Mixing recipe
How to mix salmon
Target
#F4A08A
Recipe mixes to #EF9F8D
Salmon is a pale orange-pink. Mostly white, with a part of Yellow Ochre for the warmth and a part of Cadmium Red for the pink. The ochre, rather than a brighter yellow, is what gives salmon its slightly dusty quality.
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 4 parts Titanium Whitepile #F6F6F4
- Work in 1 part Yellow Ochrepile #F0D0A3
- Work in 1 part Cadmium Redpile #EF9F8D
Another route
Cadmium Yellow instead of ochre, with a bit more red, gives a cleaner and brighter salmon, a point further off. Use it for the flesh of the fish itself in good light; the ochre version is the better match for salmon-colored walls and cloth.
What goes wrong
The red is the strong one here. One part in six is enough, and a little more pushes salmon to coral and then to pink. Add it in halves and judge in a thin smear. If the mix goes too orange, the fix is a touch more white and red together, not more white alone, which makes it chalky.
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.