter. Check the pile against each swatch before moving on.
- Start with 3 parts Burnt Umberpile #483A34
- Work in 1 part Cadmium Redpile #614035
Another route
A part of Ivory Black alongside the red deepens it a little and lands about the same distance from the target. Use it for the darkest chocolate, or for the shadow side of something that is already this color.
What goes wrong
The target is dark, and the engine's nearest mix is a hair lighter and redder, which is the honest limit of a twelve-part recipe. If you want it darker, Burnt Umber straight is the way, not black, which turns chocolate to charcoal. If it looks too red, more umber; if it looks too grey, more red.
Related colors
Results vary with brand, lighting and medium. Acrylic dries a touch darker than it looks wet. Treat this as a mixing aid, not a lab instrument: it tells you which tubes to reach for and roughly in what proportion. Fine-tune the last stretch by eye.